Video games remain a popular leisure activity in the fast-evolving digital entertainment landscape, drawing millions into increasingly sophisticated and realistic gaming environments.
Recent research published in Nature sheds light on a darker aspect of being a hardcore gamer despite gaming is an escape and source of joy for many, according to The Debrief.
The potential for significant physical health issues are drastic stemming from prolonged video gaming sessions.
Exact 955 individuals aged 18 to 94 who identified as gamers were surveyed and a striking correlation between long gaming sessions and increased reports of physical ailments such as eye fatigue, neck and back pain, and wrist and hand discomfort was found. Reported by 52.1% of study participants, the most common physical complaint was back or neck pain.
With 46.1% of participants mentioning it, eye fatigue came in second. Whereas, hand or wrist pain was a close third, experienced by 45.4% of the participants.
This trend of physical health issues persisted across all demographics, including different age groups and genders, as well as among casual and aspiring professional gamers, according to researchers.
The adverse physical effects of gaming are not isolated to a specific demographic or type of gamer, as suggested by the findings.
They are a wide concern that affects a wide range of individuals who engage in extended gaming sessions instead.
The stereotype that gaming-related health issues are limited to young men or professional gamers is challenged this way.
Most video games require a lengthy time commitment to finish any particular game, thus forcing the player to stay focused on the screen during their playtime.
This can lead to the same issues caused by long-term television watching, including headaches, blurred vision, and even nearsightedness if frequent breaks aren’t taken to relax your eyes.
Prolonged bouts of video gaming can also cause symptoms very similar to Computer Vision Syndrome, or CVS. Computer Vision Syndrome, as the name suggests, is caused by staring at a computer screen for an extended period of time without any significant breaks.
