Video Games: The Sharpshooters of Mental Health
People with poor mental health often gravitate to things that they find to relieve stress. However, this is not the only mental state which people gravitate towards the things they enjoy. Researchers Yemaya Halbrook, Aisling O’Donnell, and Rachel Msetfi discuss the positive findings that video games have in their study “When and How Video Games Can Be Good: A Review of the Positive Effects of Video Games on Well-Being,” and they make the connection that different factors of play have various effects on mental well being. This means that those who play for fun and entertainment have a greater possibility of having a healthier mindset versus those who play for obsession or accolades. As stated in the study, “‘In addition, the motivations behind game play are an important factor in the effects of gaming on well-being, such as playing for enjoyment purposes rather than playing for achievement or obsession.’” There is a fine line between playing for sport and obsession. “For sport” implies that one only indulges periodically, while obsession implies that one continuously and obsessively barrels through the hobby. This compulsive obsession is a definite effect of different mental disabilities.
The study “The Impact of Video Games on the Players Behaviors: A Survey” by researchers Muhannad Quwaider, Abdullah Alabed, and Rehab Duwairi delves into the cause and effect nature that video games have on players in terms of aggression and other mental disabilities. The answer “that comes through playing a specific video game varies from player to player depending on how the content of the video game is displayed and interpreted to the player’s mind.” Content in video games varies wildly, and some people are affected by levels of aggression in games at intervals, especially those with fragile mindsets. It is not much of a stretch to assume that people who play aggressive games might cause some violence, but it is not the violent games that cause aggression. It is the aggressive nature of the person. Personality plays a huge factor in how people are affected by outside stimuli (video games). This means that those with compromised mental states are affected more so by the games that they engage in. Quwaider and his fellow researchers state: “The personality of the player or any other person has a strong influence on how they think and behave under a certain condition.” Effectively, this statement shows that those with aggressive tendencies are affected by the video games that they play, and this can further the fact that those who are mentally unstable will do horrific acts.
Another study I would like to highlight titled “Gaming Your Mental Health: A Narrative Review on Mitigating Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety Using Commercial Video Games” by Magdelena Kowai, Eoin Conroy, and four other contributors. In “Gaming Your Mental Health,” the therapeutic properties of certain games are researched and expanded upon. Kowai and the others discuss how particular genres can be great for helping ease depression, specifically multiplayer role player games (RPGs). The researchers of “Gaming Your Mental Health” state, “An array of research alludes to the possible benefits of RPGs for individuals with depression,” as these multiplayer games are great ways to meet and interact with others in a sporty fashion. Whether it be through a sort of online e-commerce or even competition, there are clear benefits. Healthy people have healthy interactions, whereas depressed individuals are violent not due to their mental state but due to other preexisting types of disorders or illnesses.
The final study I would like to bring to light is “Understanding the Lives of Problem Gamers: The Meaning, Purpose, and Influences of Video Gaming” by Jing Shi, Rebecca Renwick, Nigel Turner, and Bonnie Kirsh. The negative repercussions of using video games as a coping mechanism, highlighted in the study, are what I would like to talk about in particular. Using video games as one’s only coping mechanism is not a healthy process, especially when one already has present issues. Shi and the other researchers state, “Participants acknowledged that using games as a coping method only offered temporary relief from their negative emotions and did not address the problems they were facing.” If someone of a mentally unsound mind uses video games as their sole coping mechanism, then they will only exacerbate their issues, potentially leading to aggressive and violent actions. Shi and Co. then go on to explain how problems with gaming can cause a variety of psychological issues. In the text “Understanding the Loves of Problem Gamers,” Problem gaming was defined as “persistent and recurrent involvement in video gaming that results in psychological distress and functional impairment.” Unhealthy play can cause an exponential increase in distress, and this further leads to my finding that people with a high propensity towards mental issues are influenced negatively by play and the external stimuli that they receive.
Ultimately, video games are a great way to spend time and interact with a wide variety of people around the world. The facilitation of these interactions has been through decades of online social culture and interaction, and the vast culture of each game world can be very different. No matter the background, people can and will have fun just by playing. However, this is not always a good thing, as those with mental issues can be negatively affected by the violence in the media that they consume. In all four studies, the reader can see a clear correlation between mental health and the consumerism of different video games. However, a correlation does not necessarily mean a causation. Games are something that usually gets negative press in the news due to the interactive aspect that they possess. Aggressive and violent tendencies are something functioning members of society do not pick up from video games. Those very few people with abnormal mental facilities are the ones who ever so rarely commit horrendous atrocities. Video games may exacerbate a person’s preexisting abnormal mental state, but even then, it is rare that video games are the sole reason for aggression.
References
Halbrook, Y. J., O’Donnell, A. T., & Msetfi, R. M. (2019). When and How Video Games Can Be Good: A Review of the Positive Effects of Video Games on Well-Being. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14(6), 1096-1104. https://doi-org.ezproxy.rowan.edu/10.1177/1745691619863807
Jing Shi, Rebecca Renwick, Nigel E. Turner, Bonnie Kirsh,
Understanding the lives of problem gamers: The meaning, purpose, and influences of video gaming, Computers in Human Behavior, Volume 97, 2019, Pages 291-303,
ISSN 0747-5632, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.03.023.
Kowal M, Conroy E, Ramsbottom N, Smithies T, Toth A, Campbell M
Gaming Your Mental Health: A Narrative Review on Mitigating Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety Using Commercial Video Games, https://games.jmir.org/2021/2/e26575.
Muhannad Quwaider, Abdullah Alabed, Rehab Duwairi, The Impact of Video Games on the Players Behaviors: A Survey, Procedia Computer Science, Volume 151, 2019, Pages 575-582,
ISSN 1877-0509, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2019.04.077.
Counterintuitive Fall 2024 
a fine line between playing for sport and obsession is present, for sport implies that one only indulges periodically, while obsession means that one continuously and obsessively barrels through the hobby.
Graded.
If you ask a specific feedback question, I may be able to provide some assistance toward a revision cycle, TheFrogSprog.
I don’t know if you’ll take the time to revise this, FrogSprog, or whether you care enough for this feedback to be worth either of our time, but you could be a much better writer by making more specific claims earlier in your paragraphs and using the space you generate to provide illustrations. Sentence by sentence.
—As far as it goes, this is fine, but . . . .
—Not every form of mental health needs stress relief.
—And it’s not too early to emphasize that you’re concerned not about therapeutic massage but about the “things to relieve stress” that are dangerous or unhealthy. Right?
—People who suffer unhealthy levels of stress too often soothe it with dangerous self-care: booze or pills or vicarious violence.
—We don’t need this sentence now.
—If we did keep it, we’d have to fix the grammar.
—You want to ALLOW in the interest of fairness that game play isn’t always dangerous, but you don’t have to spend three lines to elaborate on it.
—More on that later.
—Granted, an occasional round of Grand Theft Auto is no sign of mental illness.
—An arms-length relationship with video violence can be an innocent diversion, like watching a horror film.
—Holbrook, et. al. in their study, “When and How Video Games Can be Good,” emphasize that not all game players are equal.
—As they put it, “The motivations behind game play are an important factor in the effects on well-being, such as playing for enjoyment purposes rather than playing for achievement or obsession.”
—It’s odd that you use the word sport twice when it doesn’t appear in the quote.
—You do want to emphasize moderation however you describe the differences in game players, recreational or obsessive, for example.
—As with medication, or even self-medication matters of degree mean everything. One woman’s wine with dinner is another’s binge weekend. One game player’s occasional diversion is another’s round-the-clock obsession.
—We don’t need this one now.
REVISED:
Notice that academic writing doesn’t have to sound academic as long as it isn’t sloppy or colloquial. (Booze does toe the line.)
I hope that’s helpful.