Do Video Games Relieve Stress?

We live in one of the most stressful times today. If the global pandemic wouldn’t be enough, we also have to bear the effects of the financial and employment crisis it has caused, not to mention the many other issues we have to face today. Under these conditions, it’s not surprising that stress, anxiety, and depression are commonplace. 

The World Health Organization has called stress the “Health Epidemic of the 21st Century” a few years ago, pointing out its many negative health effects, ranging from digestive discomfort to headaches, high blood pressure, and in the long term, heart disease, diabetes, and mental health issues like depression and anxiety. This makes stress relief one of the most important preventive measures one can take. 

Reach for the game

When they go home after a hard day at work (or finally close Zoom, Microsoft Office, and Skype after a long day at the home office), many people like to unwind by playing video games. Is this a good way to de-stress? Well, it depends on who you ask.

Games that involve fighting, shooting – violent games, in general – seem to have the opposite effect. At first, that is. Playing these games can be especially stressful – aside from the difficulty of the game, multiplayer titles also add the occasional fumbling of the teammates who are always blamed for losing. But once the game is over, the stress disappears, leaving relief, a sense of achievement and relaxation in its wake.

Researchers around the world have studied the efficacity of video games as a means of recovery after experiencing stressful situations and found that not only did they reduce the effects of stress but also helped some subjects develop healthier coping mechanisms.

The more casual, the better

Casual games are all around us today, available at every major app marketplace, every online casino, everywhere we look. Slot machines are the games available in the greatest variety – online casinos have libraries of hundreds of them, ready to be played either for real or for fun, with virtual funds. These games fit into the “hyper-casual” category because a player can learn the rules and play them within seconds, and can stop at any time without sacrificing any progress.

A group of researchers from the East Carolina University’s Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies have looked at the effects of casual games on stress and recovery. They followed a group of students using popular casual games and compared their reactions to a controlled group who were engaged in a web-based activity similar in physical and mental nature to the game-playing groups. 

The results were astounding. Each of the games studied had different effects on the subjects’ brain (reflected by EEG readings) – all of them improved their mood, reduced their anger, significantly reduced their psychological tension, and depression.

Compared to simply relaxing, casual and hyper-casual games are much more effective at reducing stress and its effects. Depending on the type of the game itself, the effects can differ – but they all contribute to stress relief.

Video games are, indeed, a good way to reduce stress. And for many people in these trying times, they are more important than ever as a means of relieving stress – and, in the long term, in helping protect our health.