Are Video Games Really Bad For Us?
Are Video Games Really Bad For Us?
Are Video Games Really Bad For Us?
In recent years, people start to see the benefits of playing video games that is not only
for entertainment. There are quite a number of research that proves that playing video games
is beneficial for both physical and mental health to player of all ages. Playing games is great
especially for children because humans need a lot of stimulus at a very young age. From
birth, human brain will constantly create neurons which help with the processing of
information. At the age of three, the brain will stop producing neurons. The amount of
neurons in a 3 year-old brain is the amount of neurons we will ever have in our entire life
time. During our childhood, if the neurons are not used or don’t get enough stimulus, the
neurons will begin to deteriorate. The more stimulus we get, the more neurons will stay with
us forever.
A minority of people perceive the image of game playing is bad for health and a waste
of time. One might think that people could use their time to do something better for the
world, like finding cure for cancer or fighting famine in Africa. But if we look from another
angle, people who play sports, reading books, or listening to music could also be doing
something else better for the world. Playing video games is just as good as other leisure
activities. They are all entertaining and offer us better health. According to a famous brain
scientist, Daphne Bavalier, there is a famous belief about playing video games is that it
makes your eyesight worse. But it is not always true. An excessive amount of playing video
games in consecutive hours will surely have a negative impact on your eyesight. In
moderation, gamers are able to spot small details better than non-gamers. They also have the
ability to see the difference in a bigger variety of shades more than non-gamers. Another
misconception about gamers having short attention span and can be easily distracted is also
widely accepted by many people. The truth is that when people play games, they are, in fact,
really focused in their game and really put in a lot of effort and energy in the game. When
people are really into it, they ignore their surroundings which might come off as not having
any attention towards others. Gamers are also good at multi-tasking because they usually play
and think about games and what to do in the game while they are doing other things such as
their daily chores. Other people might see this as having short attention span. But in reality,
gamers are constantly thinking about multiple actions in the same time, which takes a lot of
There are even more surprising facts about benefits of playing video games more than
anyone might think. Today, surgeons who study laparoscopic (small incision) make 32
percent fewer errors if they play video games more than three hours per week. This is when
they are compared with non-gamers. Researchers have also found that playing video games
help people to get over dyslexia. Researchers believe that the changing environment and story
line in the game draw attention from players which will make them to have more focus and
can read more than traditional method of dyslexia treatment. A 2013 study that is published
in Cell examine the effect of playing action video games on dyslexic children. The result was
that video games helped children from age 7 to 13 year read faster without any loss of
precision. This result is equal or better than traditional method which is less fun and less time
consuming. In one study, researchers have found that games that involve problem solving
help slow the aging process. By playing ten hours of problem solving games, participants
with fifty years of age of older have better cognitive response. The improvement stays with
them for years. Playing video games can also help ease pain. We all know that if we are
distracted from thinking about pain we will feel less pain. The more we focus and set our
minds on the pain or the injury that we have, the greater the pain we will perceive. Turns out
that playing video games does not just distract us from the pain, but it also gives us an
195 patients who played video games had improvement in health outcomes in every front. In
2010, a research presented at the American Pain Society’s conference found evidence that
playing virtual reality game help reduce anxiety or pain caused by medical procedures
effectively. "The focus is drawn to the game not the pain or the medical procedure, while the
virtual reality experience engages visual and other senses," said Jeffrey Gold from the
University of Southern California. Not only reducing pain, but video games also limit our
trauma. In a recent study held in the UK, patients who experienced traffic accidents were split
into two groups. One group was given Tetris to play and the other group didn’t get any games
or activities. Turns out that the group that was given Tetris to play had much less flash back
to their traffic incident, about 62 percent less on average. Games can also help us control and
limit or cravings. A university study Other than health benefits, video games also help with
our social connections. In online games especially, players are required to interact with other
players to fulfill their tasks like conquer a dungeon, complete a quest or trading items and
equipment. By interacting with different kinds of people, we can learn how to react and how
need to cooperate and interact with our colleagues. Having a better communication skills can
make us work with others easily. And sometimes we can avoid getting into trouble or a
heated argument in our workplace. Some video games are fast-paced, which demand players
to judge and decide quickly. These games promote a better and faster decision in a limited
period of time. Finally, a 2014 study that was published in Molecular Psychiatry found that
playing Super Mario 64 for 30 minutes a day for two months can increase your grey matter in
the right hippocampus, right prefrontal cortex, and the cerebellum. "This proves that specific
brain regions can be trained by means of video games", said one of the researchers, Simone
learned a lot of English and its vocabulary from video games. I learn to handle with different
kinds of people. It made me type faster and improve my decision making and problem
solving. And I don’t think I have any health issues connected with video games at all. That
being said, I also think everything is best when used under moderation. A moderate dose of
game is good for everyone. But be careful not to get carried away!