Can certain games affect our mental and physical wellbeing?

Can certain games affect our mental and physical wellbeing?

A computer generates images through a program and then sent to a computer screen which in return creates a video game. It is where the people can be free and connect with friends. Video games are misunderstood and not really talked about in society. Many parents tell their kids to not play video games because there are no benefits to it and that it would “rot” your brain. Not all games are like that; in fact, there are a lot of different ones from which you can reap benefits. Exergames, strategic games, and VR should be considered a constructive pastime because it can improve mental and physical health.

Some scientists and psychologists argue that video games can harm the body physically. There have been some instances where playing too much can lead to nearsightedness, blurred vision and headaches. There’s also some cases of people being sleep deprived because of games. According to Dube, very good sleep efficiency was decreased by access to and frequent use of a TV (54%), cell phone (52%), tablet (51%) and video games (51%). There have been cases of physical harm on the body from playing. A man had gotten a hernia while playing the Wii Fit game and had to be rushed to the hospital.

Despite those claims, video games can help increase a person’s hand-eye coordination, reaction time, and help with rehabilitation. There are many types of video games, for example, they have FPS, MOBA, Exergames, and VR. First Person Shooters, which is FPS for short, can increase a persons hand-eye coordination while MOBA games can help boost their decision-making skills. Active video games or more commonly known as Exergames can help kids become more active while gaming. Studies show that adolescents increased their energy expenditure from 129% to 400% while playing active games. Games such as “Just Dance” and “Wii Sports” can help us become healthier while also staying in the comfort of our homes. Wii sports has a wide range of sports to play with family or with people online. They can teach you skills that you can use or hone the skills you already learned. “Video game skills can transfer to real-world situations. Fery and Ponserre found that 62 male college students who learned to putt a golf ball from playing a golf exergame transferred the skill best when they concentrate on a certain goal.” (Staiano and Calvert 15) Certain games like Call of Duty and Battlefield can enhance our reaction time. They require players to be able to spot enemies from afar or react when someone has popped up in front of them. According to Bavelier, “a player’s ability to react to events that unfold quickly gets better with regular play. Test of reaction times of action video game players show that performance improved by more than 10 percent compared with before they took up gaming” (11).

Scientist and psychologist argue that video games can affect people mentally. A child’s mind can easily be affected due to violence and sexual content in certain games. Games like Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty promote violence, drugs, and sexual acts. Some cases of depression and stress have been linked to video games. Video addiction can cause a person to not care about their personal wellbeing as long as they can achieve what they want in the game. According to Loton, “poorer mental health in terms of higher prevalence of symptoms of stress, depression and anxiety has been repeatedly associated with measures of video game addiction in studies across countries.” Those that are addicted to video games are playing games to escape from reality.

In contrast to these claims, we can benefit from all types of video games. As Brilliant said, “video games can act as “teachers” depending on the game purpose.” We can benefit from the two different types of games. Active video games can improve our physical wellbeing while social video games improve our social behavior. There’s also certain genres of those games that can affect different parts of our brain. According to Brilliant, “strategy gaming affects the DLPFC activity, whereas rhythm gaming affects the activity of visuospatial working memory, emotional, and attention area. FPS gaming affects the structure of the hippocampus and amygdala” (25). Studies show that gaming of a minimum of 16 hours is beneficial for the brain depending on what genre. Since most video games are online there are more opportunities for social engagement. Those engagements will in return lead to companionship and motivation.

There are still new types of games being made such as VR. VR ,which stands for virtual reality, can help people in many ways from rehabilitation to training for a space walk. It can help you lose weight or it can help you socialize. There are endless of result and possibilities with virtual reality. VR has been known to work with mental disorders such as schizophrenia. According to Grochowska, “VR technology has enriched cognitive-behavioral interventions for schizophrenia. There are many important utilizations of VR as far as assessment and treatment of schizophrenia are concerned.” Astronauts now use VR to train them for the rocket launch or a space walk. It puts you in a simulation and lets you train hands on rather than studying endlessly through books.

Online gaming can improve people’s social life or help learn how to become social. They can network with other people and meet new friends. Williams said, “as one gamer said, “[Meeting new people is] the most interesting aspect of the game. This gives it a social dimension. There’s another person behind every character.” RPG first came from the world famous game Dungeons and Dragons. It is where players form a group and everyone creates their own persona or player by writing down their skills on a piece of paper and playing with the group. Now most RPGs are online and digital. Williams said, ” as broad band access has grown, these RPGs have become more popular among game players seeking a more social, networked experience.” As the internet continues to grow so does RPGS and MMORPGS. These are the games that connect people together the most. Games like World of WarCraft and Black Desert are prime examples of that.

MOBA games , which is known for their eSports community, can help us improve our decision-making skills or leadership skills. Games like League of Legends and DOTA 2 are known for that. These types of MOBA games could be categorized under strategic gaming. It puts the player in situation where they have to think of every move they make and what to build to counter the enemy team. The main goal is to defeat the “nexus”  but in order to do so you have to communicate with your team. If you don’t do so the chances of winning is very slim. It puts you under pressure and makes you think on the spot and that is where the decision-making skills improves over time. It is also very sociable because you meet new people every game from all over the world.

In the end, if you monitor how much you play and take breaks you can obtain health benefits from playing video games. It can help improve hand-eye coordination, decision-making skills, and help become more sociable. Video games shouldn’t be looked as just a waste of time. Instead it should be viewed as a constructive past time that helps us in many different ways throughout life.

Works Cited

Dube, Nomathemba, et al. “The Use of Entertainment and Communication Technologies before Sleep Could Affect Sleep and Weight Status: A Population-Based Study among Children.” International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition & Physical Activity, vol. 14, July 2017, pp. 1–15. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1186/s12966-017-0547-2.

Carmo, J. L. F., and A. L. Palmeira. “Can Active Video Games Be Part of the Solution to Promote Physical Activity in Youth? A Systematic Review.” Archives of Exercise in Health & Disease, vol. 4, no. 1, Mar. 2014, pp. 216–226. EBSCOhost, doi:10.5628/aehd.v4i1.151.

THE BRAIN-BOOSTING POWER OF VIDEO GAMES. By: Bavelier, Daphne, Green, C. Shawn, Scientific American, 00368733, Jul2016, Vol. 315, Issue 1

Loton, Daniel, et al. “Video Game Addiction, Engagement and Symptoms of Stress, Depression and Anxiety: The Mediating Role of Coping.” International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction, vol. 14, no. 4, Aug. 2016, pp. 565–578. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s11469-015-9578-6.

Brilliant T., Denilson, et al. “Does Video Gaming Have Impacts on the Brain: Evidence from a Systematic Review.” Brain Sciences (2076-3425), vol. 9, no. 10, Oct. 2019, p. 251. EBSCOhost, doi:10.3390/brainsci9100251.

Grochowska, Anna, et al. “Virtual Reality – a Valuable Tool to Advance Treatment of Mental Disorders.” Archives of Psychiatry & Psychotherapy, vol. 21, no. 1, Mar. 2019, pp. 65–73. EBSCOhost, doi:10.12740/APP/101654.

Williams, Dmitri. “Groups and Goblins: The Social and Civic Impact of an Online Game.” Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, vol. 50, no. 4, Dec. 2006, pp. 651–670. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1207/s15506878jobem5004_5.

Staiano, Amanda E, and Sandra L Calvert. “Exergames for Physical Education Courses: Physical, Social, and Cognitive Benefits.” Child development perspectives vol. 5,2 (2011): 93-98. doi:10.1111/j.1750-8606.2011.00162.x

Victor,

You have some interesting sources, but you need to really work on how you use them in the paper.  Review the class notes and readings (especially Week 6).  Think about your argument and how the order of your points impacts the persuasiveness of what you are saying.

Right now, many of your main points could be the focus of the entire paper.  You need a much narrower focus.  You need to present a clear structure of argument.  You need to offer specific evidence to illustrate your points.  You need to put quotation marks around any exact words or phrases that come from a source and you need to cite all quotations and paraphrases using correct MLA style in-text citations.

This does not demonstrate a mastery of the material from the first half of the semester.  I suggest you re-read the textbook and the class notes.  I also encourage you to bring a draft to my office hours as part of the rewrite process.

D-