Alok Kanojia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alok Kanojia
Born (1982-10-07) October 7, 1982 (age 39)
NationalityAmerican
EducationUniversity of Texas at Austin (BS)
Tufts University (MD/MPH)
OccupationPsychiatrist
Twitch information
Also known asDr. K
Channel
Years active2019–present
GenreInterview
Followers549,000
Total views49.8 million

Alok Kanojia, also known as Dr K., (October 7, 1982)[1][2] is an American psychiatrist and co-founder of the mental health coaching company, Healthy Gamer. He streams interviews on Twitch, where he and participants discuss mental health topics.

Early life[]

Kanojia became addicted to video games during his time at the University of Texas at Austin, leading to missed classes and bad grades. At the age of 21, he moved to India to become a monk.[3] He began studying alternative therapies including yoga, meditation, and Reiki in 2003 with particular attention to the Ayurvedic principle that mental health is inextricably linked to physical health. He got his addiction under control, and graduated in 2007 with a biology major.[2] He began a placement at Tufts University School of Medicine in 2010, receiving his medical degree in 2014, following which he started a residency at Harvard Medical School's MGH/McLean Adult Psychiatry Residency Program.[3]

Career[]

After graduation, Kanojia discovered that he had many friends who were also addicted to video games. He began helping them, but soon realized he didn't have the time to provide support to everyone. This prompted Kanojia and his wife Kruti to create a startup, Healthy Gamer, through which they could provide resources to help people overcome their addiction.[3] He believes that gaming addiction isn't usually treated in a productive way by therapists and hopes to provide better support.[4][5]

Kanojia started hosting group discussion sessions to talk about gaming and mental health and, finding that these were valuable to participants, began streaming on Twitch.[6] He hosts live interviews mainly with other popular Twitch streamers where they discuss mental health issues. Guests of the show have included Reckful, Asmongold, Mizkif, xQc, and Pokimane. Kanojia also includes viewers who apply to be interviewed publicly in his livestreams.[2][7] Some psychologists have raised concerns that, despite disclaimers stating that Kanojia's streams aren't therapy, they can still be perceived as such.[6] Kanojia's streams are among the most popular mental health channels on Twitch due to his high profile guests.[8]

Healthy Gamer, which received support through an incubator at Boston University,[9] trains coaches who provide non-medical advice and support to the gaming community.[2] The coaches go through 10 weeks of free training, and are paid to host individual and group sessions to paying customers, through which they explore attendee's goals and motivations and may provide guidance on meditation.[2] The guides are not licensed medical professionals, and Kanojia encourages participants to continue with other support from trained psychiatrists or therapists.[5]

References[]

  1. ^ @healthygamergg (October 7, 2020). "Happy Birthday Dr. K! @dr_alokkanojia :D" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ^ a b c d e Liao, Shannon (5 August 2020). "A Harvard-trained psychiatrist is on Twitch helping gamers with their mental health". CNN Business. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  3. ^ a b c Heaven, Will Douglas (25 November 2019). "Video game addiction is now being recognized—what happens next?". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  4. ^ Quinn, Cristina (14 January 2020). "When A Gaming Hobby Becomes An Addiction, This Doctor May Have The Solution". WGBH. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  5. ^ a b Lee, Jonathan (13 October 2020). "Harvard psychiatrist reveals mental health epidemic plaguing young video gamers: 'It's actually quite severe'". In the Know. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  6. ^ a b Limbong, Andrew (13 January 2021). "To Help Gamers on Twitch, Dr. K Balances Mental Health Advice With Medical Ethics". NPR. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  7. ^ Grayson, Nathan (3 December 2019). "Psychiatrist Brings Streamer To Tears During Confessional Stream". Kotaku. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  8. ^ Carpenter, Nicole (15 May 2021). "Streamers aren't therapists. But some therapists are streamers". Polygon. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  9. ^ Dumas, Bob (1 November 2019). "BU Lab program offers addiction counseling for gamers". Boston 25 News. Retrieved 26 September 2020.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""