About Dr Mark Griffiths
Professor MARK GRIFFITHS, BSc, PhD, CPsychol, PGDipHE, FBPsS, FRSA. Dr. Mark Griffiths is a Chartered Psychologist and Professor of Gambling Studies at the Nottingham Trent University, and Director of the International Gaming Research Unit. He is internationally known for his work into gambling and gaming addictions and has won many awards including the American 1994 John Rosecrance Research Prize for “outstanding scholarly contributions to the field of gambling research”, the 1998 European CELEJ Prize for best paper on gambling, the 2003 Canadian International Excellence Award for “outstanding contributions to the prevention of problem gambling and the practice of responsible gambling” and a North American 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award For Contributions To The Field Of Youth Gambling “in recognition of his dedication, leadership, and pioneering contributions to the field of youth gambling”. One of his most recent awards is the 2009 Research Award from the US National Council on Problem Gambling.
He has published over 300 research papers, three books, over 65 book chapters, and over 1000 other articles. He has served on numerous national and international committees (e.g. BPS Council, BPS Social Psychology Section, Society for the Study of Gambling, Gamblers Anonymous General Services Board, National Council on Gambling etc.) and is a former National Chair of Gamcare. He also does a lot of freelance journalism and has appeared on over 2000 radio and television programmes since 1988. In 2004 he was awarded the Joseph Lister Prize for Social Sciences by the British Association for the Advancement of Science for being one of the UK’s “outstanding scientific communicators”. His awards also include the 2006 Excellence in the Teaching of Psychology Award by the British Psychological Society and the British Psychological Society Fellowship Award for “exceptional contributions to psychology”.
drmarkgriffiths 
Good evening! I was surfing arround on Yahoo and came across this website. Nice articles and info! I also have a website . Maybe you will visit my website too.
I love your site, really!
I nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award!
Thank you. That’s very good of you
Hi Mark
With the advent of the Health Lottery I’d expected there to be a division of lottery players – that the Health Lottery would pluck players away from the national lottery, players who were either more concerned with good causes related to health or those that had become disillusioned with the spread of causes supported by the national lottery – many people I talk to don’t really see funding the Olympics as a ‘good cause’.
I’ve read an article in The Independent that states that overall ticket sales have gone up since the launch of the health lottery – which is great as more money will go to good causes.
Have you done any research / had any thought on why people are selecting the Health Lottery instead of the National Lottery… Overall sales may have gone up, but there still being a choice made to spend the £1 on the Health Lottery.
I enjoyed your March 21 posting on “Snot Machines.” I do suggest one minor correction; namely, that our 1995 article from the Univ of Wisconsin Medical School on Rhinotillexomania was published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, not Psychology.
Regards,
Jeff
James W. Jefferson, MD
Thanks for that Jeff. I’ve now corrected the title of the journal. best wishes. Mark
Hi Mark,
Thanks for your postings. Great blog. Thought you and your readers (especially those in Australia) might be interested in knowing that Dr David Veale is coming to Melbourne, Australia, on 31st August to give a workshop on Body Dysmorphic Disorder. See: http://www.aacbtvic.org.au/content.asp?Topic_ID=602.
Cheers
Keong
Hello, I saw your post online. Being a compulsive slot machine player I’ve been looking for someone that might be able to answer a few questions for me. I have been addicted to slot machines for about 12 years now and I have recently tried to stop and have begun getting migraine headaches. Was wondering if it could be possibly related. Anyway hope u get this of u would like to call me my number is 5302097930 or my email is gallegosmike 30@yahoo.com hope to hear from u soon-mike
Thanks Dr. Mark for this great website. On your Blood Lust article, you kindly referenced our admittedly odd BBS “The Flow Forum” on the now abandoned DotComJunkies host site. We have moved. I doubt we’ll get any traffic other than the folks who already know about us (sshhh it’s a secret). But we are on a new host here: http://www.spamfreeforums.com/kayo/index.shtml. I did want to thank you for your non-judgmental and helpful comments about menstruation! Carry on 🙂
thank you for this informative site. i found it very helpful.
Hello Dr.
I searched your site looking for things about “porno addiction”. So far I haven’t found any. I was wondering if you personally think it is valid and correct to consider that an addiction on a level with alcoholism (such as treating it with “groups” just like AA) or other substances. I’m on the fence about it myself. But I found a relevant quote from inside another blog posting of yours, one which dealt with alleged eBay addiction. I was wondering if you thought this quote would apply equally to porno viewing for example.
““The label ‘addiction’ is being over used and incorrectly applied. There is no such diagnosis as “eBay” addiction that has been incorporated into any respectable criteria. Instead people like Dr Young are adapting the criteria for substance abuse and/or pathological gambling. Of course, some people will do all kinds of activities too much if they are distracting enough to allow them to escape from their reality. I would argue that these are not bona-fide cases of addiction unless the activity itself has severe negative consequences, that the experience itself is the main driver of their behaviour, and that it affects enough people that it can be considered problematic in and of itself. eBay does not fit into that category. Furthermore, by over applying the addiction label we are in danger of both unduly scaring the public and trivializing the negative impacts of genuine addiction cases”
Hello Dr. Griffith,
I am currently doing a research on sitophilia and came across your Blog, which already gave a great view on the theme.
Unfortinately in my University websites and blogs are not seen as scientific sources.
therofore i have the question if you know some literature/ scientific studys i can rely to?
It would be great and i cant wait for your response
Hello Dr. Griffiths! I discovered your website two weeks ago when I became curious as to how necrophilia and other, more idiosyncratic paraphilias are discovered by individuals as a sexual interest. After searching the web, I found your article titled, “Dead strange: A brief psychological overview of necrophilia”, and found it to be very informative! Since then, I’ve read through the various articles on your website and have begun following your blog. Keep up the excellent work!
Hi Mark,
Just found website and impressed with the amount of work you’ve put in regarding paraphilias! Planning on doing a similar blog myself 🙂 Just followed you! Keep up the great work! x
Hi, Dr. Griffiths.
I read your article on split penis-ality about genital modification and subincision. I have a full subincision, and would like to say I’m pleased to read your fair and objective point of view, instead of categorizing people like myself as “freaks” or what have you. I think the “extreme” body modification community has become more tolerated for lack of a better term, though not exactly accepted. Thanks for your work.
Thanks for the feedback Blake. Best wishes. Mark
I’d like to add a follow up to my previous comment. After years of odd feelings about my genitals i finally got counseling. The result was a letter stating I have gender dysphoria and I was recommended for a bilateral orchiectomy which I had in August 2017, along with full scrotectomy. I finally feel I’m in the body I was meant to be in and I’m grateful for the plastic surgeon i found in my city. I’m a happy eunuch now.
Dear Mark, I am an alcoholic and have been clean for over five years. Always a heavy drinker I slid easily into full blown alcoholism after the death of my husband. I was eventually diagnosed with high level ptsd around my husbands death . I have early retirement due to this and being diagnosed with breast cancer four years ago. I manage my ptsd very well during the day with learnt techniques , the night -time being a little less manageable and am still in remission from the cancer. However I feel I need to contribute more to society. I really clicked when I understood the pathology of addiction this is possibly because I have always responded well to learning and have an enquiring mind. I am a retired teacher. I have worked voluntarily in addiction since beginning recovery. initially giving talks in schools for a local charity. I now work with the homeless and with people on a 12 week recovery programme. I am due to start a masters in drama therapy and Roehampton this autumn. My Degree is Humanities. I taught English, Drama, Media Studies and Film Studies. However someone has said that I might find a doctorate more fulfilling….I have an idea if addiction studies was incorporated into a science module either year ten or eleven, this would have a positive impact. At the moment it appears they are just fed horror stories like my own to avert them, this is done at the pastoral level , children will respond to this initially with great enthusiasm but this soon wares thin (I have four of my own! incidently my eldest is a Dr of clinical Psychology.) Also I believe this would also hold true in the 12 week programme for adults . I would be glad to hear from you .
Love your blog on Lector. Wish I had someone to discuss my Lector obcession with such as yourself.
Hi Dr Griffiths. I’m what you might consider ‘Patient Zero’ for headphone fetishism, since I started the Headph0ne Phet1ish site in the late 90s. I read your piece on this topic with interest, and found it interesting to say the least. If you’d like to ask me any questions on this topic, I’ll be happy to help out. Reply to this comment if you’d like to correspond.
Feel free to drop me an email at: mark.griffiths@ntu.ac.uk. Best wishes Mark
Hi, I just wanted to thank you for maintaining this wordpress site. The information is intelligent and eye opening. Please keep it up, as I’m sure many others are reading also.
Best wishes,
C
Dr. Griffiths….I am suffering of a high dose of Knismolagnia,I found out about this type of paraphilia a few years ago.It’s dominating my life and I cannot get across and over it.And it’s starting to ruin my sexual love life as well.Can you contact me somehow? i really need to speak with somebody about this.
I bought a handkerchief from someone on e-bay (eva braun) and he said the auction place received it from you. Can I purchase a COA from you if I give you more info about the item.
It was an Eva Braun handkerchief. The last comment looks like I bought it from Eva Braun.
She owned it over 75 years ago.
Dr Griffiths,
Thoroughly enjoyed your work, in particular your writings on gambling/ addiction and promotion of gambling. Your work provided an excellent insight and helped inspire me to complete my own research on gambling, transforming it into a University Dissertation.
Regards
Sean Speirs
I have been doing some reading on the mental issues surrounding dictators and noticed one thing that really seems odd to me.
Just a little background, I am not a student or graduate in mental health. I’m just one of those odd people that just really thinks this type of stuff is interesting. I did get the highest grade ever given out by my psych teacher from Cisco Junior College (like 9 years ago) but this doesn’t really make me qualified :). I grew up in Killeen, TX. We are 30 minutes away from Waco (Branch Davidian Complex), the Lubys shooting occurred in Killeen as well. This was the spree shooting claiming the most deaths until the Virginia Tech incident. We are also about 2 miles from fort hood tx which has been host to two spree killings as well, one in 09 and on in 2014.
While watching a documentary on Bin Laden it occurred to me that it would be interesting to find out what, if anything, a doctor might speculate was wrong with his mind. Everything I have seen is concluding that he was a “malignant narcissist”. I had never heard of that specifically, I believe one of the articles said this was a newer diagnosis, but I looked it up and that could make sense. The only thing I don’t understand is why most other murderous dictators are regarded as charismatic, but the opposite was said about Bin Laden. He was supposed to act like a very meek, shy person who didn’t raise his voice and did not seem outwardly confrontational to those around him.
I was just curious about why he had traits like these, so opposite of what one would expect.
I obviously have too much time on my hands! I would love to hear your opinion on this.
Hi!
I recently came across a description of Stendhal Syndrome and found your posting through a Googke search…
Over the past several years I have been experiencing an extreme emotional reaction to some music, mainly that of an orchestral variety whether live or in enhanced recording. On these occasions I am overcome with mild panic attack like symptoms and mostly an uncontrollable urge to cry. I am able to reel in these symptoms which may last from a few seconds to well over a minute time. Does Stendahl Syndrome also link itself to music?
(About five years ago I suffered from a Stage 2 concussion and wonder if that may have been a precursor to these feelings.)
Dr. Mark –
I am a Professional Dominatrix with a specific focus on paraphilias, their psychological applications, and the benefits of indulging in them with an experienced practitioner. I have found many of your articles specifically very helpful, and I wanted to thank you for that.
Sincerely,
Madame Rax.
Best blog ever!
I just came across your blog and look forward to reading more about your research on gaming addiction. My spouse has spent 23k in 5 months on in app purchases. He is lost in this virtual reality and I am not sure if he will ever come out. It sad to know this is the intent of the developers in order to make a profit.
Hi there Mark, I have to say I’m blown away by your reputation and the contributions you’ve made to psychology. I was wondering if I could discuss with you the possibility of me and my university group interviewing you regarding furry fandom. we’re doing it a taster promo for a channel 5 documentary. If you could email me to nigelasipa@gmail.com within the next week or so, it’d be really appreciated, thank you.
Hello professor. I just read your article about gas mask fetishism and i’d like to contribute for your research about the matter. I have more than 15 years in BDSM experience and my main focus is gas mask fetish. I may have several materials and subjects that would like to contribute. Please contact me.
Hi Dr. Griffiths. I just came across your blog, and considering many of your prior articles, I was wondering if you’d be willing to write an article on modern therianthropy, otherkin, and species dysphoria in the future.
Thank you,
CV
Great blog.
Hi, Dr Griffiths! I just wanted to say thank you for your informative and educational blog. This blog has always been the most professionally well done overviews about psychology’s role in paraphilias I’ve seen. Thank you for your hard work!
Hi I am an 18 year old boy and was online because I was concerned about some thoughts I have been having an found your articall on crush fetishes and zoosadism which lead me to here I watched an episode of buffy the vampire slayer a few months ago in an episode a good looking female character is sitting by a river and then a very young dear walks up to her she pats it on the head then sticks a knife through its throat this and other imaginary scenes of gruesome death to young animals have occasioned my masturbation since. I would never actually hurt an animal but should I be concerned
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