{"id":7598,"date":"2022-05-26T07:32:01","date_gmt":"2022-05-26T12:32:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ablegamers.org\/?p=7598"},"modified":"2022-10-27T10:58:53","modified_gmt":"2022-10-27T15:58:53","slug":"impact-of-video-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ablegamers.org\/impact-of-video-games\/","title":{"rendered":"The Impact of Video Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

The biased negative view on the impact of video games on psychological wellbeing has <\/span>been propagated for so long that it is often referred to as fact. With research <\/span>countering those notions largely being ignored and left out of the national dialogue. <\/span>In fact, much of the research demonstrating a positive impact of playing <\/span>video games is conducted and published outside of the USA. Perhaps demonstrating <\/span>just how deeply rooted those thoughts are.
\n<\/span>
Research has shown that regardless of the type of video game played, playing <\/span>video games can help with trauma recovery, anxiety, depression, ADHD, and PTSD. <\/span>In fact, virtual reality and videogaming platforms have been adopted by some <\/span>mental health professionals in treating PTSD. Additionally, playing video games can <\/span>help develop emotional resilience. Anyone playing any video game has inevitably <\/span>encountered that one stage that seems impossible to overcome\/successfully <\/span>complete. Overcoming that initial frustration and trying again, may help players <\/span>identify failure as a temporary stage that can be overcome. In essence, allowing <\/span>them to develop a sense of coping and resilience to failure. <\/span>

\nVideo games also provide a venue for social isolation. In fact, for individuals with <\/span>disabilities, it may provide the only true viable solution for combating social <\/span>isolation. Research has found that engaging in massively multiplayer online (MMO) <\/span>games correlated to a stronger sense of social identity. Social identity then <\/span>corresponded with higher levels of self-esteem and lower levels of loneliness. In <\/span>fact, most MMO encourage collective play, group membership, and open <\/span>communication. This combats the image of the lone player, playing in a dark room. <\/span><\/p>\n

Some argue that new games have a \u201cbuilt-in\u201d social engagement component and <\/span>expectation. Perhaps individuals that hold on to the antiquated notion that <\/span>everything video game-related is bad, have not engaged in the newer, collective-centered<\/span> games. And while many argue that prolonged or increasing gaming time <\/span>has negative psychological and social consequences, in essence pathologizing long <\/span>duration gameplay (i.e., ICD-11: gaming disorder), they fail to address individuals <\/span>whose disability prevents them from engaging in a physical community. These <\/span>individuals use gaming to combat social isolation, through virtual community <\/span>engagement. For many, playing a communal video game is more about the shared <\/span>community than the playing of a video game. AbleGamers seeks to empower this <\/span>population that has been marginalized and pathologized and socially isolated. By <\/span>enabling gaming through adaptive gaming technologies and strategies, we provide <\/span>individuals with a route for social engagement and combat social isolation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Roger Brooks, Director of Peer Counseling, Mental Health<\/p>\n

Want to stay up to date on what\u2019s going on at AbleGamers? Sign up to receive our newsletters<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\nThe biased negative view on the impact of video games on psychological wellbeing has been propagated for so long that it is often referred to as fact. With research countering those notions largely being ignored and left out of the…\n<\/div>\n
Continue reading…<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7600,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","inline_featured_image":false,"wp_popup_display_lightbox":0,"wp_popup_suppress":"","wp_popup_trigger":"","wp_popup_trigger_amount":0,"wp_popup_disable_on_mobile":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ablegamers-blog","category-ablegamers-news","entry","entry-type-post"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ablegamers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Mental-Health-awareness-month.png?fit=1234%2C1236&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ablegamers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ablegamers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ablegamers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ablegamers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ablegamers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7598"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ablegamers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7604,"href":"https:\/\/ablegamers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7598\/revisions\/7604"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ablegamers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ablegamers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ablegamers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ablegamers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}