What’s young, angry, and overweight, with low self-esteem and a million experience points? If the media is to be believed, the answer is “gamers.” News reports characterize video games as a youth phenomenon with no redeeming qualities – a distraction from school, work, and regular exercise that promotes violent and antisocial behavior. Certainly, gaming critics have cause for alarm; today’s teens and tweens are arguably the “gaming generation,” with 59-73% playing daily. And if gaming is a disease, it’s spreading – the average gamer is now 35 years old, with many gamers becoming parents themselves. Video games occupy a secure spot in American pop culture – one which parents and scientists alike aim to challenge.
While the claims of anti-gamers are usually exaggerated and crude (to say the least), scientific studies have shown that the long-term health effects of gaming are, in fact, mostly negative. In a survey conducted by Time Magazine, men and women who regularly played video games experienced more health problems, including depression and anxiety, than those who didn’t. Men were more likely to have a high body mass index (BMI), while both women and men gamers tended to rely on the internet for social interaction.4 Excessive gaming can also take a toll on your mental health, leading to anxiety, depression, and poor school and work performance. Regular gamers may have lower attention spans, inhibition, and self-control; they often experience social isolation and irritability, “or simply have less interest in helping or interacting with family members.3”
Psychology Today considers gaming to be an addictive habit, similar to gambling or smoking, “because [it] gives immediate rewards for learning. Child and adolescent brains are typically susceptible to addictions as their brains are under development till the middle 20s.” Neurological studies have shown that addictive behaviors can harm the final stages of brain development in young adults, leaving them with “a less than mature decision making system and diminished empathy for others.3” The severity of these effects usually depends on the amount of graphic violence found in the game. In fact, most of the negative mental and social side effects mentioned in these studies are not only caused by video games, but by violence depicted in media in general. ...
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Hmmm, as a life long gamer I worry about the effect playing video games over long stretches have had on my life. On the one hand, they are a great entertainment investment. Very little else can pack as much entertainment bang for your buck than a video game that keeps you enthralled and entertained for months. They are almost a great way to save money, while still being socially active on some level, playing with others, albeit virtually.
At the same time, you can play forever, and unless you are making a career in pro gamer sports, you are not producing anything, or adding anything of value to your life, other than a virtual experience. And this, I think is where the real danger of games come into play. I’m not the first to touch on this, but I agree it’s the most accurate. Video games, are such a great escape from the difficulties of life. I usually find myself playing more video games during times when I need to focus on things in my life, such as work or personal. The reason being Games reward you so constantly, that it feels like you are progressing, when in reality you are being stagnant. The allure of progression is, in my opinion, the most damaging effect games have. This of course is person dependant, but when you realize how much time you spend playing games, and what you could have accomplished in that same time, or even half that time, it is a depressing and sobering thought.
If you play nothing but Call of Duty then I wouldn’t expect it to benefit anyone much, but other games, particularly those in the RPG genre challenge players to make difficult and complex decisions, understand the difference between right and wrong and how their decisions are not one-off events that will never be brought up again, but decisions that will not be forgotten and will affect them again in the future.
Honestly, I’ve learned more from video games than books, TV or movies, it’s such an interesting world and it really is a shame that some people still think video games are nothing more than pew pew pew games that offer no benefit to anyone.
i 100% agree
OK so they never considered that maybe the reason people become heavy gamers is because of those other factors?
They established a link between negative health symptoms and gaming but that doesn’t establish that gaming is the cause.
That article from psychology today…got it wrong.
Gaming rewards doing the right thing. Real life doesn’t, you may never see the reward of doing the right thing in real life. In a game, you are always commended for doing the right thing.
They never considered that maybe gaming is a solution to anxiety, depression, and poor school and work performance?
well first off if gaming helped depression the correlation of gamers and anxiety wouldn’t exist. secondly yes life does reward actions and decisions the rewards just aren’t as instant or as obvious. in gta sanadres you can go from a scrawny character to ripped and back again in 3 hours in real life it takes month of hard work and dedication. The instant rewards in games are the problem we begin to expect to see results like that in real life and when we don’t we become frustrated and give up.
Seriously. I’m a gamer and I get very good grades, am very good at social interaction and I do not suffer from health problems. I’m actually thin, and do good. Games are nothing wrong. They become a problem if you’re playing for 10 hours a day.
Video games don’t lead to violence. Heck, the news has more violence than video games, especially with that guy who committed suicide on TV.