Is gaming bad for your mental health?

[Lord Mountbatten Reborn]

It was illuminating to see in another thread how many of us don't actually game for pleasure but to cover for an inadequacy, it really changed how I think about debating gaming, suddenly the over-passionate defences and rush to exempt gaming from any criticism make a horrible sense.

Why would someone game if not for fun? I cannot fathom that. If I'm not having fun, I couldn't possibly continue to play. Gaming is my primary source of entertainment.

Some people don't game to get to a sense of fun, they game to get away from a sense of loneliness and anxiety. Remember, this is the Escapist and a percentage of the people you meet aren't gaming to have fun, they're gaming to escape.

So do people who play to have fun. I enjoy the idea of being immersed in a different world, which also gives me that sense of fun. I understand that some would game for the primary purpose of escape, but they must find some fun in it surely?

 

[DSK-]

I don't think so. If anything it helps relieve stress and the various aggressive/murderous thoughts I have

Besides, games have taught me more than school, college and university ever has.

Something tells me you haven't finished school if you believe that.
So what have games taught you that life or school never could?

Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm 23 and have been to primary school, secondary school, college and just finished my first two years at university. I will be doing a batchelours degree in January.

Hmmm, I don't think I can really make a definitive list of things.

Civilization taught me a great deal about the various wonders of the world, types of religion, leaders of the world (past and present) and the names of cities.

Alpha Centauri taught me a fair bit between each of the technologies (there is a spoken part as well as general background into what tha technology is - it's fascinating). The main thing I remember from that game though is learning abou what aphelion and perihelion - which relates to the distance a planet is from the sun (summer - close part of it's orbit - winter - furtherst away - there was a pop up that would say "Planet is now at Perihelion with (insert sun name here) animal and plant life will now be more abundant!").

The MGS games have had always had a part of them that focuses on war and it's effects; those parts always made me think a fair amount.

Shogun: Total War gave me a decent understanding of the Sengoku Jedai period of Japan's history, giving info on the provinces of the country at the time as well as the powers that be. This also got me even more interested in the history of Japan. It also gave some Sun Tzu quotes that I remembered.

[added]Empire: Total War gives some good quotes from the minds of the era - one I like is "No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking"

Oh and there was a question that was in my exam last year in regards to sound and graphical-based multimedia involving sprites and despite not being taught such things at college I remembered something relevant thanks to Duke Nukem 3D.

That's all I can think of at the moment.



Also, as an aside: I never had any interest in school. I was too busy being scared of getting the shit kicked out of me everyday.

An apt quote might be that Mark Twain once said "Don't let school interfere with your education"

 

[Ildecia]

Yes: if you don't control habits and actions; you can be led into being addicted to video games; make it your only thought or action every day, and that can lead to a shit ton of problems.

No: if you control how much you play, what you play, and try and have SOME physical and social life; you'll do fine.


If you can't control it, get some good books, find a cool hobby.

 

[DSK-]

I don't think so. If anything it helps relieve stress and the various aggressive/murderous thoughts I have

Besides, games have taught me more than school, college and university ever has.

Something tells me you haven't finished school if you believe that.
So what have games taught you that life or school never could?

Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm 23 and have been to primary school, secondary school, college and just finished my first two years at university. I will be doing a batchelours degree in January.

Hmmm, I don't think I can really make a definitive list of things.

Civilization taught me a great deal about the various wonders of the world, types of religion, leaders of the world (past and present) and the names of cities.

Alpha Centauri taught me a fair bit between each of the technologies (there is a spoken part as well as general background into what tha technology is - it's fascinating). The main thing I remember from that game though is learning abou what aphelion and perihelion - which relates to the distance a planet is from the sun (summer - close part of it's orbit - winter - furtherst away - there was a pop up that would say "Planet is now at Perihelion with (insert sun name here) animal and plant life will now be more abundant!").

The MGS games have had always had a part of them that focuses on war and it's effects; those parts always made me think a fair amount.

Shogun: Total War gave me a decent understanding of the Sengoku Jedai period of Japan's history, giving info on the provinces of the country at the time as well as the powers that be. This also got me even more interested in the history of Japan. It also gave some Sun Tzu quotes that I remembered.

[added]Empire: Total War gives some good quotes from the minds of the era - one I like is "No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking"

Oh and there was a question that was in my exam last year in regards to sound and graphical-based multimedia involving sprites and despite not being taught such things at college I remembered something relevant thanks to Duke Nukem 3D.

That's all I can think of at the moment.



Also, as an aside: I never had any interest in school. I was too busy being scared of getting the shit kicked out of me everyday.

An apt quote might be that Mark Twain once said "Don't let school interfere with your education"

Where do I start.
If you finished school, do you really expect anyone to believe that you knew nothing about the world wonders or religions before you played civilization?
MGS? messages about war? Theres not a single thing in that game that you couldn't learn anywhere else. What did it make you think about? "You know I just realized after playing MGS, war is really ugly and nukes are wrong" i mean I loved MGS but the story wasn't that deep. It was pretty basic 80s action movie stuff.
I hated school too, but I have a hard time believing that you couldn't retain any of the information yet you went through college based solely on stuff you learned in games like MGS and civilization. I love these games but the information your referring too is very watered down and simplified compared to anything you can learn in a book.
No offense but if you thought MGS was educational, your college must have been pretty easy to graduate.


EDIT: The total war thing...really quotes? I mean you can find famous quotes anywhere. Most of them are just made to sound cool or clever, that's not really an education.

I can't argue there, both college and university were both crappy and unfulfilling experiences.

 

[halbarad]

I personally don't blame games for my past of being a social reject. I loved games and hated people. I go out more, I've become more social and even back then when I could be a poster-boy for the stereotype "gamer-geek" (I played WoW every bloody day ).

I don't know. I'm still not a big fan of people - but that's my own personal gripe with the average person I see around having the morals of The Joker but sadly not being as mind-numbingly awesome or as The Joker - cause then I'd not hate them, just find them interesting.
I digress anyway. I get out more now, I still would play games a load when I'm home from work if the majority of games grabbed my interest for a lengthy amount of time - but they don't, so I don't. I don't blame games for anything, I disliked and still dislike people, games (sometimes) provide good, solid entertainment at home when I either don't want to go out or the weather is too bad to go out.

 

[RobCoxxy]

No, Im not going out with the nearest assault rifle possible and shooting up a mall because "Call of duty: Modern Warfare 2" inspired me to do so.

And another spoiled, overly sensitive kid who thinks the evil government is trying to take is video games.
Your lucky OP, you only got a few of these. When I saw the title I expected a sea of angry kid gamers calling you jack thompson.

Wow, Thank you for not only the random insult and the wrong age (Im 18). But also thanks for getting the wrong message.

And as for the OP's opinion, I was out the door in a hurry so it was a "TLDR" situation.

I got the message, you didn't read anything except the title and assumed somebody was saying that video games make you Dylan and Eric. Your still a kid btw, anyone who jumps to defensive conclusions like that is still a kid.

And you're being childish for randomly insulting someone, then jumping the gun on his views of the matter based on a common generalization. At least wait for him to explain first.

It's always good to blame something, isn't it?

I would say it is considering the fact that everything has a cause.
If your house is filling up with gas, would you rather be told by a rabid "gas fan" that no death has been conclusively linked to gas, or would you like somebody to find the real answer?

Are you implying video games really DO cause mental problems?
If so, I would like you to find one piece of scientific evidence that supports you.

What LuckyChance said.