Are video games that bad for you?

Video games have always gotten a bad reputation from everyone. From the mothers scolding their kids playing video games, to the adults having marathon sessions with friends, it only accumulates mixed feelings from people.

The world of video gaming has changed a lot. Since we have powerful internet providers now that connect us to high-speed internet with optimum customer support infrastructures of the likes of Comcast customer service. When the users are certain that their internet connections are reliable, of course, they turn to unravel the world of what’s online, especially video games, movies, etc.

In this day and age video games have influenced generations in ample ways, even though video games have made a remarkable impact in the entertainment industry it also has their negative effects.

Impact On Mental Health

Playing video games for a long number of hours allows your brains to release dopamine, slowly and steadily people get addicted to games, and start developing a gaming disorder that leads to anxiety, depression, insomnia, social problems, and many more psychological problems. Researches also talk about how playing first-person shooter games do affect the grey matter in your brain and playing a game for an inadequate amount of hours, can also lead to a change in behavior or a personality change.

Impact On Physical Health

Besides mental health, video games also affect one’s physical health. when people play games for long hours, they tend to forget to eat meals, drink water, or exercise. It can lead to poor concentration, obesity, dehydration, and heart problems. All these negative effects on physical health will also start affecting your mental health.

Impact On Relationships

Relationships are also being affected through video games. Sitting too long in Infront of the screen and playing games will end up neglecting friends, family, and loved ones. Relationships are not easy to maintain, if an individual can’t spend time with their loved ones, the relationship won’t last long, it will wither up and die.

Social Interactions

Even while multiplayer games allow individuals to engage through voice conversations but rarely allow them to interact, social contact is a skill that takes a toll. That talent will degrade if you spend most of your time alone in your room, playing video games, and not engaging with other people in real life. This can cause social anxiety, which exacerbates the problem. According to studies, persons who are hooked to video games have less social connection than those who do not play at all.

Exposure To Hacking Activities

Games are also being used as a means of starting cyber attacks, online gaming has allowed people around the globe to socialize on voice chats. Hackers use voice chats to form a friendship with other users while playing the game, then use social engineering to get their personal information such as social media accounts, personal stories from the past, and work-related problems. Once hackers can gain someone’s information they usually encrypt the victim’s information and ask for a ransom to gain access to their information.

People usually join gaming communities to get better and learn new tips and tricks to impress their friends. These types of communities are also a place where many cybercriminals may cause harm to people. These criminals can easily post links that may look game-related, but in reality, it could be a trojan that allows the cybercriminals to access the computers remotely and steal a user’s personal information.

Stress Injuries

Playing games also cause Repetitive stress injuries. Gaming requires strenuous repetitive motion on the hands and the wrist, and playing games for long hours can cause inflammation and injuries, for instance, gamer’s thumb, carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbows, and trigger finger. All these injuries cause an immense amount of pain in your thumbs, elbows, and fingers.

Cyber Bullies

Sometimes these gaming communities can be toxic for the users. In our society, men who cry or share their hard times are looked upon as weak. The only way left to express their feelings is through anger. This also leads to developing alexithymia (feeling of being lost). These people are also regarded as cyber bullies, who will take out their frustration on their teammates while playing games. The scale of cyberbullying can vary from group to individual. If someone doesn’t perform well in their team, these bullies will make negative remarks or curse at their teammates, which will later turn into bullying.

Wrapping Up,

Excess of anything will have various negative effects on your life. There is no doubt that games are often seen as an escape from real-world problems when your responsibilities feel overwhelming. A person can still have a healthy gaming habit, but the way playing games affect our brains, it is easier for people to lose themselves in their favorite virtual world rather than tackling real hardships in life.