While there has been no scientific evidence to show that video games directly cause anxiety, the two are certainly correlated. This means that video games may not directly cause anxiety. However, many people turn to video games as a refuge from stress and anxiety, which can worsen their anxiety. For this reason, creating smaller goals with a time limit can help you feel relaxed, especially as games are increasingly based on achievements, with the feeling that you never really “finished” them.
The real problem is that many people turn to video games because of problems they have in real life. Magavi advises players to listen to their favorite song along with “several deep breaths” to lower their breathing rate and avoid panic. So you left a game but you still have that annoying feeling? This is what Daniel Epstein, a licensed mental health counselor from the Berman Center, calls “game shame” or a “sense of low self-esteem” because of negative self-talk. Video games aren't the cause of mental health problems, such as anxiety, but they can act as catalysts and worsen conditions when you're addicted to them.
People often use games to escape their uncomfortable anxiety symptoms, so treating anxiety and the factors that contribute to it can be beneficial (King, et al. While there's no single way to address gaming anxiety, just knowing that you have options to manage your life is empowering. Spending too much time playing video games is associated with feelings of happiness and better social behavior. There are many things that can cause anxiety, including the feeling of “unwillingness to play a different game until part of it is resolved,” says Yonatan Sobin, The Nerd Therapeuta.
If the students in the study were more stressed and played video games specifically as a way to cope with it, their risk of developing dysfunctional symptoms increased. Understanding a person's motivation to play video games can be key to identifying some of the causes of gaming disorder. These symptoms experienced by video game addicts are very similar to what you'll feel when you're about to have an anxiety attack or become depressed. According to a new ISU study, people who play video games to deal with anxiety may be at greater risk of video game addiction.
Your current mindset, how much time or intensity you play and why you play are factors that contribute to the way a video game affects you. But at the end of the day, there's nothing better than seeking help from licensed professionals when you're living with gambling anxiety. This article is one of the first to provide evidence that the use of video games to address anxiety is an important factor to consider when diagnosing or treating video game addiction.
