Gaming has had a lot of bad press. With talk of kids’ increased screen time and people’s unwillingness or even inability to interact with others, the idea that gaming is harmful persists. In moderation, however, gaming is not only fun, but has significant potential mental health benefits.
A regular gaming habit can lead to cognitive improvement, learning new skills, and can alleviate negative emotions that may hold others back. Here’s how:
Online Gaming Can Aid Socialization
The Covid-19 pandemic led to worldwide lockdowns starting in 2020, with people confined to their homes for days, weeks, and sometimes months on end. Those who participated in online games often fared better than their non-gamer friends. Non-gamers were more likely to feel isolated, lonely, anxious, and depressed. Online gaming helped many people get through the pandemic with their mental health intact.
According to a 2019 survey, 8 out of 10 respondents said that gaming offered “mental stimulation, relaxation, and stress relief.” Researchers have found that games with social components offer benefits for mental wellbeing.
Online games are played by males and females of all ages, with many older players reporting that they have been playing online games for ten years or fewer. The popularity of games has been on the increase for a while, but saw a significant surge in interest during the confinement of the Covid-19 pandemic.
While outsiders often tend to think that gaming negates socializing, the opposite is often the case. Most men and women aged 18 – 34 say that online gaming helps them stay connected with friends and family. Staying connected during the Covid pandemic was something many people found difficult, if not impossible. Those adept at connecting with their friends and family via online gaming, however, had a familiar way to fulfil those social and emotional needs.
Note that there are also plenty of strangers out there and people need good habits to stay safe while gaming online. Children and adults alike should learn not to share personally identifiable information (PII) with people they do not know outside of a game. PII includes but is not limited to full names, addresses, dates of birth, email addresses, and bank account details.
Online gamers can also help protect themselves by verifying the identities of people they play or communicate with online. They can do this through Nuwber, which allows people to check anyone’s location, profession, and more.
Online Gaming Provides Engagement and Interactivity
So, rather than cutting people off from the outside world, online gaming can open a door to friends, family, and strangers worldwide. Opportunities exist for interacting with others and experiencing different cultures.
Social games, such as Mafia, Secret Hitler, and Among Us, encourage teamwork. They also offer a virtual space to meet and make friends. In one study, playing such games regularly was associated with stress relief and improved coping.
Yet another benefit of online gaming is the often immersive quality and storytelling aspect of these games. They are more interactive than watching television or movies, enabling the player to be a part of and create the stories involved. Players can create characters that match their own traits, and which can have an impact on self-awareness, or they can create characters that are completely “other,” thus experiencing the therapeutic benefits of role play.
Distraction from Pain and Trauma Through Online Gaming
Another benefit of online gaming is that it can provide a useful and healthy distraction from negative experiences, such as pain and trauma. Not only can playing games distract someone from mental pain, but researchers have found that gaming can alleviate physical pain, too.
A good gaming session can relieve the effects of anxiety, stress, and PTSD. Designed to lead to positive emotions, online gaming can alleviate negative emotions, helping people to cope with daily stresses or specific trauma.
Games that can help people deal with stress or trauma are the same games that you can buy off-the-shelf for entertainment. This makes gaming as a distraction from disorders such as anxiety, stress, or PTSD very accessible. People don’t need to be prescribed a video game to help them feel better and cope with what they are going through. In addition, purchasing a game to play tends to be cheaper than many professional mental health services.
So, while the help of a mental health professional remains invaluable and anyone who thinks they have a mental health issue should talk with a trained professional, it’s noteworthy that gaming may provide emotional relief that can help them cope. While traditional therapy and prescribed medications are unlikely to be replaced by gaming, gaming may help people in addition to other forms of treatment.
Cognitive Gains, Adaptive Thinking, Spatial Awareness, and Strategy
Online action games like Call of Duty have been found to improve problem-solving skills and task prioritization, which can benefit people personally and professionally. Games like this are also largely cooperative, which can help people improve their empathetic skills.
Empathy is a soft skill that is increasingly valuable. This component of emotional intelligence is already helping people become better, more effective teammates and leaders. Much of the workforce of the future is likely to be working remotely with colleagues based all over the world. The ability to communicate, connect, and co-operate with others electronically is increasingly attractive.
Visuospatial skills are critical to most of our lives, whether we are driving, going shopping, using a computer, or learning to be an engineer. According to one study, children who played video games regularly – particularly action games – demonstrated a higher score on visual memory tasks. Another study found that such gains also extended to adulthood. Particularly when the games are similar to real-world tasks, they can help people’s capacity to learn new skills.
In the US, more than 214 million people play games for at least one hour per week. Gaming can be immersive, exhilarating, and an excellent way to enjoy storytelling while improving coordination and strategic skills. What’s more – online gaming can be very beneficial to mental health.