Video games, the new way towards a healthier life.
Do you ever think to yourself, how many people play video games worldwide? Or just in America? The numbers will blow your mind away, nearly 1.2 billion people play video games worldwide and 210 million of them are Americans alone. With those numbers in mind, nearly 70% of Americans play video games. Whether you support it or hate it, there is scientific proof that playing video games provides various health benefits.
As per usual, people are against playing videogames, they say that videogames are addictive. The reason being is that we release dopamine when we game. Dopamine is a chemical that leads to feelings of pleasure and satisfaction, from there people start to play more often, they enjoy it and want to keep playing, doesn’t matter if it’s two hours or up to 10 hours. This kind of behavior leads to young adults and teens defenseless against the behemoth that is video games, if it’s not monitored by parents, it can lead to health problems such as high blood pressure and overweightness. That’s not it, opposers also argue the fact that video games make you violent. One major accident that happened was back in 2009, when a 17-year old shot both his mother and father after they took up his copy of Halo 3, he was sentenced to 23 years in prison. A study conducted by the APA or American Psychiatric Association in 2015 lead to the conclusion that in fact it led to more violent behavior. There’s a catch though, some analysis found that the research lead to multiple false positives and false negatives, which led the whole investigation into a faulty conclusion.
The other side has different opinions as well. Video games also help addicts by reducing the craving of drugs or alcohol. A university study found that addicts have a 24% reduction in their vices after playing video games. Video games help to reduce stress, whenever you get a sense of satisfaction you feel good, start to forget about your bad day and overall makes you finish your day on a great note. Believe it or not a study found that decision making may increase by 25%. Gaming in moderation can also improve your vision, another study had participants play with their “lazy eye” and had to cover their other eye, those players showed significant improvement in the affected eye after the investigation. Also, it may help with dyslexia. Since video games have a constant changing environment that requires more focus. Dyslexic patients who play action heavy games showed significant improvement in their reading skills.
As you can see for yourself there’s way more advantages of video games than there are disadvantages. With over a million people playing videogames worldwide and the numbers increasing, videogames hold a bright future towards a better health.