How video games can help improve well-being

Growing research shows that the pastime associated with basement dwelling and the childhood friend who taught you swear words can actually be a boon for mental health…in moderation:

• “Cozy” games, a subgenre that took off during the pandemic with Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons, have become a popular haven because of their wholesome quests and artistic visuals, which fans (and science) say help induce flow states.
• Overall, playing one hour of video games every day can improve mental health and life satisfaction, according to a study conducted in Japan and published last year.

It’s starting to go mainstream (medicine)

Games created specifically as mental health interventions have also mildly reduced sadness and boosted focus for people with depression and ADHD, respectively, according to a recent Johns Hopkins review of gamified treatments.

With gaming undergoing a reputation reversal in some corners, businesses are getting…creative:

• A Seattle-based company got FDA clearance last year to offer a VR game it calls a “mental health action shooter” (players shoot wizard beams, not guns) as a treatment for stress and high blood pressure.
• Tapping the gamer crowd, psychiatrist Dr. Alok Kanojia launched the online coaching platform Healthy Gamer after streaming mental health conversations with gamers on Twitch (which got him reprimanded by his state’s medical licensing board last summer for crossing ethical lines).

Big picture: Amid a shortage of therapists and a youth mental health crisis—about 20% of teens are estimated to have a mental, emotional, developmental, or behavioral disorder, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality—gamified treatments “could be nice first steps for children while waiting to start individual therapy,” the author of the Johns Hopkins study said.—ML