I want to share a blog I wrote not long before the WHO made their announcement about Video Gaming Disorder being recognized as an official disorder. I first wrote and published a book about the transition between parenting your child and your adult child, as I found those years more challenging. Included in my story was part of the journey of my adult son's crisis through video gaming addiction. An organizer of Mindfest read the book and asked me to speak about Video Gaming Addiction. I...

Hello, we are a group of researchers, educators, and trainees at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and the Responsible Gambling Council (RGC). We are working towards creating new content for current educational programs provided to Ontario high schools, colleges and universities about gambling and cannabis use in youth and young adults. Please note this is not a research project. We have created a survey to assist us in how best to incorporate the most current research...

The CAMH Monitor e-Report 2017 was just released, providing new gambling, gaming and technology use prevalence rates for Ontario adults. Below are some highlights. Gambling: The most common gambling activity was buying lottery tickets. 23.4% of adults reported betting on slots or table games at a casino in the past year, while 3.7% bet money online. 1.2% of Ontario adults had a moderate to high risk of gambling problems in the past year. Gaming & Technology Use: 5.6% of Ontario adults...

Last week, we published an article on camh.ca highlighting how the lines between gambling and gaming are blurring. The article features quotes from @Registered Member speaking about her family's experience with video gambling problems and @Registered Member speaking about how gambling elements are increasingly found within video games. Read the full article here: https://www.camh.ca/en/camh-news-and-stories/the-increasingly-blurred-lines-between-gambling-and-gaming I...

Thanks for sharing! Some encouraging info in the executive summary, too, such as substantial declines in cigarette smoking and texting while driving.

https://www.eenetconnect.ca/g/...g-and-technology-use >>> EENet Connect < alerts@hoop.la > 8/26/2019 4:22 PM >>>

Hi Shannon, This article we published in 2013 is dated but has information income from a small US sample of professional gamblers. I hope it helps. It's a starting point. Jeremiah

Gaming disorder can be difficult to assess, as there are concerns about over pathologizing normal or potentially healthy behaviours. A new study surveyed 29 international experts until consensus was reached about useful criteria for assessing gaming disorder. This study helps clinicians with creating their own assessments to ensure they're looking at the most relevant features in their assessment to target as well as ensure they're not problematizing less relevant features. An interesting...

A few years ago, problem gambling clinicians in Ontario began introducing mindfulness groups to clients as they felt that they could benefit from cultivating greater awareness of their thoughts and emotions while detaching from and not giving in to them. This practise is particularly relevant to people with gambling problems who tend to hold incorrect or erroneous beliefs about the nature of random chance (Toneatto et al., 1997; Turner, 2006) and engage in automatic thinking before, during...

Hi Everyone! My name is Ember Schincariol and I am a Social Worker with the Gambling & Behavioural Addictions program at Sister Margaret Smith Centre in Thunder Bay. I recently returned to work after my maternity leave. My colleagues informed me about this online community so I immediately joined. Looking forward to continuing to read posts and receive notifications about webinars!

Hi, my name is Andrew Karagianis. I'm a Social Service Worker/Gambling Addiction Case Worker at Good Shepherd Ministries in Toronto. I'm part of a 3-year Gambling Addiction Pilot Project, which is addressing problem gambling among adults who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. I first heard of this community of interest at a CAMH training course last week, and thought it would be a good idea to join, and see what I can learn from other people!

Hi Andrew, I am a public health nurse working on the gambling file in Ottawa. Do you know if any organizations supporting homeless individuals in Ottawa are aware of higher rate of gambling harm with homeless individuals? They are certainly a group I want to reach out to but thought I would see if you had any links to Ottawa.

Hi Susan, I personally don't have any links to Ottawa, although I've noticed that there is another member of this Community of Interest who is involved in Good Shepherd's project, who might have an answer. I'm not sure about the etiquette (or technical ability) of tagging other people into conversations on this website yet, but I'll e-mail the person and get back to you (or, message me next week if I haven't gotten back to you yet).

Thank you. You can email me at susan.phypers@Ottawa.ca . Cheers!

Hi, My name is Flora Matheson. I am a scientist at the Centre for Urban Health Solutions at St. Michael’s Hospital and work in the area of gambling, poverty and homelessness. I have been working with Good Shepherd since 2014 on this issue. We’ve been finding that there is a lack of awareness in general among this population. We have been developing guides and information to create awareness. We also have a training module on poverty, gambling and homelessness that we are happy to deliver.

Hi everyone! My name is Tanya Abate, and I am a Research Coordinator / Knowledge Broker with the Gambling, Gaming and Technology Use team at CAMH. I am looking forward to reading more responses, and getting to know our CoI memebers!

Hi Andrew, In terms of the EENet Connect etiquette, that can be found here on the website: https://www.eenetconnect.ca/pages/community-guidelines With respect to functionality, there are multiple ways to reach out to an individual member of EENet Connect: Tag them in a post or comment - just use the @ symbol and enter their display name. Reply or comment on something they have posted - this will trigger a notification to them. Send a private message - You can do this by clicking on their...

Thank you for introducing yourselves @Registered Member, @Registered Member, @Registered Member, @Registered Member and @Registered Member! Welcome and thanks for starting off the conversations both about relevant resources and the functionalities of EENet Connect! Now, who's next? Feel free to introduce yourself

Hi! I'm Melanie Payne. I work in Belleville Ontario as a Services Coordinator at the PlaySmart Centre (Responsible Gambling Council). I look forward to the information I will gather from the members of this CoI!

For those of you who have just joined our online community, welcome! I wanted to first share some EENet Connect Tips just in case you are not familiar with the platform (or need a refresher) and then get to know a little bit more about each of you!! EENet Connect Tips To start a conversation, click the green "Post" button and select "Topic." On the new page that appears, fill in the subject and body of your discussion topic and hit "Publish" You can respond to someone else's topic by...

In Ontario, treatment for people with gambling problems was first implemented in 1995, in response to the opening of the province’s first commercial casino in Windsor. With extensive clinical experience and excellent research since then, knowledge about what constitutes effective treatment has been growing, but no one approach suits everyone. Treatment services have instead tended to adopt an eclectic and holistic approach, incorporating a biopsychosocial-spiritual model that draws on...

Amazing @Registered Member! Thank you so much, I have already downloaded a copy (and attached here in case others are curious to check it out). Also, I would welcome an updated article.

https://informedfutures.org/wp...tive-development.pdf ; The article speaks to the effects of ‘screen time’ on the emotional, social and cognitive development of children and youth, including gaming, social media, and educational type virtual activities – both positive and negative. It mentions some emerging evidence on structural changes within the brain associated with increased use and how it relates to non-educational screen time. It mentions a factor around ‘stimulation overload’...

1. This article dated back in January 2013, focusing on the technological use of various means and media on symptomology of mood disorders and examines the impact of attitudes toward technology and multitasking in addition to tech related anxiety around the inability to check devices as frequently as desired. 2. "iDIsorders" was defined as "...the negative relationship between technology usage and psychological health", suggesting implications around heightened usage being negative. 3. In...

1. This case study reports the case of a 16-year-old student with a "typical" pattern of internet gaming disorder (IGD) developed during the pandemic, which improved after weeks of treatment with pharmacotherapy and psychosocial interventions 2. This study suggest that the combination of pharmacological treatment such as antidepressants (SSRI) and antipsychotics with individual and family-focused psychosocial interventions are useful in improving problematic behaviors. 3.This study pointed...

This study explored social media's role in feelings of fear during COVID. 86% reported fear or panic (many females) regarding health information (misinformation) that was posted on social media. Levels of fear response differed by age and gender with more females reporting higher levels of fear, which can have implications on mental health.