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Friday, November 15, 2013

Candy Crush: Psychiatry's New Frontier? Watch Dinah on Al Jazeera America Tonight at 10:45 PM Eastern Time


It started innocently enough: a conversation with an old high school friend about Angry Birds.  Joe warned me, "Don't do it. It's like crack."  Soon, I was hooked, and I wrote a blog post called A Brief Psychological Analysis of Angry Birds.  It got picked up by KevinMD and a legal blog.  It got a lot of Facebook 'likes,' more than any for my profound psychiatry writings.  Isn't that silly?

 Last week, I was contacted by Eliana Docterman, a reporter at Time Magazine.  I know about Angry Birds, could I comment on Candy Crush, it's taking the country by storm, millions of downloads with people spending a lot of money while they abandon their lives to cuddle with their phones.  Candy Crush?  I'd never heard of Candy Crush.  I downloaded the app and started to play, and I spoke with Eliana and gave her my "professional" opinion of why this game was appealing.  I say "professional" because video games are not my area of expertise.  I made it to Level 23, by the way, before I got stuck for 2 days and deleted the app from my phone (--one way of dealing with an "addiction").  

Eliana's article Candy Crush: The Science Behind Our Addiction appeared online this morning, and my phone started ringing.  Would I be on the radio? Would I be on TV?  I called ClinkShrink -- is this too silly?  We're psychiatrists, we can speculate, like everyone else, about video games, but really this isn't what people come to us for.   Clink declared it "Goofy."  I prefer the terms 'silly,' 'light-hearted,' or in this case 'sweet.'

So tune in to Consider This on Al Jezeera America tonight at 10:45 PM Eastern Time and I will be on with Time Magazine reporter Eliana Docterman and host, Antonio Mora.  It's filming live, so let's hope I can stay awake that late -- I may be trying for a sugar high at that hour.  Perhaps a little candy?  


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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousNovember 16, 2013

    I always initially look like a computer game addict as when I download one, which is rare, I will play it repeatedly to the point of excess. But I always reach a point where I finally tire of the game and never touch it again.

    Regarding candy, I am definitely an addict:) One day, I purchased Reece Cups at lunch and vowed I would have them as an afternoon snack since I wasn't craving sweets at the moment. Famous last words as I swear that as soon as I made the purchase, my sweet gland started salivating big time. At least I made it back to the office before I ate them.

    AA

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousNovember 17, 2013

    I think candy crush addiction is genetic. I am at level 102, and my sister is at level 200 and something.

    Pseudo-Kristen

    ReplyDelete

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