BIOGRAPHY
William Huang is the current Chief Resident of Psychiatry at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. He will be a fellow of Addiction Psychiatry at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center starting July 2005. He has always enjoyed playing videogames on different platforms as the technology evolved. He has received multiple awards and scholarships in the field of psychiatry and addiction psychiatry from organizations such as American Psychiatric Association, American Society of Addiction Medicine, California Society of Addiction Medicine, and American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry. His integral involvement in American Psychiatric Association’s Annual Meeting workshop on “Online Videogames: Psychopathological or Psychotherapeutic?” will also continue in this year’s workshop on “Virtual Reality and other forms of Cybertherapy, an Evidence Based Review” to discuss the usage of videogames and virtual reality technologies in mental health field. Dr. Huang is also the recipient of the APA/SAMHSA Substance Abuse Minority Fellowship. The fellowship is to study and serve as a liaison between underserved Asian American population to psychiatric and substance abuse treatment.
ABSTRACT
Exploring the Diagnosis and Treatment of Online Gaming Addiction
Individual Presentation, Friday (10:45 - 12:15)
in Hall of Ideas F
What does "addiction" mean in the context of online gaming? In which ways does online gaming addiction resemble other addictions such as alcoholism or pathological gambling? Are there addictive characteristics unique to online gaming? Case reports suggest that for some people, engagement in online gaming may lead to behaviors consistent with a dependence process: continual increases in the activity, inability to cut down, substitution of the activity for work and social activities, and continued play despite awareness of associated problems. This presentation will engage participants in a discussion of the process of diagnosing and treating online gaming addiction. Participants will interactively learn via evaluation of case examples how to determine whether or not evidence suggestive of an addiction is present and if so, what to consider doing about it. This collaborative exploration will be guided by a group of psychiatrists with expertise in the field of addictions and an interest in both helping those struggling with online gaming addiction as well as the use of videogames to provide innovative, interactive means of educating, diagnosing, and treating patients.