The Healthy Gaming Zone: Recent Episodes
Joshua Garth, MA
A discussion about the gaming community, content creators, and healthy ways to maintain a balanced life with avid gaming habits.
What is the connection between incels and gaming, and do you identify with incel culture? Find out what incels are and how they have influenced the online community of men in this episode of the Healthy Gaming Zone.
Excessive gaming may be more than a result of gaming addiction. It may also be reinforced by messages heard around social media, forums, and other communication platforms. For those who have not heard of the Red Pill community, this is a community that may be keeping gamers in the virtual world out of fear. Find out how in this episode of the Healthy Gaming Zone.
Can two Marriage and Family Therapists find the answer to inspiring and motivating people who see work as being a trap, exploitative, and worthless? Ryan Heapy, LMFT, gives us his take as we take a deeper dive into what the Anti-Work movement has as an underlying motivation, and what it means on a psychological level for young Americans.
The host continues his dive into gaming culture by exploring the Anti-Work subreddit. Is anti-work providing a good platform of beliefs for gamers to follow? Make your choice as you listen to this week's episode of the Healthy Gaming Zone.
This episode is the beginning of a series where the host dives into some of the unwritten beliefs of the deeper gaming community. The host ties in Gaming Addiction as an enabler as the network of online communications supports a life spent in front of a screen. What do you not know about the network of the gaming culture? Get a summary in this episode.
The host opens by giving his take on the mass shooting in Uvalde, and how video games should not be blamed for it. The host then transitions into the new Pay-To-Win mechanics Blizzard has incorporated into Diablo Immortal, and how predatory it is. Should Pay-To-Win be the new mainstay in video games or should the older model of gaming (pay once, play forever) continue? Gambling and gaming addiction come together in this episode of the Healthy Gaming Zone.
What is the purpose of going to therapy for gaming addiction? Maybe you are confused about how someone could be addicted to a screen. Find out what is missing, and why therapy is important for addiction.
Pornography has been a major point of contention over the last couple of decades due to its accessibility skyrocketing over the internet. The host goes over an article with statistics that may be questionable, but also, adds his own opinion on how pornography use relates to gaming.
The host shows some anger as he lays out his idea for people who don't belong on vacations, and what is expected of those who go on vacations. Gaming addicts understand vacation issues at their core, but don't express what it does to them. Find out if you want to send some hate mail to the host after this one.
How on earth could the Amber Heard vs. Johnny Depp trial be related to gaming addiction? Find out how it goes back to the host's childhood, and what he learned from the trial.
From hatred of long orders, to understanding the triggers that put people back into active addiction, the host wraps all of the tangents up and gives some personal advice on what he believes to be some practical solutions to getting things done.
The host describes his problems with the marathon he had run the day before, and talks about how he sees a lack of listening being a main concern nowadays. Find out what had him turning in bed the night before the race in this episode.
Do you feel like the only thing you need in your life is your computer? When was the last time you went out to have a good time? Do you think you can have a good time socializing? Join the Healthy Gaming Zone in this week's episode where the host explains how the gaming addict's social life suffers, where things may have gone wrong.
Ever caught someone lying about their gaming habits? There is more deception going on than you think. You have probably noticed the addict manipulating or exaggerating just to get back to playing. This is more common and prevalent than you think. Find out how deep the deception goes in this episode.
Is excessive gaming altering your identity development? You may be surprised what gaming addiction can do to who you think you are. Find out how excessive gaming is causing major problems with how people perceive their worth to others.
What are you sacrificing to fulfill your gaming itch? Who are you avoiding? Is it your parents, your significant other, yourself? Maybe spending time away from the game is too much to tolerate. Listen to find out where creativity ends, and addiction begins. Maybe the unknown is exactly where you need to be.
After reading, Your Son did Not Die In Vain, by Liz Woolley, the host tries to make sense of what can be learned from Shawn’s story. The host focuses on the signs that Shawn was suffering from gaming addiction, and elaborates on some of the common threads the host had experienced himself.
The host describes his strange home invasion experience, and compares his response today against how he would have reacted just a year ago... and why his excessive gaming would have had a negative impact on him during this chaotic period.
Parents, don't wait too long to get help for your son who is excessively gaming. Gaming Addiction does not go away, and the host recalls his time in active addiction as he tries to warn about the result of waiting to long. Join the host in finding your desire to put an end to the issue that is sweeping the world.
The host pontificates about Covid-19 Anxiety, Gaming Addiction, and their link together. What if excessive gaming is a natural way to deal with the pandemic and its effects? Find out if you agree with the host.
In this fun episode, the host presents his take on relationships created and maintained via video games, and provides some interesting stats about relationships that were formed and developed in video games.
Is going to school in person worth it? Why learn about quadradic equations if you want to be a car mechanic? All of the information in school can be learned online anyways. Gaming addicts pose these questions, and many more, about school. Maybe the host can shed some light on this. Join us in this episode trying to find the underlying purposes of going to school.
The host tries to predict what all of the technological advances in cryptocurrency, NFT's, and the Metaverse today will mean for us as humans, and what we as people part of the revolution should do.
(Warning: Episode contains explicit content)
Good friend, Ryan Heapy, LMFT, joins the host into explaining the process of getting into therapy, becoming a therapist, and discusses his dark history that led to a meaningful and purposeful life.
In part 1 of this series, the host looks at a more detailed view of what addiction looks like, and how gaming addiction contrasts from other addictions. The host also gives a real life example of two cops that may be addicted themselves which led to truly dishonorable behavior.
If you have any questions about video game addiction, feel free to go to my website at https://www.gamingaddictioncounseling.com/
The host recounts his time with Covid-19, but also shares his experience in dealing with loss and feeling helpless. Find out how gaming addiction and excessive gaming played into his time dealing with illness and loss.
Are you ready for 2022? The host urges you to take a look back at 2021 before moving forward. This episode dives into the life audit as the host explains that being honest with yourself is the only way growth can happen. That means looking into the dusty closet and taking an honest assessment. Are video games filling up the spaces that should be filled by other things?
Are you ready for the holidays to be over? Did you get a new video game to escape into? Don't be sucked in by the postpartum depression of the holiday season and fall into a lengthy staycation in your home. Give this time before summer new meaning. Find out what the hosts suggests in this episode of the Healthy Gaming Zone.
Do you dread holiday parties? It would be so much easier if the family could celebrate through video games, but instead they insist on meeting in person. The host of this episode has a few words of wisdom as he explains his experience with taking risks as an introvert during holiday family parties.
Setting financial boundaries during the holiday season is difficult enough, but it's part of knowing your limits. Gaming addicts have difficulty setting boundaries with themselves, but relationships are the best place to practice. Listen to find out the host's thoughts on boundaries during the holidays.
Have you ever felt like everything you try as a parent does nothing to help your gaming addicted kid? Have you ever thought that maybe you're contributing to the problem? Find out what needs to change as the host directly talks to the support system of video game addicts.
The beginnings of any long term project fantasize about its end, but rarely is the path taken the same as the one envisioned. The host talks about why he specialized in video game addiction, why he became a marriage and family therapist, and what he has learned so far from his practice; Gaming Addiction Counseling.