Some of my most vivid childhood memories involve playing video games. It's one of the most popular hobbies in the world. Globally, we spend at least half a trillion hours a year gaming, and that number is only going up.
90% of children play games. But people often worry that games are a waste of time, a bad influence, or an unhealthy compulsion. GAMER 1: Gaming does have its goods and its bads.
I game way too much. You can't end on a loss! You can't.
You got to end on a win! Agh! NICK: So how can you make sure you're maximising the positives and minimising the negatives?
I want to tell you about three ways to ensure gaming is good for your mental health - not bad. From after-school sessions of FIFA 06 to late nights playing Super Smash Bros with the volume turned down so we wouldn't wake our parents, games have hugely enriched my life, but by the time I was 14, I found myself retreating into the vibrant environments of World Of Warcraft to deal with the depression I didn't fully understand. Gaming took over.
Thanks to therapy and discovering other hobbies like tennis, I eventually managed to bring gaming back into balance with other areas of my life. But the stark contrast of these experiences stuck with me and led me to my current position at the Oxford Internet Institute, where I research how video games affect mental health. So what are the effects of video games on mental health?
The answer, as you might expect, is always - it depends. It's a good way to unwind, a good way to mentally stimulate your brain. So my therapies are roller skating, playing my games.
NICK: For some, games offer a powerful sense of accomplishments or a way of experimenting with identity. Say, another gender, a more assertive character or a more emotionally vulnerable one. At the same time, some people experience harm, from abusive and disruptive players, or from manipulative design features that keep vulnerable players playing and spending.
Now, we can't definitively say who will be impacted in this way. We do know very clearly from the scientific evidence that how gaming actually affects you has very little to do with how much time you spend playing. It's more about what, how, why, and who you play with.
In other words, it's the quality, not the quantity, that matters. So how can you play in a way that's healthy and enriching? Here are three questions to ask yourself.
Question one - do I feel like I'm improving or learning when I play? GAMER 2: Oddly, Genshin has shaped my artist identity cos their designs are so intricate and their colour theory is amazing. And it's really inspired me with my characters, with my stories.
GAMER 3: Gaming is so big, so vast. So if you don't like one thing, you have many options. It's like a buffet.
If you just stick with one section of the buffet, you're doing something wrong! You need to try all the foods. NICK: Fundamentally, games are learning engines.
If you're not feeling this sense of learning and curiosity, it might be a good moment to switch to something else. Question two - what is my relationship with other players? Games are very social spaces.
As many as 80% of game sessions now take place in multiplayer games. You can really sort of find your people, as it were. NICK: Research shows people feel best when playing with people they know offline, too.
Question three - if I weren't playing games right now, what would I be doing? Spending time playing games is, by definition, not spending time doing something else. Now, it's fully OK to prioritise gaming, as long as you're aware of how each gaming session is affecting other areas of your life.
Are other things that are important to you getting squeezed, like work, university, school, sleep, or relationships? Keeping a diary of your play can be a good way to keep an eye on this. Some people, they might need reminders, so maybe set a reminder on their phone.
NICK: I recently got into playing Diablo III, an endless loop of higher-level dungeons, rewarding you with higher-level loot. I had the sinking realisation that I could do this forever, and most of it might even be fun, but a year from now, would I be glad that I did it? These questions are just a starting point.
They've helped me cultivate the relationship I want to have with games. GAMER 4: It just feels like home. I feel kind of like a kid again amongst the adult worlds, which can be pretty tough.
GAMER 5: Gaming's all about positivity for me, it's all about sense of freedom. So, yeah, I balance it well. NICK: I hope they help you too or your loved ones to become ever so slightly more reflective about your gaming so you can experience the best of what gaming has to offer the world.
