JAKARTA - Recent studies reveal the habit of playing games excessively or binge gaming is directly related to serious mental disorders such as anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders, especially in boys.
The research conducted by researchers in Hong Kong involved 2,592 students and teenagers. As a result, 31 percent of them experienced the problem of binge gaming. In this study, binge gaming is defined as playing games on consoles or computers for five hours or more constantly.
About 30 percent of participants admitted to binge gaming at least once a month, with a prevalence of 14.3 percent higher in men than in women.
Both in men and women, those who are used to binge gaming tend to experience more problems such as depression, anxiety, stress, loneliness, sleep disorders, and low confidence in their learning skills.
They also show a higher number of game addictions known medically as internet gaming disorder (IGD).
"Binge gaming can be an early stage of the development of the ER and serious social, physical and mental problems," the researchers wrote, quoted from the Daily Mail page on Saturday, August 16.
However, they also added that this disorder could be exacerbated by other factors such as ADHD (disruption of attention and hyperactivity) and autism.
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In the UK, the latest government data shows 91 percent of children and adolescents aged 3 to 15 playing video games. The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially classified game addiction as a health problem.
Another study conducted last June also showed teens spend more than two hours per day rolling out their phone or tablet screens, having twice the risk of anxiety and four times as likely to experience depression.
The habit of accessing the screen for a long time, in particular by passively rolling out or also known as sukumscrolling, has proven to trigger anxiety, depression, aggressiveness, and impulsive behavior in adolescents during the nine-month period of the study.
The neurologists involved in the study recorded 45 percent of adolescents aged 12'17 who initially had no history of mental disorders, showing psychological symptoms that required further medical evaluation.
These findings arise amid an increasingly severe mental health crisis in British schools. NHS data in 2023 shows that more than 20 percent of children aged 8 to 16 are expected to have mental health problems, an increase of 7 percent since 2017.
Even so, several studies also say video games can bring benefits. One of them said playing games can train the brain effectively compared to physical activity.
Other research in the past year shows gamers have a higher score in memory tests, attention, and thinking skills than those who don't play games at all.
Interestingly, light physical exercise such as 150 minutes per week according to NHS guidelines is not proven to have a similar effect on brain memory and function.
Another study with 997 thousand participants found a hobby of playing games that had often been misunderstood, actually had a positive impact on mental health. Researchers from Japan report having consoles and playing games help improve the emotional welfare of participants.
However, for those who play games for more than three hours a day, this benefit is not found. This reiterated that the main problem may lie in excessive playing durations.
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