Digital (Video Game) Addiction / Dr. Hilarie Cash from reStart / Samah M. Saidi, MA, CCC-SLP / Dr. Romeo Vitelli / Brian Takahashi

EducationLawyers.com Sunday School Show

Are Video Games Addictive? If so, how can we treat the addiction? Does an "addiction" label matter?

In this episode (006) we are learning about digital addiction, specifically video game addiction.

Any gamers out there? How about Parents hearing 5 more minutes , 5 more minutes?? What do you think?

Is video game addiction a real thing? I don’t know - In fact - the more I’ve researched the topic of video game addiction, the less I know. There are conflicting sides flanking this debate. The good news is, we have some really smart people joining us on this episode (from all over the world) and they are going to help us make sense of it all.

We hear from all sides in this episode. From Japan to Canada to Washington State, a big episode is loading.

We speak with Dr. Hilarie Cash who has made it her mission to clean up the video game addiction mess. Hillarie joined us by phone from Seattle, Washington.

Dr. Cash is co-founder and Chief Clinical Officer for reSTART Life - a residential program - the first in the US or Canada - designed explicitly for adults and adolescents who are experiencing serious problems because of addiction to the Internet and video games

Dr. Cash began her work in this field in the mid-90's.

Dr. Cash co-authored the book Video Games and Your Kids: How Parents Stay in Control.

Dr. Cash is one of the nation's leading experts in the field of Internet and video game addiction. Cash has appeared in well over 600 news reports about Internet addiction and we have her on the SSS to talk about the growing video game addiction phenomenon.

We speak with Samah Saidi. Samah is an ASHA (American Speech Language Hearing Association) certified Speech Language Pathologist. She has been working for the Dearborn Public Schools district for 11 years in Dearborn, Michigan.

Samah is part of the Screen Time Action Network and is involved in working with groups that focus on screens in early childhood. Samah also works with Faith Based communities to tackle excessive screen time.

Samah Saidi caught the SSS's attention with an article she wrote for ASHA titled, "Tackling Screen Time District-Wide," where she shares her observations regarding excessive digital consumption and the consequences she has seen.

We speak with Dr. Romeo Vitelli. Dr. Vitelli joined us from Toronto, Canada. Dr. Vitelli is a psychologist in private practice. An article written by Dr. Vitelli, "Are Video Games Addictive?," was published in Psychology Today and is one of - if not the - top Google result if you’re researching the topic of video game addiction.

We speak with Brian Takahashi (tah-kah-ha-shee). Brian is a US citizen who currently resides in North East Japan (Tohoku Region). Brian has have lived in Japan for the last 7 years with his wife and 2 children. At times Brian has had 24+ hour gaming sessions. Brian is 33 years old and has been gaming since he was 4.

Brian opens up to us about the role gaming has played in his life and how gaming was at times the outlet Brian used to escape the emotional trauma of bullying.

Be sure to check out the Episode 6X Bonus Hour with Brian Takahashi, where we hear more from the "gamer's" perspective - and where Brian shares intimate details about his own diagnosis.

Check out the show notes on EducationLawyers.com/SundaySchool.

Instagram: @educationlawyers