Many people look to video games to escape the stress of everyday life, but others often experience an increase in stress due to factors tied to gaming, like internet toxicity. A recent study performed by UK non-profit Mental Health Foundation looked at these parallels in a study, and has now produced recommendations for changes within the game industry.

While the game industry itself has recently been subject to scrutiny due to allegations of harassment and abuse from game developers, this study focused on players instead. Interestingly, the short study found that there were pros and cons to gaming, with players reporting benefits to their mental health from gaming, but also negatives, depending on a variety of factors.

Mental Health Foundation had a group of two dozen gamers and asked them to keep a daily log covering their gaming habits for the day and how their mental health was doing. The study was held over the course of several weeks, and after looking at the results, the Mental Health Foundation came to a series of conclusions. The study found that there were definite self-reported mental health benefits to gaming, but that players also reported drawbacks. Gaming online or gaming at all could sometimes go hand-in-hand with bullying and harassment. Mental Health Foundation also noted concerns that gaming is sometimes used as a way of avoiding in-person socialization, and some struggled with maintaining a balance between gaming and responsibilities.

As a result of these findings, the Mental Health Foundation is issuing a series of five calls for change within the game industry and how it builds games. They include:

Of course, avid gamers know that some games and the developers behind them already do these things, or are making an effort to do so. One of the co-creators of the original Xbox has publicly called for improvements to help mitigate harassment and abuse within online gaming communities. While not true of every game, many games have been praised for their representation of different groups, such as Life is Strange and The Outer Worlds, while Psychonauts’ developer worked with psychologists to accurately depict mental health concerns. And certain developers, like Nintendo, have often included gentle reminders to take a break once in a while.

  • Tackle harmful behaviours and toxic communities Tackle discrimination by ensuring that there is meaningful, inclusion and representation in the design of games and in the industry Embed mental health content in games Raise awareness of mental wellbeing in the gaming community more broadly Help players game more intentionally via design features

However, there’s also clearly room for improvement. Bullying in gaming is still a continuing problem, and there are game developers themselves going through abuse, severe crunch, and other conditions that contribute to mental fatigue, depression, or anxiety. With concerted effort, the situation for both players and developers can improve, and hopefully, that’s what will happen.

Source: Games Industry