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by Cam Adair " # Blog

Video Games and

Mental Health: How
Gaming Affects Your
Mental Health
Video games have been around for more
than 30 years. But only in the past 15 years
have people started to pay attention to the
correlation between video games and mental
health.

Excessive gaming is connected to mental

health problems such as:

Depression

Social anxiety

Lack of motivation

Poor emotional regulation

Interpersonal conflict

Suicidal thoughts

On the other hand, some studies show that

video games can improve your mental health
if you play in moderation – the keyword here
is gaming in moderation.

This article analyzes the effects of video

games on your mental health and offers
suggestions on where you can get help if
gaming is impacting your health.

Effects of Video Games on

Your Mental Health
When we talk about video games and mental
health, you must know that we primarily
consider the mental health effects of
excessive gaming.

In moderation, playing video games may not

have strong negative effects on mental
health.

A study by Oxford University shows that

gaming in moderation and a controlled
environment may improve one’s mental well-
being.

Some people might find the results of this

study surprising, especially considering that
many prior studies have linked gaming with
negative effects on mental health.

However, one key thing to note here is an

isolated study where gamers played the
prosocial game Animal Crossing for four
hours a day. The truth is that the gaming
habits of most addicted gamers are much
different. They play other, more addictive
games that are also more toxic, and many
gamers play for more than four hours a day.

The more you play, the more you may

neglect other aspects of your life. And this
also means that the more your mental well-
being is going to suffer. Furthermore, the
negative effects of excessive video gaming
on mental health are supported by hundreds
of anecdotal stories from our members who
have suffered from gaming addiction.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the

most common effects of gaming on mental
health.

Video Games and Depression

Depression is one of the most common
comorbidities that gamers have, according
to Gonzalez-Bueso et al. from 2018.

This study found up to 89% of problem

gamers are also diagnosed with depression in
addition to video game addiction.

One of the main questions we have

regarding video games and depression is:
does gaming cause depression, or are video
games the coping mechanism for depression,
exacerbating the original mental health
problem?

Many gamers we work with develop

depression because of their gaming habits.
As they start playing video games more and
more, they begin to neglect other aspects of
their lives. For example, they don’t have as
many social relationships and ignore healthy
habits such as exercise and diet.

All of that can make you depressed or

worsen existing depression.

We also have many cases where gamers use

video games to alleviate their symptoms of
depression. They turn to gaming as an
escape and way to cope with their
depression, but in the end, the gaming starts
to worsen their depression, not fix it.

Most studies that we have so far show us

that excessive gaming can lead to depression
and a clear link between the two.

If you want to learn more about video games

and depression, read our article about this
topic.

Gaming and Social Anxiety

Does gaming cause social anxiety?

Social anxiety is another common

comorbidity to video game addiction, so
video games might be responsible for your
social anxiety.

If you think about it, it makes sense – the

more you play video games, the more you
lose contact with your real-life friends, which
can, in turn, lead to experiencing more social
anxiety.

But the same can be said about social

anxiety as can be told about depression.
Many people turn to video games because
they are socially anxious and struggle with
physical world friendships. Games offer them
an escape from real life; plus, they can
socialize with people online with little to no
risk. And when they do that, they start
neglecting real-life relationships, worsening
their existing social anxiety.

And that’s not a good place to be.

If you rely on video games and online

platforms for socializing, you lose out on the
many benefits of having friends in real life.
You don’t get to have adventures that you
might have in your life, you don’t meet new
people, and even if you do, the relationships
online may not be as genuine as they are in
real life.

Does Gaming Cause Anxiety?

Anxiety is a feeling of unease and fear that
many people get because of their inability to
predict what will happen in the future.

Everyone gets anxious from time to time. For

many people, this happens because of school
exams, job interviews, or simply before
attending an important event. As such,
gaming does not cause anxiety.

It can, however, worsen it in some cases.

This can happen if you turn to video games

as a form of escapism. Video games can
allow you to escape from the real world to
forget about the problems you have in real
life.

This can be a great thing if you come home

from a long day at work or in school. Video
games can allow you to jump into another
world where you forget about everything
that’s bothering you.

But if this happens too often and if you start

neglecting those problems in real life
because video games offer you an easier,
more comfortable escape, then it can
become a problem. Your anxiety will
eventually become even worse knowing that
you haven’t managed to address those
nagging issues you might have in your life.

Eventually, life is going to catch up with you.

And when that happens, your problems are
going to start accumulating to the point
where you can’t manage them successfully
any longer, which will result in even more
anxiety.

So gaming itself may not cause anxiety, but

if you turn to play video games to escape
your problems, it can significantly worsen
your existing anxiety.

Read more about this in our article that talks

about gaming and anxiety.

Lack of Motivation
Playing video games in excess is also
responsible for lack of motivation.

We hear from many parents concerned

about their child and their lack of motivation
to do other things than play video games all
day and wonder if gaming is making people
lazy.

This happens because video games address

many of the needs that you would satisfy
with other activities such as hobbies. For
example, video games allow you to progress
and level up your skills, which is one of the
core needs of human existence.

Furthermore, video games also allow you to

stay social, get creative, and get immersed as
they act as this massive time sink.

The result?

When you play video games too much, you

don’t have the motivation to do other
things because video games address all of
the needs that other activities usually do.

A good solution for this is to try as many

hobbies as possible to replace your gaming
habit. You could also try a 90-day detox,
which might help you refocus your priorities
and do healthy activities that will address
the same needs as gaming does for you.

Gaming Causes Poor Emotional

Regulation
One of the biggest negative effects of video
games can lead you to struggle with
regulating your emotions properly.

Studies show that people diagnosed with

Internet gaming disorder are more likely to
be aggressive, depressed, and anxious. The
main mechanism that leads to those
comorbidities is their inability to regulate
and control their emotions, such as anger,
sadness, fear, or other emotions.

That’s because video games are often seen

as a way of escaping your emotions. As a
result, many gamers, especially young
gamers and teenagers, play video games
because they may have underlying negative
emotions.

However, video games don’t solve their

problem and temporarily numb those
negative emotions. On the contrary, playing
video games excessively will make those
emotions even more intense, especially if
you play video games every day for several
hours.

When you have good control over your

emotions, you can control your actions
better by controlling your emotional state.
Excessive game time can cause you to
develop skill deficits, such as regulating your
emotions.

Interpersonal Conflict
Video games and gaming addiction are often
responsible for interpersonal conflict.

This comprehensive study on the effects of

video games and interpersonal relationships
shows that video games can harm
relationships that gamers have with other
people – including family members such as
siblings, parents, and other people.

The study also confirms that playing violent

video games can have a more pronounced
negative effect on gamers’ interpersonal
relationships with other people. On the other
hand, non-violent games can improve the
quality of interpersonal relationships
compared to violent games.

In addition, many online games that gamers

play nowadays, such as League of Legends ,
Rocket League, Fortnite, Roblox, Genshin
Impact, or Grand Theft Auto, have toxic
online communities. The toxicity of these
communities can translate to worse
relationships with other people. All the anger
and frustration gather inside like a hurricane
that is released on other people.

So although games can provide social

opportunities, sometimes those social
opportunities can lead to worse relationships
with other people, which can negatively
affect other aspects of your mental health,
too.

Gaming and Suicidal Thoughts

When video gaming addiction gets out of
hand, some individuals may begin having
suicidal thoughts.

Many addicted gamers have shared their

experience with suicidal thoughts, including
Cam Adair, the founder of Game Quitters,
who started experiencing these thoughts
due to excessive gaming.

These thoughts are common with other

people who share their stories on Game
Quitters, such as, for example, Jose, who was
playing video games from the age of just 8.

The problem with video games and addiction

to games is that they can quickly spiral out
of control. You start to lose focus and track
of other activities in your life and before you
know it, playing video games becomes the
only thing and your only priority in life.

If you or another family member or friend

experiences suicidal thoughts, contact the
Suicide prevention line immediately at 1-
800-273-8255.

If you experience suicidal thoughts, then

your gaming addiction has already spread
through other areas of your life so much that
it’s heavily impacting the quality of your life.
At this point, treatment is the most viable
option.

Does Gaming Have

Positive Effects on Mental
Health?
Recent studies suggest that playing non-
violent video games (in this case, Animal
Crossing) can positively affect your mental
health.

You may become happier, and you have

better relationships with other people as a
result.

However, one of the main problems with

video games is that many games are violent.
Many of them also have toxic communities
online, so they can’t have as many positive
effects.

In addition, many gamers play games

excessively, so they start to experience
mostly the negative effects, and they don’t
get to see the positive impact that video
games can cause.

If you want to experience positive effects

from video games, try playing in moderation.
You can also try a 90-day detox to change
your relationship with video games for good.

Need Help?
If you experience any of the above-
mentioned negative effects of video games
on mental health, then we encourage you to
speak with a therapist near you. This will be
the most effective strategy for your
problems since you need someone to
support you and give you professional tips
for coping with your mental health
challenges.

In addition, we have designed an in-depth

course for gamers called Respawn, where you
will learn how to alleviate the negative
effects of gaming on mental health and solve
your problems with practical strategies.

We also have other resources that you can

try, such as:

Reclaim program for families of addicted

gamers

Coaching programs

Community forum

Hundreds of articles and other resources

INTENTA’s training for mental health

professionals

Is Gaming Taking Over Your

Life?

Take our short quiz and find out. Takes less

than 5 minutes.

TAKE THE QUIZ

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