Do Video Games Help With Depression?

There are over 3 billion people who play video games across the world. It is an easy getaway for people to release their stress and play. Most people just play for fun while others play competitive games where everything is on the line. No matter what, it does not look like video games are stopping anytime soon. But how does it help with your mental health? And does it help someone with depression? Let’s find out

A few researchers in the past did a few surveys to find out if video games cause any problems or do they help in any way. This was done by JMIR Serious Games who found out that there is a lot of scientific evidence proving that playing video games helps with mental stress and health outcomes. This was the wide-based research done by them.

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Positives To Gaming

There are many positive impacts of gaming. Even though many news channels and parents say that it is very bad for you. Sometimes it does good as well. It reduces the level of stress and helps you be more mentally active. It also depends on the kind of games that you play. If you play a lot of violent games. There is a chance of you being violent. But this does not happen very often.

When playing video games, the user usually interacts with their friends if it’s an online multiplayer game. By doing this, they get to understand each other and feel safer. Whenever we have an achievement in the game, our brain releases a chemical known as dopamine. This acts as a motivation for you. It also gives a pleasure feeling to your brain. This makes you want to play more. And it also makes you a lot happier.

Types of games

There are different types of games. One is commercial video games and the other is therapy games. Therapy games are the ones that are used by doctors and psychologists to help train someone’s brain. So the kind of games that are here are memory games and the ones that help to sharpen our brains. Whereas commercial games are the ones that we play for fun. These are a lot more successful in the real world.

But doctors always suggest that it’s not a good thing for children to play for a long time. Because if they get addicted they might not be able to stop. There have been cases where children played a single game for over 24 hours. That causes a lot of neurological issues and a violent nature if someone tries to take the game away. But that’s not the case for adults. We are a lot more understanding and know how long to play.

So it’s good to play video games once in a while. Because it releases your stress from working the whole day. But there is a limit to it as well. You should not play for longer periods. It all depends on the person and his state of mind.

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