Square eyes: Half of Kiwis addicted to devices, many blame Covid pandemic

here's a new addiction in New Zealand - more than a third of Kiwis say they are hooked on their screens and many are blaming Covid for it.

As the country enters its second week of lockdown, New Zealanders have been averaging five hours of screen time a day on top of using devices for work and school since the Covid pandemic started last year, a new NortonLifeLock study has found.

Read the full article on NZ Herald.

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Australian clinic tackles screen addiction as social media ban looms

The suffering of people who are addicted to gaming and social media, the struggle of their families, and the need for screening, prevention, early intervention and treatment are highlighted in this interview with Dr Daniela Vecchio on Reuters.

Science

Impact of internet addiction on mental health: an integrative therapy is needed

In the past few years internet addiction (IA) and internet gaming disorder (IGD) have become very frequent, leading to many personality and psychiatric disorders including low self-esteem, impulsivity, poor sleep quality, mood disorder, and suicide. IA has been included in Appendix III of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-5) as IGD. In addition, IA leads to many neuroanatomical and neurochemical alterations including cortical thinning of various components of the brain and altered dopaminergic reward circuitry.

News

Australia passes landmark social media ban for under-16s

Australia has passed landmark rules to ban under-16s from social media, approving one of the world’s toughest crackdowns on popular sites like Facebook, Instagram and X.

Screen Sense