The long-suffering girlfriends of X-Box addicts may welcome claims from a U.S. psychologist that men who spend too much time playing video games could be doing themselves more harm than they think.

Stanford University's Professor Philip Zimbardo argues that the over-use of video games and online porn is creating a 'generation of male misfits', with young men developing 'arousal addictions' that leave them unable to function normally in the real world or develop healthy relationships.

Dr Zimbardo believes men are spending too much time in isolation in the digital world, and says that lonely people die earlier, the Mercury News reports.

Read more here.