The Psycho-Social Benefits Of Video Gaming

The Psycho-Social Benefits Of Video Gaming

Video games are more popular than
ever before. Games like Fortnight, PUBG and Apex Legends have gone completely
main stream, to the extent that now almost everybody considers themselves a
gamer.

According to Statista.com: Last
year the mobile gaming industry in North America was able to generate a revenue
of 10bn USD, not only this mobile game development company in
USA were able to generate 51% revenue of the total games related revenue
generated in the USA.

Although in the past video games
have been looked down upon, they have been accused of causing habits of
violence and addictive behaviour. But what about the benefits of playing video
games?

Here are some reasons because of
which you might want to game hard on 2020.

Video games are heavily linked
with emotional stability. Here in this blog we are all about helping and
educating others on everything related to gaming psychology and emotional
stability is a huge part of that.

A study carried out in 2012
suggested that immersive games in particular, appear to be the most beneficial
because they allowed gamers to try out different versions of themselves. Games
like Red Dead Redemption 2 are so immersive that people can go anywhere and do
anything. By doing this gamers are allowed to explore their own personalities
and see what best fits their ideal selves.

According to research this fact
about gaming helps a lot with emotional stability. Hence emotional stability
enables a gamer to build meaningful relationships when interacting with the
daily environment.

You might have heard previously
that video games improve hand-eye co-ordination and it’s true. In fact a recent
study found that video games improve all Visumotor co-ordination which is when
vision and movement works together to produce action.

For example in first person
shooters gamers must aim quickly and accurately at small targets. In driving or
racing games, gamers have to make small steering adjustments at really high
speeds. When we boost our Visumotor co-ordination we get better at all kinds of
tasks, including walking, driving, sports and other basic tasks like getting
dressed in the morning for work.

Playing certain video games can
have a positive effect on a gamer’s social skills. We all know that some of the
best games that came out last year were online games, games that we could play
online with our friends and gamming acquaintances.

Until recently no one really
considered the benefits of such games. A study in 2014 published on this very
subject proposed that immersive, social video games help gamers develop
pro-social skill. As in these games gamers have to figure out who they can
trust, who to make friends with and how to lead a group for the achievements of
certain objectives.

And yes, all these skills can
definitely be transferred from the game world to the real world.

Video games are also linked with
better vision. We have been told that staring at our screens for hours a day is
bad for our eyes, but what if video games can actually improve our vision?

In the past there have been quite
a few studies on this subject. Games can boost visual contrast sensitivity,
which is basically the ability to distinguish between different shades of grey.
One study even suggested that video games can also cure lazy eye syndrome,
which is also known as Amblyopia.

With that being said don’t stare
at a screen all day playing video games with the excuse of trying to improve
your eyesight. The key here is to keep a healthy balance between visual
exercise and rest. By resting the eyes after a heavy gaming session the visual
muscles can grow at a faster rate.

Almost everybody is fearful of
getting old, and one of the biggest reasons is for to have this fear is the
natural dementia people experience at that age.

Once again its video games to the
rescue. A study conducted in 2016 found that playing video games can help older
patients restore their cognitive functions. This includes benefits like
improving walking abilities, better moods and better social interactions with
family and friends.

Video games help players,
especially teens blow off steam in a very contained and healthy environment.
Now, teen is an age where kids are going through emotional changes and can experience
anger and frustration.

Being a teen is not easy and most
of us remember having a lot of pent up emotions during this time. If anybody
needs to blow off steam, it’s our average teenager. And according to 2007
study, video games are a great way to do exactly that. The study found that
teens were relieving a lot of stress by playing video games.

So instead of causing aggression,
video games might actually be helping teens vent by getting aggressive in the
video game world instead of the real world.

The reason to highlight the
benefits one can get from gaming is actually to highlight that it’s not all
negative. There are no doubt negatives that can be associated with gaming but
if it is done in moderation we as gamers can reap all of the above mentioned
benefits.