We all know that video games have predominantly become one of the most common norms of modern-day society. People of all ages, no matter what country they belong to, particularly children and adults, play video games at some point in their lives.
Some people may choose to continue being stuck playing for quite a prolonged period in their lifetime. Therefore, it’s imperative to be aware of how these video games affect the players in various possible ways.
There are many factors to consider in order to determine how these computerized electronic games affect adults and play a role in shaping their personalities.
With that in mind, we’ll explore how video games may be good or bad for us in this article by addressing different issues and shed some light on them.
So to find out more, keep reading!
How Do Video Games Affect the Functionality of the Human Brain?
Health experts and doctors have expressed grave concern over the matter and did their research, and provided evidence-based studies to explain how brain functionality be varied in adults who are video gamers and those who aren’t.
Recent studies have shown that video gaming triggers the excessive release of dopamine. This induces a pleasurable and happy mood which drives the players to continue playing and not quit within a short time period.
As a result of this, teens and adults find themselves addicted to video games for their excitement and, thus, slowly and gradually lose interest in other activities because they don’t seem to be as much enticing and fun as the video games become for them.
Moreover, it has also been found that video gaming has emerged as one of the most effective ways to enhance one’s memory and improve cognitive abilities.
It’s mainly because gamers solve one task after the other, taking one staggering step at a time, with immense use of one’s problem-tackling capabilities, making parts of the brain, such as the hippocampus, more actively engaged.
The following is the data table, which shows the current video gaming demographics:
| Gender | Average Number of Video Game Players |
| Female | 1.39 billion (as of 2023) |
| Male | 1.70 billion (as of 2023) |
What Are Some of the Positive Effects of Video Gaming for Adults?
It’s a very common misconception among many people that video games can only put the health of children and adults at risk and that they are meant to disadvantage them at so many levels.
Guess what, folks? It turns out that it’s not quite true. As surprising as it may sound, there are so many merits that video gaming can provide to the players contemporary, with the players having the freedom to enjoy themselves to the fullest.
I’ve listed down a few of the positive outcomes of playing video games along and will be laying emphasis on each of the highlighted elements, which are as follows:
- Helps build excellent problem-solving skills.
- Better cognitive abilities.
- Provides educational opportunities.
- Escapism from everyday life issues and relieves stress among adults.
Problem-Solving Skills
Every mission-based video game requires the completion of challenge after challenge that ultimately leads to the player achieving a reward.
Those set of tasks makes it necessary for the player to make quick decisions in a much more focused manner, and this requires consequential critical thinking and sharp reflexes.
Hence, the players would have to come up with a strategy to solve the complex on-screen tasks or to tackle a collection of epic obstacles.
Repeating such a practice will surely benefit the players as they can be trained to solve their day-to-day problems in the real world with a keen approach, quicker response, and fast-paced but reliable actions.
Better Cognitive Abilities
Whatever video game you choose to play, one thing is certain it will help improve your cognitive abilities because it increases the amount of grey matter in your brain as you give full mode of attention to the game you are playing.
Fast-paced games will make you more interactive, decreasing your reaction time and enhancing your spatial awareness as you have to make speedy movements in the game, training your eyes to distinguish between different grey shades and recognize hurdles on your path.
Providing Educational Opportunities
Many games are based on educational subjects, just as history, geography, science, or world leadership. They all have the same scheme, complete a certain mission and then proceed to unlock certain rewards associated with it.
This, in turn, teaches the gamer to get persistent when it comes to accomplishing their goals, having a positive influence in real life, too. Thus, the player can get better grades if he/ she learns the art of persistence.
For instance, take SimCity as an example which grants you a blissful opportunity to plan to create, design, manufacture, and plot your own virtual city, starting from scratch.
It helps adults learn and acquire managing skills, efficient planning, and orientation of how big cities work in real life.
This collectively adds to their knowledge and improves literacy, giving them an amazing chance to learn about practical things in life way beyond their academic textbooks!
Escapism From Stress
Video games are believed to be an escape room for people to cherish. The reason is that one is completely attentive to the game, not focusing on the background distractions, relieving them from worrying about their daily life problems.
They get to delve into the games so much that they often forget about what life was outside the virtual world and tends to enjoy living in the fantasy world that video games offer.
This clearly reduces anxiety and stress levels among adults who wish to take a break from what keeps them worried day and night and those fed up with the same old routine.
It does help to improve one’s quality of life and becomes a source of relaxation for many adults worldwide.
What Are Some of the Negative Aspects of Video Gaming on Adults?
Video games, without a shadow of a doubt, introduce adults to a whole different captivating world, but they do carry some harmful demerits that can disrupt a sane person’s life.
Let’s look into the various negative aspects that video gaming brings forth for the players. The following is a small list of its major demerits:
- Poor Lifestyle
- Gaming Addiction
- Physical Health Issues
- Self-Isolation
Poor Lifestyle
From a poor lifestyle, what I truly mean is that adults are likely to spend long hours on the screen, not wanting to leave the game, that there’s a high possibility of skipping meals, having proper hygiene, and not going to bed on time.
They’ll play one game after the other and venture out for mission after mission that they play late into the night, leading to sleep deprivation that can distort cognitions if excessive playing is continued for a noticeably long period of time.
This largely contributes towards poor quality and unhealthy traits of life.
Gaming Addiction
A point comes when gaming becomes nothing but a very serious obsession among adults. This is an early sign of a very disastrous and upsetting aftermath that directly relates to one’s mental health.
It’s not wrong to say that it’s that time when they choose gaming over everything else, which directly has a very adverse impact on the person’s relationships, friendships, jobs, career, and so on and forth.
Nothing makes them happy than an on-screen video game which results in the loss of interest in things that used to excite them. They seemingly begin to lose track of time and what actually matters, i.e., real-life affairs and dealings.
This further deteriorates their mental health, risking depressive moods and manic mood swings.
Physical Health Issues
It’s undeniable that there will be many associated health issues when excessive video game playing comes into play.
Being seated in the very same position for a long number of hours means that there’s very less to hardly any physical movement contrary to regular exercise, which raises issues like obesity, chronic headaches, neck pain, eye strain, and hand and wrist injuries due to holding the console for hours and hours.
Self-Isolation
One of the other risks accompanying video gaming is that adults who suffer from loneliness are vulnerable to finding solace in video gaming, detaching themselves from worldly people, and resulting in self-isolation.
Self-isolation comes with its own harmful consequences, resulting in several mental health issues. The severity can be judged by the fact that this can lead to suicidal thoughts among adults.
How Can Video Games Be Played in a Healthy Way by Adults?
Thoroughly reading through the blog, you all can agree that video gaming can be good or bad for adults, having both positive effects and potential drawbacks.
However, there’s a certain criteria of rules which adults can adapt to in order to make the most out of these video games and can benefit from them as much as possible.
Time Limit
It’s essential that adults choose a fixed amount of time that they will spend playing video games.
This will achieve the set target of not going off the tangent and avoiding its excessive use for non-stop hours.
Assign a number of hours to other tasks of the day based on your preference keeping the video game time to a maximum of 2 hours a day.
No All-Night Gaming Binge
One of the most crucial steps in overcoming gaming addiction and playing it for a set period is to remind yourself repeatedly to go to sleep before midnight, even if it takes leaving the game in the middle of nowhere. You can always start over from that point in the game the next day!
This strict attitude, if persistent, will settle things down, making sure that the quality of a good night’s sleep is not disrupted.
Small Breaks Can Make a Huge Difference
Consider taking small breaks during video gaming sessions and engaging in other physical activities such as going out in the park for a walk, hitting the gym, or cooking food.
These activities can play a pivotal role in providing a distraction from video games and ensuring that your attention gets diverted to other activities of the day, not solely focused on the game, so as to reduce the risk of addiction and promote a healthier environment for gaming.
Conclusion
- Video games are played globally, regardless of the country, culture, and background the person belongs. It is a playful community that unites over 3 billion people together.
- It is very intriguing to know how the regions of the brain get activated when playing video games and what their effect is on the brain.
- Video gaming can have numerous advantages as it improves problem-solving skills and cognitive abilities. It can also provide recreational education opportunities and serve as an escape room for stressful environments.
- Video gaming has drawbacks, too, as excessive gaming sessions can result in mental health issues such as self-isolation, poor quality of life, physical health issues, and gaming addiction.
- To ensure a better and healthier way of playing video games, set a time limit, don’t play late at night, and take consecutive breaks during gaming sessions.