December 7, 2025 — Episode #99
Jerry and Becky Drace close out their series on internet addiction with a deep dive into gaming disorder, and take a brief detour into what artificial intelligence can and can’t do.
They recap the earlier categories of internet addiction — cyber-sex, net compulsions, and cyber relationships — with a story about a woman whose online shopping habit filled her house with unopened boxes, and use it to introduce a short Q&A on AI, noting that AI systems have no real concept of truth and can present wrong information as if it were fact. The back half of the show focuses on gaming disorder and what researchers call “the dark side of gaming”: how gamers sacrifice sleep for late-night sessions, how blue light from screens disrupts the body’s natural sleep cycle, and how compulsive gamers often develop poor eating habits, skipping meals in favor of extra playing time. They close with a warning that an unmanaged internet or gaming addiction in the teen years can follow a person into adulthood, affecting marriage and work life down the road.
Topics discussed:
- Recap of cyber-sex, net compulsions, and cyber-relationship addictions
- A hoarding-style online shopping addiction story
- What artificial intelligence can and can’t do, including its lack of a “concept of truth”
- Gaming disorder and its effect on sleep, diet, and relationships
- The science behind blue light and disrupted sleep
- How a teen internet or gaming addiction can carry into adulthood
- Encouraging a Christian worldview from an early age
- Setting device-free boundaries at home
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