With 11 million people hooked on the Net, the church needs to know how to react to the Internet while balancing its dangers and benefits. This book shows us how.

About the Book The multi-billion dollar video game industry is in the business of creating fun and enticing games that can be addictive. As addicted gamers feast on digital indulgences, real life is neglected and their reality crumbles around them. Headlines related to video games: ¿New Mexico mom gets 25 years for starving daughter.¿ ¿ Fox News ¿China used prisoners in lucrative Internet gaming work.¿ ¿ Guardian News ¿Online gamer killed for selling virtual weapon.¿ ¿ Sydney Morning Herald ¿South Korean dies after games sessions.¿ ¿ BBC News Hooked on Games is written by Brooke Strickland and Andrew Doan, MD, PhD, a physician with a research background in neuroscience, who battled his own addictions with video games. Dr. Doan was an addicted gamer, who at his peak, invested over 20,000 hours of playing games over a period of nine years. Dr. Doan¿s reckless compulsion to play games transformed him into a monster that almost destroyed his family, marriage, and career. He shares his expertise to educate others on the dangers of video game addiction and to provide hope for video game addicts and their families. Dr. Doan shares steps for gaming addicts to achieve recovery and steps for families and loved ones to intervene. Without attention to this quickest growing addiction, our society will suffer from the creation of Generation Vidiot, millions of people devoid of innovation and skills to live in the physical world. ¿As is true with many addictions, overuse of video games steals our valuable and limited time and minds.¿ ¿ Christie Morse, MD (Pediatric Ophthalmologist) ¿Shocking insights into the minds of hardcore gamers.¿ ¿ Daniel Hunt (Former Competitive Gamer)

While the Internet is a relatively new technology, that has impacted the world, and provided many benefits, it has also had negative ramifications. Individuals unable to control their use are jeopardizing school, employment and relationships. The concept of “Internet Addiction” is used to explain uncontrollable, damaging use of technology. It is characterized as an impulse control disorder, comparable to pathological gambling, because of overlapping diagnostic criteria and symptomatology. Based on these studies, the IAT was constructed to capture the problematic behavior associated with compulsive use of technology, including online porn, internet gambling and compulsive use of online games and social media. The Internet Addiction Test emerged as the first validated measure of Internet and technology addiction. The assessments can be administered in a variety of mental health settings, including private practice clinics, schools, hospitals and residential programs. They can be used when there is suspicion of Internet addiction, as part of a broad intake assessment, or for use in a wellness curriculum to help participants evaluate their own Internet behavior. The IAT can also be a valuable pre-employment screening device, to detect internet addiction among job candidates, to improve productivity and reduce corporate liability. Based on 20 self-report items, the IAT assesses for the presence of addiction to the Internet, electronic entertainment, social media, and general use of electronic devices, and also measures the severity of addiction, in terms of mild, moderate or severe. Furthermore, because Internet addiction may be driven by different reasons and manifest in different ways, requiring different types of treatment, the IAT produces scores related to the following areas: EscapeCompulsionNeglecting dutiesAnticipationLack of ControlSocial Avoidance

Recovering video game addict Kevin Roberts offers a step-by-step guide to recovery for those struggling with compulsive video gaming and Internet surfing. Video gaming and Internet surfing are the top sources of entertainment for tens of millions of North Americans today. As these technologies continue to grow and flourish, so does the number of people becoming obsessively absorbed in the imagination and fantasy that they present. More and more people are isolating themselves, turning their backs on reality, ignoring family and friends, and losing their sleep and even their jobs due to excessive use of video games and the Internet--and they continue to do so despite harmful consequences to their mental, physical, and spiritual health, a telltale sign of addiction. In this groundbreaking book, recovering video game addict Kevin Roberts uses extensive scientific and social research, complemented by his and others' personal stories, to give compulsive gamers and surfers--and their family and friends--a step-by-step guide for recovery. He outlines the ways that "cyber junkies" exhibit the classic signs of addiction and reveals how they can successfully recover by following a program similar to those used for other addictions. Readers learn to identify whether they have an addiction, find the right resources to get individualized help, and regain a rewarding life away from the screen by learning new thoughts and behaviors that free them from the cravings that rule their lives. Included is a guide for parents for working with their addicted children.

"The Allen Carr method has helped millions quit smoking. Now its experts are determined to tackle the UK's obsession with digital devices" - Daily Express "You'll be aware off how your devices affect you and most of all, you will enjoy the feeling of regaining control" - Daily Mirror Do you pull out your phone at every idle moment? Do hours slip away as you mindlessly scroll? Has your smartphone added a level of detachment between you and the outside world? Sadly technology which should be a wonderful boon to us has started to blight our lives. The average adult spends nearly ten hours a day looking at digital screens, leading to unprecedented levels of stress, isolation, procrastination and inertia. The fact is that digital dependence is an addiction and should be treated as such. Allen Carr's Easyway is a breath of fresh air when it comes to addiction treatment. Tried and tested as an incredibly successful stop-smoking method, its principles have since been applied to other addictions such as alcohol, gambling and caffeine with outstanding results. Here, for the first time, the Easyway method has been used to overcome digital addiction, and it really works! Smart Phone Dumb Phone rewires our relationship to technology. By unravelling the brainwashing process behind our addictive behaviour, we are freed from dependence and can reassert control over our time and productivity. Including 20 practical steps to help you along your way, this wonderful guide will release you from the clutches of your smartphone and allow you to live in the moment. It truly is the easyway.

DIVThe New Addiction/divDIVWhat you start out controlling can end up controlling you./divDIV /divDIVFrom Twitter to iPhones, from Facebook to tablets, we have an endless supply of media and gadgets to hook our interest, snag our wallets, and occupy our time. Think back over the last five years. How much of your time was devoted to online activities? How much of your real life has been gobbled up or googled up in your net life?/divDIV /divDIVIn Hooked, counselor and addiction specialist Dr. Gregory Jantz speaks enthusiastically and frankly about the gizmos and gadgets, social media magnets, and Internet sidetracks we have at our fingertips. With real-life examples and biblical applications, he presents a celebration of the positives technology offers and a cautionary tale about the negatives it unleashes, including:/divDIV /divDIV· The power and dangers of the web/divDIV· The myth of multitasking/divDIV· Overcoming disconnection anxiety/divDIV· The psychology behind Internet addiction/divDIV· Employing the ultimate filter and taking back control of your life/divDIV /div