Does gaming improve your mental health or hinder it?

[LegitHyperbole]

SvennoJ said:

It helps, just like any other 'escape' like movies, books, exercise. Something to focus on rather than listening to my never ending thoughts.

It's especially evident when playing Synthriders on master difficulty. That needs your full attention and as soon as my mind starts wandering I break the combo. So it's basically an exercise to stay focused in the present instead of mulling over the past and future. And it feels great to be in the present.

Games help to stay in the now and give a break to everything else vying for attention. Hence I'm all into VR gaming as that's the ultimate way to transport you into the 'now' somewhere else, blocking out other stimuli. I tend to get overstimulated / sensory overload with too much going on around me. VR fixes that, although I still have trouble dealing with NPCs talking over / through each other in games and always play with subtitles enabled.

VR can be good for your physical health too. I seen a lot of people in the VR community repot they are loosing weight in the PSVR1 days and many women still site quest as their daily workout.