This topic intrigued me immediately as someone who enjoys gaming. Video games get a really bad reputation because they can be violent.
There are billions of gamers worldwide and that warrants a discussion of their possible implications on mental health.
In this post, I will attempt to interrupt this stigma surrounding video games and get to the root of whether or not they can be beneficial.
What In The World Do Video Games Have To Do With Mental Health?
Well, let me tell you. Video games can have a lot of benefits to your mental health! You are probably wondering how that is. Video games, in moderation, can provide a sense of accomplishment. Imagine you are playing a video game and you beat a level you were stuck on. There is a sense of pride in that, a sense of determination. That is an admirable and important quality to have, and video games can help foster that. Here is a more in-depth reason. Video games can make you think critically. Remember in school? You had to think about a math problem or a paper you were writing. Those processes required solutions that weren’t necessarily conventional. Video games do the same thing. To beat a level or obtain a desired item, you have to think critically. Video games can bring people together! Something that friends and family can play virtually or even interactively.
Why Talk About Video Games?
So many people are gaming now. It is a growing part of the world. People communicate through mobile gaming, console gaming, computer gaming, and more. There is also a lot of opportunities to be had in the gaming world. People stream all kinds of different games and they can do so whenever they want. There are gaming platforms that service these kinds of things as well. Video games are a coping mechanism for a lot of people as well.
Setting Limits
While video games can be a great option for coping with real-life issues, they have their drawbacks. If video games are played excessively, or more than 4 hours per day, they can be detrimental to the very things I just said they benefit. Therefore it is really important to limit screen time. Speaking from experience, video games can really make time go by pretty quickly. It is important to have a trigger letting you know that enough is enough for now. That is where the Yunbaoit Visual Analog Timer comes in. This time management tool is perfect for kids or adults to keep everything in check throughout the day. Routines are very important. I am all for spontaneity but at the same time, it is good to have time planned out. To successfully manage your time on-screen and off-screen it is important to keep focused on the tasks you have at hand. That requires a lot of discipline.
The Bottom Line
Video games were originally meant to be purely entertainment. They have grown a great deal from that. Being able to connect with friends and family virtually and in-person and engage in an activity is an invaluable part of human existence. It is just as important to make sure you balance your screen time with time enjoying life in other ways. It is so so easy to let time get away from you while looking at a screen though. That is where How To Develop Laser Focus comes in. This program helps you further develop your already keen and agile mind. We are all about keeping our minds sharp and always learning new things. Being able to train your mind to be as adaptable and free as possible regardless of the situation is a huge part of that and that is what this program does. That is just another way that we can keep our minds sharp!
I’m very pleased you have done an article on this, it’s something I have thought a few times. I played video games quite a lot when I was younger. The benefits were it was great for relieving stress and it did help with thinking outside the box, keeping your mind sharp and helping even with creativity. It was always something you could do with friends and they were very happy times of my childhood. Also the graphics even over a decade ago were pretty good and the gameplay was so good, it felt like you were actually in the game.
I stopped gaming some years ago now, there were times that I was spending quite some time on video games, my favourite was the Fifa football games. It’s a balancing act really, everything in moderation. I am finding now in my mid twenties, although I don’t game any more because of various reasons. It is helping with online quizzing that I started up last year and there has been many questions on games I used to play on, so that’s good.
The tools you have highlighted would certainly be beneficial for youngsters who are video gaming. I think over gaming, you start to get quite grumpy and it can get very addictive. It’s important to play within moderation, because the benefits are brilliant.
Hi Eden!
Thank you so much for leaving your thoughts! Being in my mid-twenties myself I can relate a lot to what you are saying. I played a lot of sports games like Fifa and Madden too. I have not been gaming for a couple of months now because I realized that when I gamed too much I would feel a lot of the same things you pointed out. However, the benefits you listed are so true also I think to balance it out it’s important to be mindful of taking breaks even if it is just 10 minutes. Moderation in everything we do is important to not only cancel out negative consequences of over gaming but also to grab and maintain all the benefits that it can produce. Those online quizzes sound cool and fun also!