Video games have a misconception of being bad for a person, but I would disagree with this statement due to multiple reasons.
As someone who plays video games, I believe games can be a way for people to escape reality and enjoy a bit of alone time or even have fun with some of your friends. It is a great way to keep your brain active as well, unlike watching movies constantly can make your brain foggy.
Though there has to be limitations and boundaries to this, if you’re someone who plays video games constantly and it starts affecting your social life, then help is much needed.
Getting stuck in this loop can cause severe damage to your mental health with problems like anxiety and depression. Gaming addiction could also affect your physical health, whereas it can affect you with eating disorders, significant weight gain or loss, to much more serious health problems like blood clots.
Barry Angub, a second year student at Delta, gave his perspective on video games.
“I personally believe that there are certain video games out there that are good for my mental health. It can be a way for a person to escape reality and be in their own little world. But at the same time I do believe that addiction is bad, spending a moderate amount of time playing video games can be beneficial. But I do believe that there are games that can be bad for a person, like ones that may be too violent or convey dark themes. But it may depend on the person themselves, like how mindful someone is of what they are playing and the amount of time they put in,” said Angub.
Just like how Angub states, playing video games moderately can be very beneficial to us.
I agree with this because I play games like “Madden” and “FIFA” for about 1-2 hours at the end of the day to just enjoy some personal time and relax from a long of school and work. I’ll also play with some of my friends if I have the next day off.
Having limits on gaming is very beneficial for me and as well as others, because we all have a social life and need to go out to interact with people in some way, whether it may be your job, school, or even ordering food at a restaurant.
Third year student Edgar Santana agreed with that statement.
“Yeah if you’re playing like 10 hours straight of [‘Call of Duty’], then it is bad, but if you’re playing for a few hours then it can be good, you just have to have balance with video games and your social life,” said Santana
Furthermore, studies have also shown that video games help increase gray matter in your brain if played within limits. Gray matter is a tissue in your brain that helps process and portray in your social life, this tissue is very important for our everyday lives in order to interact with others.
Limitations have shown great results from studies due to the fact that you can let off some stress from playing games that are thoroughly enjoyable to someone.
Gaming can also be another way to socialize, especially with things like PlayStation Plus, Xbox Live, Discord, etc. Using these tools you can not only play with your closest friends but also connect with other people all around the world.
There have been stories where many people became the best of friends all because they were playing the same game at the same time and just clicked with each other.
This misinterpretation of video games “being bad for you” may be true in some scenarios but with further research and much more importantly, limitations, gaming is a great source of freedom for many people including me.
