5 ms·

Yea, video games can definitely end up being an unhealthy coping mechanism used to avoid addressing your real life issues. That said they are probably on balanc

Yea, video games can definitely end up being an unhealthy coping mechanism used to avoid addressing your real life issues. That said they are probably on balance a better coping mechanism than some of the other popular ones out there (Alcohol, drugs, porn, gambling) but definitely worth keeping an eye on. Especially because video games aren't restricted for children like all those others things are (at least in theory).

notch656a 4y ago
Gambling is roughly described as gaming with higher stakes, IMO. My totally unqualified, unsubstantiated guess would be the average gambler has higher cognitive performance than the average video game player. A dumb gambler goes broke sooner or later, which doesn't make them all quit but it does make some of them quit, which I would wager causes a selective effect towards the smarter ones.
- SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
  I think you're envisioning gambling as a poker shark, when it could be someone betting on horses, playing slot machines, or buying scratch cards.
- reducesuffering 4y ago
  Have you been to a casino? 95% of Blackjack players aren't even playing basic strategy, something that takes a single day to learn. Instead, mid-rank players in popular online games like Valorant and Overwatch 2 are quite formidable multi-level thinkers.
  - 0cf8612b2e1e 4y ago
    But what percentage of those people are playing as anything other than a lark? I might go to the casino one time every three years. I can guarantee I am utilizing a sub optimal strategy
dandellion 4y ago
Why unhealthy? I've been using games as a coping mechanism for stress and personal issues for about twenty years and as far as I can tell I'm reasonably healthy. Most people my age that are clearly unhealthy it's because of drugs, alcohol or weight issues, not videogames. I'm somewhat prone to stress, and I find taking a few days off to play games helps in recovering from burnout, while something like travelling which helps some people, stresses me out.
- fragmede 4y ago
  You sound healthy! but you probably know someone who's unhealthily using them to cope and resorting to video games instead of life. some people take a few days off and forget to get back on
  - dandellion 4y ago
    English is not my first language so maybe that's why it's strange to me to call something unhealthy that doesn't cause health issues. I could understand calling videogames "problematic" or "antisocial", but unhealthy seems a bit of a loaded term because I often shut myself in and forget about the rest of the world playing videogames and it rather improves my health. It's the stress that I find unhealthy, causing me eye strain, irritability and other problems. Meanwhile playing games helps, doesn't require a lot of time and effort, it's cheap, reliable and I enjoy it, so even if I know that sometimes I'm being antisocial and prioritising it over socialising with friends for example I still do it.
    - TapWaterBandit 4y ago
      This is just a language misunderstanding. In English, "healthy/unhealthy" is often used to describe things outside physical health. E. G. A healthy bank balance, an unhealthy obsession, a healthy debate etc.

notch656a 4y ago

Gambling is roughly described as gaming with higher stakes, IMO. My totally unqualified, unsubstantiated guess would be the average gambler has higher cognitive performance than the average video game player. A dumb gambler goes broke sooner or later, which doesn't make them all quit but it does make some of them quit, which I would wager causes a selective effect towards the smarter ones.

SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
I think you're envisioning gambling as a poker shark, when it could be someone betting on horses, playing slot machines, or buying scratch cards.
reducesuffering 4y ago
Have you been to a casino? 95% of Blackjack players aren't even playing basic strategy, something that takes a single day to learn. Instead, mid-rank players in popular online games like Valorant and Overwatch 2 are quite formidable multi-level thinkers.
- 0cf8612b2e1e 4y ago
  But what percentage of those people are playing as anything other than a lark? I might go to the casino one time every three years. I can guarantee I am utilizing a sub optimal strategy

dandellion 4y ago

Why unhealthy? I've been using games as a coping mechanism for stress and personal issues for about twenty years and as far as I can tell I'm reasonably healthy. Most people my age that are clearly unhealthy it's because of drugs, alcohol or weight issues, not videogames. I'm somewhat prone to stress, and I find taking a few days off to play games helps in recovering from burnout, while something like travelling which helps some people, stresses me out.

fragmede 4y ago
You sound healthy! but you probably know someone who's unhealthily using them to cope and resorting to video games instead of life. some people take a few days off and forget to get back on
- dandellion 4y ago
  English is not my first language so maybe that's why it's strange to me to call something unhealthy that doesn't cause health issues. I could understand calling videogames "problematic" or "antisocial", but unhealthy seems a bit of a loaded term because I often shut myself in and forget about the rest of the world playing videogames and it rather improves my health. It's the stress that I find unhealthy, causing me eye strain, irritability and other problems. Meanwhile playing games helps, doesn't require a lot of time and effort, it's cheap, reliable and I enjoy it, so even if I know that sometimes I'm being antisocial and prioritising it over socialising with friends for example I still do it.
  - TapWaterBandit 4y ago
    This is just a language misunderstanding. In English, "healthy/unhealthy" is often used to describe things outside physical health. E. G. A healthy bank balance, an unhealthy obsession, a healthy debate etc.