Do Video Games Cause Mental Discomfort, or Do They Provide More Cognitive Benefits? 

By Angel Vizcarra

From: Education Week

A lot of people believe that video games are actually causing more mental discomfort and aren’t beneficial, while others believe that video games provide more cognitive benefits.  

Video games have become one of the most popular forms of entertainment, it use to be played as something competitive but as time went on games have found new ways to improve on its self like storytelling, gameplay, and graphics making these game so immersive that you can easily have time fly as you play these games, and even in modern times competitive gaming has been on the rise with rewards being up to millions of dollars making everyone hooked and willing to practice to become a professional gamer.  

But as things get popular, they are destined to cause some sort of controversy, and just like everything else video games are caught in the middle between two sides, one side believes that video games are not only a waste of time, but they can really affect your mental health negatively.  

 

While the other side believes that there isn’t anything wrong with video games and if anything, they have their own benefits. This is important to know because millions throughout the world have played video games, and since the video game business is so massive I think it’ll be important to explore both perspectives and find each positive and negative to find out if they do more harm than good.  

I will read two articles, one that supports the idea that video games cause no harm and can be beneficial, and another that believes video games cause harm to someone’s mental health. As I read these issues, I will elaborate on each perspective without any bias, and then I will talk about the similarities and differences, and strengths and weaknesses between each article, while finding a middle ground that will please both perspectives.  

 

Perspective #1: Video Games Negatively Affect Mental Health

 

By Charlie Health

In modern times, one of the most popular ways to entertain yourself or to relax is to turn on the TV and play video games. Sometimes playing video games can be so immersive that time flies by.  

But in those hours, you could slowly become addicted to playing video games. It gets out of control, and a lot of parents struggle with their child playing video games for extended hours. And too much Screen Time can cause problems for adults and children.  

Edward Luker is a psychologist who wrote an article called “Are video games, screens another addiction?”  from mayoclinichealthsystem.org where he explained why video games can be harmful to someone’s mental health if they play for an extended period of time.  

He mentioned that it could also affect the social and physical health of someone. By causing eye strain, back and neck discomfort, poor sleep, and obesity. But he mentioned something very important which emotionally causes someone to feel anxious and depressed and even causes trouble for people to focus. 

He mentions that hyper arousal can come from playing too many video games and affect children and adults. This is when the brain struggles to pay attention and manage its emotions. It also affects children from expressing themselves. 

 He states that “This can lead to a lack of empathy for others, which can lead to violence. Also, kids who rely on screens and social media to interact with others typically feel lonelier than kids who interact in person.”  

This statement is important to know because hyper arousal is something serious and can really take a toll on someone’s mental health and affect how they act. If nothing is done with hyper arousal, it could become chronic where it actually affects someone’s physical health as well.  

Then he talks about how the reward system of video games actually causes harm, when the brain releases dopamine it gets to an award, it makes the person feel pleasure and happiness, which causes hyper arousal and makes the person addicted to chasing that dopamine release making the person stay on the game even longer.  

He mentions the symptoms of all the negative effects that addiction to a video game can cause like having urges to play video games making it hard for someone to focus or cut social time because they want to play video games more. He mentions that it affects people's responsibility for someone who has school or work because they are too wrapped up in video games.  

 

Perspective #2: Video Games Have Cognitive Benefits  

By Neuroscience News

 

Now that we have looked into the perspective of someone who believes video games are not good for you, we will now switch over to the article published by the American Psychological Association (APA).   

The APA mentions that video games surprisingly help improve cognitive skills, they got this evidence by conducting an experiment where they gathered a bunch of people who had never played video games and gave them a decision to either play a different game or play a first person shooter game.  

The people who decided to play a first person shooter game were showing results of faster cognitive abilities like accurate attention allocation, better visual processing, and improved mental rotation abilities.  

The article also mentions a published meta analysis that found that the spatial skills that are enhanced by playing first person shooter video games are similar to university level courses that focus on improving the same skills.  

The article also mentions that video games help improve motivational benefits by pointing out the reward systems games have in their systems. The video games use failure to keep players engaged and motivated to try again, and teach players that failure is common but the more you fail you learn why you fail and you change your approach to things, and when you finally succeed it feels more rewarding.  

The article talks about how video games also have a social benefit and that nearly 70% of gamers play with a friend online. For example, all these multiplayer games need communication and teamwork. Communication is key in these multiplayer games.  

Even if you don’t have a microphone, there are still options for people to talk like preset sentences or even signals. The article talks about a U.S survey that was conducted where they found a connection between gaming and civic engagement.  

They found that teenagers who play civic type games or large scale multiplayer roleplay video games are more likely to engage in social interactions and civil movements like charity daily, although it’s not fully backed with science it is an interesting connection that could be possible. 

Similarities & Differences 

By Ars Technica 

Although these two articles have different perspectives, they do share similarities with each other. For example, both sources mention that video games affect the brain in some sort of way. They also both mention the reward system and how video games use it to keep the players hooked. 

 Both sources also mention how video games affect the social life of a gamer and even mention how it has a powerful influence on their ability to socialize. It's also interesting how the articles’ differences come from their similarities for example, both sources mention the brain and how gaming affects it, but one says it has a positive effect while the other says it has a negative effect.  

They also are different in terms of their focus since the first perspective talks about mental health and the addiction of playing video games while the second perspective talks about how it helps develop the mind and motivation.  

They also see differently in teamwork in video games, one calls it isolating while the other calls it teambuilding and communication. The first article mentions the physical effects of playing video games while the other doesn't mention it, which is a big difference as well.  

Strengths and Weaknesses 

By IGN

The strengths of the first perspective are that it really does well with mentioning the mental and physical effects of playing video games for too long. It also helps mention children being targets and gives parents steps with how to prevent hyper arousal, which is a major positive.  

It also mentions very important health issues to look out for like anxiety, bad sleep, addiction, and hyper arousal. While the article does have strong strengths, it also has its weaknesses, like how it doesn't have any concrete studies or references to base its claims on which makes its statements feel stale and bias.  

 

It also generalizes video games by not mentioning any other games except violent games even when there are games that are puzzled or help express creativity. Although it mentions adults and kids struggling from these issues, I feel like it's still targeted towards children because in the end it only gives solutions to parents with children. 

 

Now moving on to the second perspective, it shows lots of strengths like how it has evidence of studies and has references from other credible sources that help them build their case on why video games are beneficial.  

 

It also talks about how we learn from video games since it improves our skills compared to university level training. But like the other article, it does have its weaknesses like how it only mentions the positives of playing video games without really going in depth on the negative parts of playing video games which makes it also sound bias.  

 

It also mentions that there is a connection between civic engagement and video games, but it doesn't prove how video games directly cause this, which makes this claim weak.  

 

Compromise 

By fsunews 

 

Both of these sources, in terms of an argument, the second one seems more believable just because it has case studies and references which helps back up its case on how video games are beneficial for someone brain.  

 

My own feeling about this topic is more leaning towards the second perspective. Since I play video games, I know the ups and downs between the two perspectives. For example, I do well on balancing my responsibilities and keeping my grades well, while keeping a good social life. 

 

But I also feel the downsides with the health issues it mentions but in order to cancel the negatives out I found hobbies that will benefit me other than just playing video games, like traveling, reading, walking and playing instruments. Although these two articles share different perspectives, I do see multiple ways to find common ground. 

 

For the first middle ground, we can say that playing video games has its positive effects, but if you play video games constantly then it will begin to take a mental and physical toll. The other middle ground I can think of is balancing the amount of time playing video games and using the other time for your responsibilities while exploring other hobbies that interest you and can benefit your mental or physical health.