By Eirish Sison
Whether
they involve launching angry red birds at evil green pigs or wielding
an arsenal of weapons to kill zombies, video games are everywhere,
and are played by almost everyone. In 2010, a survey by market
research company Nielsen found that 10.2 percent of U.S. Internet time
is spent playing games. That's a total of 407 million hours in a
month, which doesn't even include games played offline, on portable devices or gaming consoles. Spending that much time playing video
games can't possibly be good for you, can it?
New
research shows that it could be, at least for your mental health. A
study from East Carolina
University's Psychophysiology Lab and Biofeedback Clinic measured how
effective playing casual video games is at reducing the symptoms
of depression and anxiety. Fifty-nine participants who had clinical
depression were split into two groups. One group was asked to browse
the website of the National Institute of Mental Health while the
other group played their choice of one of three casual video games.
Researchers
measured physiological and psychological responses in both groups
after 30 minutes of activity, and also after one month, during which
members of the video game group played their chosen video game for at
least 30 minutes, three times a week, with at least a day in between
sessions.
The
results show that it may actually be possible to play the blues
away. A 57 percent average decrease in depression symptoms was seen among
participants in the video game group. Decreases in anxiety symptoms,
levels of tension, anger, fatigue, confusion and an
increase in vigor were also reported.
However,
promising as these results may be, they must be taken with a grain of
salt, since the study was funded by PopCap Games, a leading developer
of casual video games. In fact, the three games that the experimental
group chose from in the study - Bejeweled 2, Peggle and Bookworm
Adventures - are all PopCap products.
We
asked Cynthia Green, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist based in New
York, author of Total Memory
Workout and Brainpower
Game Plan and recognized
authority on memory and brain health, to weigh in on the study: "I
think the study was small and needs to be replicated. I also have
concerns about the source of the funding. That said, I believe that
there may be therapeutic benefits to casual gaming. For example, some
gaming may allow for a sense of regained mastery and control, and
other positive feedback. Such experience may be helpful for someone
in emotional distress."
While
there may be some positive effects associated with playing video games, they are far from being all fun and games when it comes to
one's mental health. Here's a look at the potential dark side of
being a gamer.
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