We’ve known for a while that gaming is a great way to relieve stress, but according to a recent study it might help combat depression as well.
Here’s some good news for all you fellow gamers out there: gaming might be an effective way to combat depression. Not only that, but contrary to what your parents and teachers would have you believe, it might also contribute to boosting your grades in school.
According to our source, a study being conducted in Australia was examining the mental health of hardcore gamers and casual gamers. In the study they noticed that a high percentage of the hardcore gamers, being people who played upwards of 33 hours per week, suffered from anxiety and were also prone to depression; however, instead of learning that video games were the cause, the researchers found that gaming was being used by these players as a “coping mechanism”.
By asking the participants in the study a number of questions in order to get a better picture of their current mental health and mental health history the researchers were able to discover some interesting facts. While the casual gamers fared better on the mental health scale overall, with 25 less chance of suffering from a mental condition or disorder, the researchers found that it was really the hardcore gamers who benefitted the most from their copious amounts of game time.
Gaming, as we have often suspected, is a wonderful form of escapism that lets people put aside the problems associated with their daily lives, as well as the stress accrued from it. Hardcore gamers were better able to put aside these problems, distract themselves and better cope with their problems thanks to the amount of time they spent gaming.
Interestingly enough, part of the study also examined the impact gaming has on academic performance. The researchers discovered that the excessive gamers, despite spending large amounts of time gaming instead of studying, were performing better in school than those who did not. The results were only slightly tipped in their favor, but it’s interesting nonetheless.
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