Game Addiction: The Experience and the Effects

by Neils Clark

$28.95

Account Type

Format

Quantity

Author: Neils Clark

Publisher: McFarland & Company

Paperback:
ISBN 10: 0786443642
ISBN 13: 978-0786443642

An eleven-year-old boy strangled an elderly woman for the equivalent of five dollars in 2007, then buried her body under a thin layer of sand. He told the police that he needed the money to play online videogames. Just a month later, an eight-year-old Norwegian boy saved his younger sister's life by threatening an attacking moose and then feigning death when the moose attacked him--skills he said he learned while playing World of Warcraft.

As these two instances show, videogames affect the minds, bodies, and lives of millions of gamers, negatively and positively. This book approaches videogame addiction from a cross-disciplinary perspective, bridging the divide between liberal arts academics and clinical researchers. The topic of addiction is examined neutrally, using accepted research in neuroscience, media studies, and developmental psychology.

Review

"A uniquely interactive/connective form of art and mediation...most stimulating...comprehensive, intricate, yet accessible survey will appeal to and engage all readers...highly recommended" --Choice<br \><br \>"Clark and Scott have blasted out a reasoned, hard-hitting account of video gaming that is both authoritative and non-judgmental. Their first-hand perspective yields useful information along with a powerful message about the potential and the peril inherent in our--and our children's--growing dependence on the satisfactions of virtual worlds. Anyone who can still think deeply will do so after reading this book!" --Jane M. Healy, Ph.D. Educational psychologist and author of Failure to Connect: How Computers Affect Our Children's Minds and What We Can Do About It<br \><br \>"Should definitely be read by a wide range of folks who are interested in knowing a bit more about where gaming now sits amid general electronic cultureâ¦probably the most important work yet written on the subject of habitual gaming...a wealth of information...straight-forward, well-constructed...points out that the problems of excessive gaming...probably the best set of resources on this topic that is available to us at the moment...pick up this book, arm yourselves with Clark and Scott's research...a practical and sensible starting point to understanding a subject that is going to loom ever larger in all our lives." --RockPaperShotgun

"Clark and Scott have blasted out a reasoned, hard-hitting account of video gaming that is both authoritative and non-judgmental. Their first-hand perspective yields useful information along with a powerful message about the potential and the peril inherent in our--and our children's--growing dependence on the satisfactions of virtual worlds. Anyone who can still think deeply will do so after reading this book!" --Jane M. Healy, Ph.D. Educational psychologist and author of Failure to Connect: How Computers Affect Our Children's Minds and What We Can Do About It

"Should definitely be read by a wide range of folks who are interested in knowing a bit more about where gaming now sits amid general electronic culture…probably the most important work yet written on the subject of habitual gaming...a wealth of information...straight-forward, well-constructed...points out that the problems of excessive gaming...probably the best set of resources on this topic that is available to us at the moment...pick up this book, arm yourselves with Clark and Scott's research...a practical and sensible starting point to understanding a subject that is going to loom ever larger in all our lives." --RockPaperShotgun

About the Author

Neils Clark lives in Gig Harbor and works in Redmond, Washington. He has lectured at DigiPen, and his work has appeared in BusinessWeek and PC Gamer Magazine. He was an invited speaker at the 2008 Games for Health conference in Baltimore.

P. Shavaun Scott is a practicing psychotherapist and has been active in the treatment of game addiction for more than a decade. She has been a guest on NPR and BBC Canada, interviewed by PC Gamer Magazine and MSNBC Online, and has written for numerous clinical publications.

Filters

Mental Illness

Game Addiction: The Experience and the Effects