Can Video Games be Good for Mental Health?

The answer is YES! 

There are numerous potential mental health benefits from playing video games: 

• Choice and control – games can be great for creating, customizing, exploring, and choosing how you want to progress. 

• Self-exploration – exploring identity, expression, and character story and choices in a low-stakes environment. 

• Sense of accomplishment – working towards goals, problem-solving, then having a sense of achievement can boost confidence. 

• Socializing – multiplayer games can be an opportunity to build cooperation and communication skills, provide a sense of community, and decrease feelings of isolation (even in single-player games where you can interact with non-player characters!). 

• Distraction and relaxation – games can be a temporary break from the world, and can help us enter a flow state. 

• Improved mood – can decrease symptoms of anxiety and depression. 

• Emotional resilience – coping with failure and frustration in a low stakes environment can help us practice emotion regulation skills. 

There may also be some risks with video gaming: 

• Escapism - games can be a great temporary relief, but if they become a way to escape from life, this may lead to addiction. 

• Interfering with life - games can bring us into a flow state but it's still important to attend to our basic needs and responsibilities like sleep, eating, school, work, and a social life outside of games. 

• Unable to stop playing - if it feels difficult or impossible to stop, this may be a sign of dependency. 

• Withdrawal symptoms - increased negative feelings when not playing games, such as sadness, irritability, anxiety, and guilt, may also indicate dependency. 

• Personal safety – with online gaming, it's important to be careful of sharing personal information with others and to protect yourself from potential harassment. 

Here are some video games one of our counsellors (Monika) has played and can recommend for mental health benefits (and fun!): 

• Minecraft - open world exploration, building, and survival; can play on Peaceful mode with no monsters, and/or limitless Creative mode. 

• Stardew Valley/Animal Crossing - visit a small seaside town of friendly people (or animals!), collect items, grow crops, build relationships, and complete goals. 

• The Sims - create characters of any gender identity/sexuality, build and decorate houses, help your characters live their best lives and reach their aspirations; especially great for understanding mood and practicing self-care. 

• Pokemon/Ooblets - explore the world and collect little creatures to battle (or dance battle!) and progress the story; great for strategizing and sense of achievement. 

If you are struggling to set limits and boundaries with video game or internet use, then talking with a counsellor with experience can help. At Clarity, we can help identify the underlying causes of overuse and/or addiction and also work with you to explore and develop strategies to manage screen time in a healthier way. 

References: 

Fishman, A. (2023). How Gamers Use Video Games to Explore Their Gender Identity. https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/video-game-health/202302/how-gamers-use-video-games-to-explore-their-gender-identity     

Hazel, J., Kim, H. M., & Every-Palmer, S. (2022). Exploring the possible mental health and wellbeing benefits of video games for adult players: A cross-sectional study. Australas Psychiatry, 30(4): 541–546. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9749564  

Kowal, M., Conroy, E., Ramsbottom, N., Smithies, T., Toth, A., & Campbell, M. (2021). Gaming Your Mental Health: A Narrative Review on Mitigating Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety Using Commercial Video Games. JMIR Serious Games, 9(2): e26575. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8277305  

WebMD (2024). Are there Mental Health Benefits to Video Games? https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/mental-health-benefits-of-video-games   

WebMD (2023). Is Video Game Addiction Real? https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/video-game-addiction