Mental Health and Video Gaming

The purpose of this webpage is to help people that are suffering from mental health issues in ways of options that may lessen their symptoms. With a graduate degree and over thirty years of experimenting and learning with the ability to tell what has worked and what has not worked. This is what I would like to share with you. With the ability and knowledge from the experiences and experiments that have been done, that has led to these conclusions.

According to the National Institute of Health that video gaming improves cognitive performance in people. The effects may vary on the individual when gaming. Is video gaming the best option for you to cope with mental health issues? That is a question you need to ask yourself or a medical professional that deals with mental health. The ways you use video gaming can be different for all people. The personal use of video gaming to cope with my severe depression, suicidal ideation, or the hallucinations has helped with these symptoms. Video gaming has given me an outlet to distract my mind from the symptoms I suffer from on a daily basis. The ways you might use video gaming may be completely different from anyone else.

There have been many studies over the years regarding the effects of video gaming and mental health. A decade ago, there was a fear that young men that played shooting games were going to go postal and do a mass shooting. Now the studies have proven that video games do not contribute to this factor. The past few years there have been recent studies regarding the positive effects of video gaming and mental health. The discussion of gaming and mental health is the primary goal of this site. Keeping in mind the factors that contribute to a person’s mental state.

Why use video gaming to help with depression? Studies have found that video gaming increases the amount of dopamine in your brain. This dopamine is what makes us happy. If you have an increase in dopamine the amount of depression is decreased. Being happier is everyone’s goal, so this is a mechanism for accomplishing that emotion. Video gaming is not a cure-all trick that will alleviate all symptoms of depression and anxiety. It does help relieve some of the symptoms and increases happiness.

With all things, too much of a good thing can be bad. That is the case for too much video gaming. There is the possibility for addiction to gaming and losing your mind to this addiction. This can prove to be counterproductive to what you are trying to accomplish. There are many studies on the addiction of video gaming and the affects. Learning how to moderate the time spent gaming to ensure other things are done besides gaming. Doing physical exercise or reading are great ways to diversify the time throughout the day. Spend time with a pet and play with it is another way to not spend the whole day gaming. With many other options available, there is a list of other possibilities on the blog.

For another way to treating depression or anxiety symptoms the use of the Home Doctor has helped. This book uses some unorthodox techniques. If nothing is working, using something new that may relieve symptoms is worth the try. Alternatively, the use of new treatment options has helped in a lot of cases.

Another option that has helped are books that talk about symptoms and treatments for mental health issues, like depression and anxiety. In truth if it was not for researching information on the best sources of credible information, the DSM-5 would not have been found. A link to it can be found in the Book List page of this webpage. For many years the diagnosis was wrong, and nothing helped. It wasn’t until a visit to a neuropsychologist and a MRI that the diagnosis was correct. Once that was done, getting on the right medication has helped greatly with the symptoms. Doing research on your own can help lead the process in the right direction.

The advice of when using gaming for mental health is not to play first person shooters which may have very toxic or negative people in those games. The reputation of first-person shooters especially and of some other genres of having a toxic environment is real. Try to stay away from games that have a toxic community or environment in order to find a more relaxing yet engaging community or environment. This is the first thing to keep in mind when using gaming for your mental health. Toxic communities or environments would do the opposite for your mental health. Try to stay away from these.

Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Amazon.