Growing up, I would always come across posts about mental health issues that can be caused by playing video games. Aggression, frustration, constant agitation, and much more. This is a very common notion that video games are not good for overall health.
Most video gamers are portrayed as villains who are irresponsible, careless people, who don’t want to contribute to society. Following this notion, families mostly discourage their kids from spending a lot of time on video games.
However, things are not as horrible as they were claimed to be.
Today, the gaming industry is on the rise, eSports is flourishing and players are entering the mainstream media as product endorsers. Moreover, there are studies claiming video games are good for mental health.
If you are as shocked as I am, keep reading as we dig deeper into the interesting world of video gaming, its overall utility, and some of the ways it affects mental health.
The Rise of the Video Gaming Industry
Top Ways Video Gaming Can Enhance Mental Heath
How Video Games Can Be Used for Therapy
Best Ways You Can Use Video Gaming To Boost Mental Health
FAQ’s
The Rise of the Video Gaming Industry
Video games are not new. Millennials have seen video games right from the time they were born. In fact, most millennials today, recall video games as their favorite childhood memory. However, video games were not very advanced at that time.
Today, video games are much more defined, with exceptional storylines and top-notch animation. Apart from this, the industry has suddenly gained a lot of attention from the global audience. As per Forbes, the industry consists of more than two billion gamers and is expected to bring $250 billion in revenue in 2025.
This means that the video gaming industry has entered its golden era and it will only get better from this point. To give you a perspective, in 2022, the global gaming industry is estimated to have generated $184.4 billion. This number will double in 2025 to $250 billion.
While most people think the gaming industry grew overnight, it is easier to look at the evolution of the gaming industry. Most people claim that the gaming industry grew because of the easy accessibility of the internet.
For the longest, the internet was seen as a luxury. Only big companies or businesses with huge net worth were using the internet for their work. However, residential internet services entered the market soon after introducing fiber internet for fast speeds with reduced latency. These ISPs started offering affordable internet packages, which led to the exponential rise of online gaming.
Today, we see more people taking pride in excelling in online games, taking part in online gaming events, and ranking on the scoreboards.
Moreover, some people think the dramatic growth of the video gaming industry is more of a lifestyle change. With technology, the pressure of education, and socialization, people are trying to decompress by using video games. Some people even claim that playing video games is a very therapeutic experience for them.
So, is it?
Let’s look at some of the ways video gaming can boost mental health.
Top Ways Video Gaming Can Enhance Mental Heath
Excess of everything is bad, but when practiced in moderation, it can be very helpful. One of the best examples of this is social media and video games. Social media used with the right strategy can eventually help keep people informed, entertained, and engaged.
Similarly, online games have a lot of benefits as well when consumed in appropriate amounts every day. Some of the main benefits include:
- Gaming is very good for improving focus. The player will notice an improvement in overall focus even while working or doing house chores.
- Playing video games is an excellent way to train your brain for multitasking as the player is continuously doing a lot of things simultaneously.
- Video games also boost the cognitive abilities of the player by helping them remember information for longer periods.
- The online gaming community is very strong, which offers people avenues to socialize, build their social life, make friends, and eventually build friendships. This can be an excellent opportunity for a video game enthusiast to establish friendships with like-minded people.
- Video gaming can help people with social anxiety interact with people without putting an effort into meeting them.
- It comes with small, time-sensitive challenges, putting the problem-solving skills of the player to the test.
- Online gaming is an excellent way to motivate your kids to study and become successful eventually. It offers instant dopamine that helps in conditioning the child to become better over time.
- Since video gaming challenges come with a time stamp, they help the player train for decision-making under pressure.
All these benefits must have made you a little surprised. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Experts are now working toward gamification of education.
With this strategy, elements of games can now be used for building and planning courses for kids. Eventually, the student will learn to enjoy the education and the chances of success will be much better in real life.
How Video Games Can Be Used for Therapy
While video games are seen as a taboo topic for mental health, studies have proved the results to be otherwise. Some studies show that there are video games that have been proven to help people with anxiety and soothe their overall behavior.
In short, video games with soothing properties can be used as therapy as well.
One of the prominent examples of this is WellPower’s child therapy. The team at this facility mainly uses Minecraft for creating and connecting safe spaces. The clinicians at this institute with a specialization in children and family services strategically design communities within the games.
These communities are then used as a way to encourage the players to express themselves. Apart from this, players can work through their emotions by staying connected within the safe spaces.
For kids, video gaming offers a unique learning opportunity. Dangerous skills like driving, flying a plane or surgery can be taught with games. There are universities that use AR/VR for teaching complex surgeries and real-life decision-making.
Moreover, video games-based diagnostic tests are run on kids to determine if they have social anxiety, phobias, trauma, etc.
Similarly, the questions from these tests are later used for probing in the therapy sessions and resolving issues. Most of the kids’ personality tests have now been gamified for more effective and accurate results. Moreover, schools are using games to keep kids connected, help them with social anxiety, teach them effective communication, and boost their overall confidence in basic life skills.
Best Ways You Can Use Video Gaming To Boost Mental Health
Here are some ways to use gaming to fix and boost mental health.
Phobia Management
Phobias are generally cured by therapy techniques called Flooding. Within flooding, the person is exposed to the thing they are scared of the most. However, it can be gradual as well. This means the person is exposed to smaller things associated with the thing they are scared of.
In most cases especially reptiles, i.e. snakes, video games can be a powerful tool.
Release Anxiety
In most cases, video games are designed with a timer that adds pressure and creates a sense of urgency. However, some games are designed to calm or soothe anxiety in stressful conditions. Games including bubble popping, coloring, or bubble shooting are some of the simpler examples of these anxiety-releasing games.
Curing Social Anxiety
Most of the introverts find it hard to interact and communicate with people. However, in familiar social settings or with people of interest, these individual communicates effectively. Therapists are using this technique to create smaller gaming communities so that people facing anxiety can easily talk about their interests and gain confidence in real-life social settings.
Simply put, video games can be a great threat to the mental health of kids. However, when used strategically or in moderation, video games can help kids learn and explore new skills and also help with overall mental health.
FAQs
What are the benefits of video games?
Video games are excellent for people who face issues related to multitasking, focus, creativity, memory, languages, and teamwork.
Are video games good for brain health?
Yes, when used in moderation, gaming has proved to help with cognitive skills, i.e. problem-solving, memory, attention, and multitasking.
Are video games addictive?
Yes, video games are designed to be addictive as they release a happy hormone i.e. Dopamine after every successful gameplay moment.
