ONLINE CONFERENCE ON GAME DEPENDENCIES: GAMBLING DISODER AND INTERNET GAMING DISODER was held September, 12th 2020.
The professional psychologists and psychiatrists from different countries such as Egypt, Lebanon, Switzerland, Russia, Algeria, Ethiopia attended this meeting.
Dr. Tetiana Zinchenko, the president of IASGA, made an overview report on the problem of gambling and gaming addictions all over the world, followed by a professional discussion that focused on the issues:
- GD and IGD prevalence
- negative psychosocial consequences
- Information technologies as the main risk factor of dependence development
- comorbid psychopathology with focus on depression and suicidal risk (in detail).
As a result steps on prevention of game addictions were planned, including public informing about reasons and negative consequences of gambling and online video games for the society, for the development of personality, intellect. It is also iportant to inform the people about neurobiological changes in brains of the dependent players. It is necessary to inform the active players about possible consequences, as well as their parents, teachers, experts in the field of mental health. The society has no critical attitude to this problem, in particular, to influence of game information technologies on consciousness and human brain.
It was also planned to conduct joint research to obtain objective data concerning the prevalence and impact of gaming information technology on the emotional state of the player and to understand the causes of comorbid psychopathology (depression, anxiety disorders, suicidal behavior, etc.) in those who suffer from GD and IGD.
The next online conference is scheduled for October 31, 2020