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

focus and practice.

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

analgesic response, or pain-killing response to our brain. In a 2012 literature review

published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, contains an information about

video games linked to pain relief. The review evaluated 38 studies and the results were that

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

to communicate with people’s different characters and personality. In some workplaces, we

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

Küh, at the time.

 From my own personal experience, I highly recommend playing video games. I have

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!