Researchers Explore the Connection Between Video Games and Mental Health

2009-08-21 14:50:57 (GMT) (WiredPRNews.com - Health & Fitness, Technology)

Recent studies explore the link between video games and mental health.

New studies seek to identify the impact of video games on the mental health of gamers.

Press Release Distribution – Wired PR News – Two recent studies offer differing findings on the link between frequently playing video games and mental health. As reported on the Yahoo! Games Plugged In blog, one study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that frequent video game playing may be linked to depression, while another study by East Carolina University proposes game playing may have significant mental health benefits.

One CDC researcher is quoted in the report as stating, “Habitual use of video games as a coping response may [provide] a genesis for obsessive-compulsive video-game playing, if not video-game addiction” however, “further research among adults to clarify how to use digital opportunities more effectively to promote health and prevent disease.”

Shankar Vedantam is quoted as writing in the Washington Post of the East Carolina University study and similar ones funded by video game makers, “The research is part of a broad array of unconventional efforts that video game companies are devising to find new markets for their products… Many of these steps are based on the idea that depression and other disorders — as well as everyday stress and worry — involve systematic patterns of thought and self-doubt, and that games can distract people and put them in a different mental zone.”

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