Video games can be considered as being predominantly used for the purpose of entertainment. While there has been debate about the usefulness of such apps, there is increasing evidence that they could be useful in delivering affordable and accessible mental health care across the globe.
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| Can Video Games Help Treat Mental Illness? |
The JMIR Serious Games article published in November 2020, entitled “Effects of Commercial Video Games on Depression and Anxiety: A Systematic Literature Review,” summarized studies on video games’ effects on conditions such as depression and anxiety.
It observed increasing data indicating that gaming might have positive impacts on mental health with references to persons who were unable to afford conventional care due to financial or geographical constraints. This implies the 2. 7 billion gamers around the globe could potentially have massive emotional well-being benefits right within their reach.
The Benefits of Mental Health That Can Be Obtained by Playing Games
Drawing on prior literature as discussed in the JMIR Serious Games report, it was necessary to identify whether easily available commercial games could complement existing mental health services in terms of the symptoms of depression and anxiety.
It seems from the study's conclusions that engaging in video games could help reduce depressive signs such as anhedonia. Games fostering social connections like Minecraft and Animal Crossing:
The Lost Narrative also addressed the issue of loneliness for New Horizons players. Glenn Platt, Ph. D., director of the interactive media studies program at Miami University says, “Video games offer a feeling of belonging which is a component of well-being, that is the sense that one is a part of a fellowship of people with like-minded people who would endorse one’s involvement and have an objective in the game. ”
Moreover, some games increase players’ executive functions, particularly in mood regulation. For instance, students who played the Mario Kart game proved to exhibit positive changes in their emotional regulation compared to their counterparts who did not engage in the game.
Games can also act as productive coping mechanisms including emotion regulation, reducing the temptation to engage in rumination, and promotion of positive feelings like happiness.
Studies showed that symptoms of anxiety decreased as well when patients were involved in gaming. Autistic people also had positive results, after playing Plants vs. Zombies for 30 minutes four times a week, the results were as good as anxiety medication.
In this respect, entertaining and fun games like the Max and the Magic Marker effectively spared children from increased anxiety levels. As mentioned by the licensed counselor Drew Lightfoot, “I am thrilled to witness increased research and research-based publications and materials going out towards serious talk about the positives of gaming.
While both commercial video games and therapeutic games are used as a form of leisure, they have different functionalities in the real world.
By delineating entertainment-oriented commercial games, the researchers concluded that these offered mental health benefits comparable to those of specially developed therapeutic games.
This can be partly attributed to the inherent desire that people have to play commercial games. According to Platt, “Another vital aspect of a game is that it is played willingly.
Theoretical studies and empirical evidence have time and again confirmed the fact that people who are intrinsically motivated perform better in a game and change behaviors. ” That is why the mental health benefits originate from the fact that games are interesting.
More People in Need of Care through Gaming
The therapeutic aspects of entertainment-based games can also reveal potential benefits in the therapeutic treatment of game-related disorders across the world. Video games already take up a considerable audience among the 18-54-year-old mentally ill population, with which the companies are already familiar.
It could therefore be argued that demystifying gaming and the positive emotional effects that come with it could encourage help-seeking for mental health issues in individuals. Platt supports this idea by saying that we now have to stop labeling gamers as something wrong and instead accept that everyone is a gamer.
Gaming also knocks down many of the barriers that are associated with conventional counseling. Michael L. Birnbaum, M. D said, “Video games could provide more availability of adjunctive therapeutic intercession as they are played at home with no time restraint, unlike other care that is costly and occurred much more sparingly”.
However, it is crucial to clarify that clinicians and therapy must be supported, not substituted, by games. Lightfoot notes that as important as gaming can be, it is not advisable to approach gaming as a viable solution to therapy, as “video games can be a great addition but they’re not substantial enough to be a solution. ”
He emphasizes the fact that the primary objective still remains the availability and affordability of fundamental mental health treatment across the global population.
In conclusion, what used to be considered mere entertainment products, it can be established that video games have enormous possibilities in offering accessible and stigma-free mental health in the world.
However, there is a need to extend the way toward conventional face-to-face counseling services in all parts of the globe. Thus, in the meantime, gaming promises to help treat ordinary conditions like anxiety and depression beyond professional management.
While it is highly improbable that video games will fully replace therapists, what could be of significant importance is using the benefits as a strategic stop-gap measure to ensure that millions who cannot afford symptom relief get it.
Early research into gaming’s potential to serve as a therapeutic endowment is still in its infancy, and the results are unequivocal: the field has promising potential to provide aid and hope.
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