Positive Effects of Video Gaming

Sample 102 Documented Paragraph—Fall 2022

Nowadays, video games has proven to have positive effects on people's mental health.
Both articles, “Playing Video Games May Make You Happier, Study Finds” by Picheta (2020)
and “Pandemic-Fueled Surge in Gaming Reshaping our Understanding of its Effects on Mental
Health” by Huffington (2022) highlight the benefits of video games as well as their increase in
demand during the pandemic. A study is conducted by the University of Oxford to investigate
the effects of playing two video games, Nintendo's “Animal Crossing New Horizons” and
Electronic Arts’s “Plants versus Zombies: Battle for Neighborville” (as cited in Picheta, 2020).
Przybylski, the study's lead author at the Oxford Internet Institute, explains that video games are
not the only factor that affects one's mental health negatively, and that they are rather a source of
happiness to a person's mind, cites Picheta (2020). Picheta explains that both games were a major
hit, especially Animal Crossing New Horizons (2020). Also, the study of University of Oxford
which compiles 40,000 gamers proves the benefits of gaming (as cited in Huffington, 2020).
Huffington explains that people have tendencies to always grow, improve and accomplish their
dreams and goals (2022); this is why playing video games boosts one’s confidence upon winning
which motivates people for the real world's challenges. Moreover, the number of gamers varying
between the ages of 55 and 64 in the years of 2019 till 2021 has increased, proving that video
games are enjoyable and wholesome even for older adults (Huffington, 2022). Furthermore,
during the pandemic, these video games have reached the home of every person as the gaming
market developed by 23%, according to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, cites
Huffington (2022). As a result, gaming has become a way of family time for many families
where generations are bonding together over these games, as Global Web Index states (as cited
in Huffington, 2022). Last but not least, these games help people to view and preview their
problems through screens and solve them in real life, as Schaefer, the creator of Psychonauts,
explains (as cited in Huffington, 2022). Evidently, gaming has much hidden potential in
improving one's mental health and all aspects related to it. Researchers are only starting to unveil
its benefits hoping to find more and more to improve people’s lives.