Alok Kanojia, also known as Dr. K. (born October 7, 1982), is an American

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

and co-founder of the

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...

coaching company, Healthy Gamer. He

streams A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

interviews on

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle con ...

, 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 The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

, leading to missed classes and bad grades. At the age of 21, he moved to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

to become a

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

. He began studying alternative therapies including

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...

, and

Reiki is a Japanese form of energy healing, a type of alternative medicine. Reiki practitioners use a technique called ''palm healing'' or ''hands-on healing'' through which a " universal energy" is said to be transferred through the palms of the ...

in 2003 with particular attention to the

Ayurvedic Ayurveda () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population rep ...

principle that mental health is inextricably linked to physical health. He got his addiction under control and graduated in 2007 with a biology major. He began a placement at

Tufts University School of Medicine The Tufts University School of Medicine is the medical school of Tufts University, a Private university, private research university in Massachusetts. It was established in 1893 and is located on the university's health sciences campus in downto ...

in 2010, receiving his medical degree in 2014, following which he started a

residency Residency may refer to: * Domicile (law), the act of establishing or maintaining a residence in a given place ** Permanent residency, indefinite residence within a country despite not having citizenship * Residency (medicine), a stage of postgrad ...

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

's MGH/McLean Adult Psychiatry Residency Program.

Career

After graduation, Kanojia discovered that he had many friends who were also addicted to video games. He began helping them, but he soon realized that 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. He has stated that he believes gaming addiction is not typically treated productively by therapists and hopes to provide better support. Kanojia started hosting group discussion sessions to talk about gaming and mental health and, finding that these were valuable to participants, began streaming on

. He hosts live interviews mainly with other popular Twitch streamers where they discuss mental health issues. Guests of the show have included

Reckful Byron Daniel Bernstein (May 8, 1989 – July 2, 2020), better known as Reckful, was an American Twitch streamer and professional esports player. He was best known in the gaming community for his achievements in ''World of Warcraft'' and ''Asheron ...

Asmongold Zack Hoyt (born April 20, 1990), better known online as Asmongold or zackrawrr, is an American Twitch streamer and YouTuber who is primarily known for playing ''World of Warcraft''. He is a co-owner of and content creator for One True King, a gam ...

Mizkif Matthew Rinaudo (born February 16, 1995), better known as Mizkif, is an American Twitch streamer and YouTuber. He is a founding member and co-owner of gaming organization One True King. Early life Rinaudo was born on February 16, 1995, and grew ...

xQc Félix Lengyel (; born November 12, 1995), better known as xQc or by his former screenname xQcOW, is a Canadian Twitch (service), Twitch streamer, internet personality, and former professional ''Overwatch (video game), Overwatch'' player. Le ...

, and

Pokimane Imane Anys (; Arabic: إِيمَان أَنِيس, born 14 May 1996), better known as Pokimane ( or ), is a Moroccan-Canadian Twitch streamer and YouTuber. She is best known for her live streams on Twitch, broadcasting video game content, most ...

. Kanojia also includes viewers who apply to be interviewed publicly on his livestreams. Some psychologists have raised concerns that, despite disclaimers stating that Kanojia's streams aren't

therapy A therapy or medical treatment (often abbreviated tx, Tx, or Tx) is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a medical diagnosis. As a rule, each therapy has indications and contraindications. There are many different ...

, they can still be perceived as such. Kanojia's streams are among the most popular mental health channels on Twitch due to his high-profile guests. Healthy Gamer, which received support through an

incubator An incubator is anything that performs or facilitates various forms of incubation, and may refer to: Biology and medicine * Incubator (culture), a device used to grow and maintain microbiological cultures or cell cultures * Incubator (egg), a de ...

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

, trains coaches who provide non-medical advice and support to the gaming community. The coaches go through 10 weeks of free training and are paid to host individual and group sessions for paying customers, through which they explore attendees' goals and motivations and may provide guidance on meditation. The guides are not licensed medical professionals, and Kanojia encourages participants to continue with other support from trained psychiatrists or therapists.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Healthy Gamer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanojia, Alok American psychiatrists Living people Twitch (service) streamers 1982 births University of Texas at Austin alumni Tufts University School of Medicine alumni American physicians of Indian descent