By Saturn Ludewig
Video games have become an integral part of modern entertainment, but as their popularity soars, debates about their impact on mental and physical health continue to surface, highlighting both the positive and negative effects they can have on an individual. A common belief and misconception made by people is the thought that video games are bad for a kid’s mental and physical health however many studies can prove otherwise. While too much gaming can cause harm to one’s health, video games aren’t all that harmful as long as they are not played too much. This article will give examples from research and studies that people have done to prove which ways video games are both healthy and unhealthy.
To start, studies done by researchers in Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software, have shown that in many cases with certain types of games, video games can be more effective at treating mental health issues such as depression and anxiety than therapy. Two games that they noticed had the best benefits were Minecraft and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Not only did the video games help alleviate symptoms of depression, but they also fostered social connectedness and helped to reduce loneliness.
Studies have also shown that video games with some kind of fighting are more effective and more healthy at releasing pent-up anger. Although losing a game can be frustrating, it can also help children learn to control their anger and frustration by coping with failure and trying again. There’s also the fact that video games are more affordable than therapy, which helps with relieving any money-related stress when it comes to the cost of therapy.
Video games are also beneficial for building someone’s problem-solving skills and improving one’s memory. Strategical games like puzzle solving, construction games, role-playing games, Call of Duty, and other fighting games like Call of Duty are good for helping problem-solving and in some ways better for improving memory. For example, puzzle games with any sort of matching are good at helping to improve memory.
Now to the portion of this article that includes ways in which video games can be harmful to one’s mental health and physical health. Playing too many video games for too long at a time can cause many different kinds of negative effects on the brain and physical well-being. For one example, it can cause one to lose sleep if one chooses to stay up late to play, or if one ends up being so focused on the game that they lose track of time. Lack of sleep can end with poor attendance at school due to sleeping in or sleeping through alarms, poor grades due to being too tired to do homework or finish assignments during class, and overall worsening mental health from being so physically drained.
Too much gaming tends to also cause one to distance themselves from their peers and family, causing social isolation social strain, and loss of friends. Loss of friends is also something that can cause one to get worse mental health, causing worse performances in school.
The physical afflictions that too much gaming can just as well cause are things like eye strain, migraines which can also lead to poor attendance, along with, if one is sitting the entire time and not moving much, weight gain leading to obesity from lack of exercise, and poor posture leading to back pain and neck pain.
In conclusion, studies have shown that video games have both physical and mental health benefits as well as negative effects on one’s mental and physical health. The important and best thing one should do when playing video games is to limit the amount of time spent playing video games as well as make sure to not let video games get in the way of one’s school work and to make sure one focuses on one’s physical and mental health.
Saturn Ludewig is a student at Lanesboro High School, one of 13 area students participating in the Journal Writing Project, now in its 25th year.
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