People love games. I love them too; they’re fun, exciting, beautifully constructed, and there are a lot of other reasons that make people love gaming. But just like the moon has a dark side, games have one too. This article is created with the intent of shining more light on the topic, so that angry parents who blame every bad thing that happens with their child on games, and regular people like you and I, who are just curious, have a better understanding of the topic.





Depression, anxiety, gaming disorder?!





Games have attracted a lot of attention, including the medical communities. According to the medical community, there are severity modifiers for Internet Gaming Disorder: severe, moderate or mild. These modifiers are based on a number of factors, including how much time an individual spends playing, and how much these games impact an individual’s overall functioning. These are the criteria:





Again, while Internet Gaming Disorder is not officially branded as a disorder in the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition), the APA (American Psychological Association) is actively encouraging further research on the topic for possible future inclusion in the editions of the DSM. (The purpose of this information is for you to understand if you are addicted to gaming.)





Isn’t the purpose of entertainment to unwind?





There is a large group of people who game to relieve anxiety or guilt or depression, amongst other mental states. As such, gaming is just another form of entertainment, the difference being the player is engaged in the story, and controls the outcome. To understand this concept a bit deeper, we have to understand that the difference between, “Whew! It’s been a really long day. After dinner, I’ll play a game to relax for a bit before bed.” and “The thought of going to work/a social event/the grocery story is too stressful. I’m just gonna stay in and game for hours on end instead.” Understandably, these two scenarios completely differ, but the context is still the same: gaming.





The brain





I was recently listening to The Addictive Brain and one part about how addiction hijacks the brain struck out to me.





Simply speaking, whenever you partake in anything that gives a great amount of pleasure, like video games, drugs, sex, etc, you change the way your brain works. A normal “typical” person does normal things, like playing with their dogs, watching TV, going out with friends, running. On a pleasure scale, these things are probably on 6/10. For them, studying would probably fall around 4/10. It’s not exactly fun, but hey, it’s not so bad, so they can do it and not feel bad at all. Just a reminder, these are very general assumptions. But when you start out playing a video game like WoW/LoL/DOTA, you’re going to be experiencing pleasure on the scale of 10/10. Over time, this 10/10 pleasure slowly becomes 6/10 - you’re accustomed to such a high amount of pleasure that your brain actually starts thinking that this is “normal” for you. Your brain’s neurons and dopamine receptors physically change to get accustomed to the pleasure you receive from playing video games.





Afterwards, normal “pleasurable activities like walking the dog or going out with friends turn into 3/10 pleasure, and studying is on a 1/10 pleasure. Basically you avoid studying because it’s ridiculously boring compared to playing your video games.





In essence, gaming is a super pleasurable activity, and partaking in super pleasurable activities for a long time will make normal things feel boring, and boring things feel unbearable, because your dopamine receptors have become so hijacked that you need an abnormal amount of dopamine just to feel normal.





This article from Harvard Health goes into more depth regarding the previous information.





In nature, rewards come only with time and effort. Addictive drugs and behaviors provide a shortcut, flooding the brain with dopamine and other neurotransmitters. Our brains do not have an easy way to withstand the onslaught… In a person who becomes addicted, brain receptors become overwhelmed. The brain responds by producing less dopamine or eliminating dopamine receptors - an adaptation similar to turning the volume down on a loudspeaker when noise becomes too loud.





Come on, can’t I even play Mario Kart?





The difference between casual games like Mario and competitive games is vast. Here is a quote from a gamer:





“Super competitive games are games where the ‘fun’ is just with winning and getting better, rather than the actual gameplay itself. Games such as CS, LoL, DOTA, WoW, etc. This is just purely my opinion, since whenever I play such games, it controls me, and when I am unable to play it, I'm driven insane, and when I finally rank up, I no longer feel like playing the game, cuz the so called ‘fun’ is in the whole rank system. Addiction is when the certain activity controls you, but a habit is something that you can control.”





To generalize this person’s comment, they are trying to say that competitive games tend to be the real addiction, whereas casual games and single player games really are just a habit, as you are in control of it.





The other side of the moon.





Each story has two sides, and gaming is no exception. By overlooking the positive effects, we are just lying to ourselves.





It’s shown to give users faster reflexes and reaction times and to be able to organize and “multi-task” (compartmentalize things more effectively)

Empathy: Just like any storytelling medium, it helps to have us understand the character's motives, feelings, and emotions. Even more so with video games due to their interactive nature.

Problem solving: Some games really test your ability to solve a problem. Some involve puzzles and some involve a combination of different gameplay elements. A game like Zelda: is built on physics, so you can interact with the world in various ways. This helps with people using their imagination and the tools given to take out a bandit camp or get over a large mountain.

Hand Eye Coordination/Muscle memory: Not exactly for mental health, but improving reaction times can be useful for building up muscle memory.

Sociability - Online/multiplayer games can be a social outlet for kids who have a hard time connecting to their peers IRL, or just for regular kids to bond with their friends after school.

Leadership - In online multiplayer games, there are plenty of opportunities to learn leadership skills, between directing teammates during a firefight in an FPS/MOBA or holding an officer position in an online guild.





Here is a comment from a regular gamer - “I have so much chronic pain that I can’t physically do much. But video games have honestly saved my sanity a little. Plus the friendships are incredible. My minecraft server set up an entire fireworks show for me when I mentioned they don’t do Fourth of July fireworks where I lived in Alaska because it wouldn’t get dark enough in summer. I keep in touch with some other friends by playing a couple Battlefield 1 matches once in awhile, we make an amazing team. I love video games.”





And another comment - “Historical games made me love history (like Age of Empires and Assassin’s Creed). I’ve been a history nerd ever since, minored in it in college.”





And another comment - “I met my wifey on csgo”





Conclusion (the end).





Video games, more than many works of fiction and art are so helpful for escapism. They’re an art form you have to experience actively, rather than passively. I inhale books, but nothing can beat the immersion of controlling the protagonist’s every step in a game.





On the one hand, they’re a great way to cope with any bad situation; from frustrations with your parents as a kid to working a terrible job as an adult, video games provide an escape. On the other hand, escapism is a double-edged sword BECAUSE it helps you cope with any frustration in life: you become comfortable enough that you don’t take the steps to improve your life. You get caught in a loop.





I think this is why the standard “gamer” stereotype is an overweight misogynist living in their parents’ basement; many people have the power to fix these problems for themselves, but if games can make you just comfortable enough, there’s no reason to change.















