Effects of gaming addiction on physical and mental health

23/09/2021

In our time, technology has become one of our essential things in life; specifically video games. Video games are electronic system used to run games. They involve human interaction specially teenagers. Many researches have been done on the effects of video games showing that there is positive and negative impacts. As we know not all video games contain violent contents, but most of them are violent and mentally dangerous. Some researches admit that violent games may cause adolescents to become tremendous. Studies showed that video games increase psychological awakening, it could also increase aggressive behaviour, emotions and thoughts and finally let teenagers lose the sense of helping others. All these effects will be carried by aggressive young people. It's true that video games are violent, but aggressive adolescents are more likely to be more attracted to it. Some games reward players for doing violent actions, so this will affect them negatively, letting them think that violence is normal. A study on two groups showed that the group that plays violent ones, is more likely to think that using marijuana and drinking alcohol is normal and legal, also cheating in many ways would lead them to the right way too. Contrary to researches that exposed negative impacts, others found positive effects related to video games.
Development of electronic and computer games are a great threat for youth and adolescents and can lead to psychological disorders and depression in these groups. In previous times, kids were involved playing with other children, but children of today spend most of their time on computer games as soon as they understand and acquainted with them, while these games cannot create any emotional and human relationship.
Children's and adolescents attractions to the computer games cause many mental, physical and social problems for them. These effects are stimulating anger and violence, obesity, epilepsy due to games, social isolation, and other physical & mental damages. Many psychologists and mental health professionals have paid attention to the effects of these games.
EFFECTS OF GAMING ADDICTION ON PHYSICAL HEALTH
Excessive gaming repeatedly over long periods can potentially cause physical strain on gamers.
(1):--REPETITIVE STRAIN INJURY (RSI):- Children and young people who play games for extended periods can be affected by RSI. Stiffness, aches, pain and numbness are signs to watch out for. For example, ‘nintendinitis’ refers to thumb, wrist and hand problems associated with playing on gaming consoles. Eye strain is also common if you look at screens for long periods without taking breaks. Screen glare can also affect vision.
(2):- HEADACHES & MIGRA-INES:- Headaches may be related to physical causes such as eye strain, bad posture or dehydration. Or they may be related to mental health issues- including anxiety & depression. Young gamers who get regular headaches should get checked out by a doctor.
(3):-LACK OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY:- Playing sedentary games for long periods can mean that people miss out on exercise. The World Health Organisation recommends that children and young people, aged 5 to 17, do at least 60 minutes of activity per day.
(4):- POOR NUTRITION OR SELF-CARE:-When gaming addi-ction takes over, children and young people may skip meals, rely on junk food, resist taking toilet breaks or have poor hygiene.
(5):- POOR POSTURE:-If you're slouching in a chair or you're hunched over your mobile, then it's time to take a break. Whilst these positions won't harm most children immediately, they can lead to serious problems
in adulthood.
(6):- POOR QUALITY SLEEP:-Playing stimulating games for many hours at a time, particularly late at night, will make it harder to get to sleep.
GAMING ADDICTION EFFECT ON MENTAL HEALTH: Mental disorders are general and exist in every country (World Health Organization [WHO], 2001). According to Fowlerr, Tompsett, & Braciszewski (2009), a relationship between depression and violent content in video games is possible. This implies that adults and children tend to be exposed to violence in real-life, whether as witnesses or victims. They also have poor mental health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. WHO recently recognized gaming disorder as a mental health condition and added it to the international medical list.
Playing online games incessantly is not enough to be recognized as a disease. Instead, mental illness always arises when the players play online games for an extended period to the extent that it affects their daily lives. Therefore, gaming disorder is a "pattern of chronic or repetitive gaming activity," which causes the players to lose control of their gaming actions; they start considering gaming as a priority over all other interests and behaviour's, leading to continued playing even though they may suffer from its negative consequences. Such consequences may include disabilities in social life as well as in education & family relationships.
(1):-ANGER OR RAGE:- If a parent interrupts a gaming session or broadband goes down, what is the reaction? If children or young people respond
with anger or rage-including shouting, screaming or physical attacks, then this is something worth noting.
(2):-COMPULSIVITY:- Is there a strong sense of urgency to get back to gaming? Is it difficult to pull yourself away? With children and young people, compulsive play can manifest in playing past switch-off times, late at night or secretively.
(3):-ISOLATION AND LONELINESS:- Loneliness is a global issue faced by many people to some degree in their lives. It is a negative experience that people go through. The cause of loneliness is the lack of excitement in some people's lives, resulting from major defects in their social interaction network. If children spend long periods of time playing games by themselves, this reduces interaction with relatives and friends in real life. Though many young gamers use online chat in multiplayer games, including to talk to friends in real life - this should be balanced with interactions in the same physical space.
(4):-DEPRESSION:- In regular gamers, ongoing listlessness, sadness or lethargy can be signs of problem gaming. Depressive symptoms will be most apparent when they are not playing the game - i.e. in the withdrawal phase. Video games are correlated with increased depression and anxiety. However, correlation does not necessarily imply causation - people who are unhappy or depressed are drawn to video games because they help to suppress negative emotions. They develop a gaming habit that causes them to get stuck in life. Naturally, they end up being unhappy.
“If u find out any mistake, be a struck dumb of the fact that it was a human endeavour.”
(Authored by BSc Student From Govt. Degree College Bhaderwah. Email:- muzamilarifbatt@gmail.com)

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