Computer gaming culture and the benefits and risks of gaming

In this episode, Dr Choong-Siew Yong and Associate Professor Jeffrey Looi discuss computer gaming culture from the viewpoint of understanding the interests and hobbies of patients and community members, as well as considering benefits and harms specifically for children and adolescents. The issues discussed include definitions, how and why people choose to play computer games, and risks such as excessive gaming and introduction to gambling via loot boxes. Learning how to ask patients about the role of gaming in their lives can help in better understanding the sociocultural milieux in which they live.

Dr Choong-Siew Yong is a child and adolescent psychiatrist in Sydney, NSW. He has long-standing interests in medical workforce and education, practitioner regulation, doctors’ health and mental health policy. He has served on the executive committees of the Australian Medical Association, NSW Medical Board and Medical Council, and the NSW Doctors’ Health Advisory Service. 
For the RANZCP, he has served as the Chair of the Committee for Education Evaluation, Monitoring and Reporting (CEEMR) and the Committee for Continuing Medical Education (now known as the Committee for Continuing Professional Development). He is the current Chair of the Member Wellbeing Subcommittee.

Associate Professor Jeffrey Looi, MBBS Syd, MD ANU, DMedSc Melb, FRANZCP, AFRACMA, is a clinical academic neuropsychiatrist, in private and public practice, and Head of the Academic Unit of Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine at the Australian National University School of Medicine and Psychology. Jeffrey leads the Australian, United States, Scandinavian-Spanish Imaging Exchange (AUSSIE) and the Consortium of Australian-Academic Psychiatrists for Independent Policy and Research Analysis (CAPIPRA). He has received multiple research and leadership awards including: a Fulbright Scholarship and Australian-Davos-Connection Future Summit Leadership Award and Fellowship of the AMA. He is a co-author on more than 330 peer-reviewed papers, involving UCLA, Karolinska Institute and University of Melbourne. In January 2024, he was appointed as Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed medical scientific journal, Australasian Psychiatry published by the RANZCP, through Sage. 

References: 

• https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/10398562231211137

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