Is There Any Correlation Between Video
Games and Health & Fitness?
More than two-thirds of the population now plays video games. Some play them for fun and for some it goes beyond fun, it includes playing for money―for profit. There’s now online gambling Canada, online gambling New Zealand, online gambling Ireland, etc.
All of these realities bring us to the question of the effects of video games on important aspects of our life such as health and wellbeing. The recent prevalence and mainstream status of video games call for us to examine their health and wellbeing implications or lack of it thereof.
Playing video games can actually have positive health effects. Playing video games have been reported to help simmer down, improve mood and reduce stressfulness. But this is only when video games are plaid in moderation―for instance, for just 45 minutes a day.
After a long day, playing a video game is a good way to chill out and keep one’s emotions in restraint. This is more effective when the video game is plaid for a reasonable amount of time. When you begin to play past your bedtime, it starts becoming an issue.
Just as playing video games can improve health and wellbeing, it can also damage it. This is possible through different means. The first is when playing video games becomes an addiction. Gaming disorder is characterised by out-of-control gaming habits and persistent playing even in the face of negative health and social implications.
This can damage one’s physical health by leading to several complications arising from addiction. This may include lack of enough sleep and imbalances in the body system resulting from stretching the body beyond normal to continue to play video games.
The second means is from mental issues that can arise from the inactive lifestyle typical of video gamers. Compulsive video gamers can find themselves feeling lonely, gaining weight and becoming obese. This can lead to depression, loneliness and stress which are all serious mental health issues.
Playing video games online with money can as well lead to different serious health issues when the player loses too much money. The financial loss can result in depression, hypertension, stroke, etc.
How do video games affect creativity and careers?
How can your creativity and career be affected when you play slot machines or team up with your friends in a MMORPG such as World of Warcraft? Well, it can go both ways―positively and negatively.
Your creativity can benefit a great deal from your video gaming endeavours. This is because most video games have the capacity to unlock your creativity. To excel in most video games involves using creative methods devised by rapid creative thinking. This could also bode well for your career as creativity is requisite to an extent to thrive in every career.
Similarly, playing video games boosts the gamer’s problem-solving skills. Talk about problem-solving, it’s a trait needed to thrive in a majority of the video games. Kids who play video games have been found to fare better at solving problems than their non-gaming counterparts.
Essentially, most video games―just like most careers―are all about solving a problem with creative thinking. Excelling at video games therefore means a higher chance of excelling at your career.
Another one that is like it is that playing video games improves the video gamers’ capacity to focus. It’s really hard to win at a daunting video game without being focused. Video gamers are able to block out distractions easily since this is what they do every time when they play video games. Again, the ability to focus is a plus for any career.
The better coordination of the hands and the eyes is also another benefit of playing video games. Video gaming, whether you’re playing on online gambling sites against a computer algorithm or against other players on a dedicated server, usually entails coordinating your hand on the controls with the video on the screen of your device.
This better hand-eye coordination is not only an essential motor skill for survival, it’s of particular importance in some lines of work (careers).
But an addiction to video gaming is certainly capable of ruining your creativity and jeopardising your career.
Consider a footballer who is supposed to be training with his teammates but is glued to a screen playing a video game. If he doesn’t break the habit, he might ruin his footballing career all too soon.
The same applies for an artist who should be experiencing life or creating something new but is busy whiling time away at a video game. Such an artist is hampering his creativity by playing video games far too much.
In conclusion, playing video games can have positive effect on your health and wellbeing. Video games can likewise improve your creativity and help in advancing your career. But this is only when you play moderately. Else video games can land you in problems of all kinds.