Recent research has shown that online gaming communities can play a significant role in helping young men struggling with mental health issues. The study, which focused on an all-male online football gaming community, found that members who reported more depressive symptoms and fewer real-life connections were roughly 40% more likely to form and maintain social ties with fellow gamers than those who reported more real-life networks.
While online gaming shouldn’t be a substitute for proper professional care, the social features of online games allow players to connect and build friendships. This can help create crucial support systems and encourage discussion of mental health challenges among young men. That’s why, for many facing social isolation and untreated depression, we’ve argued that technology can improve mental health by providing access to a community—and even formal mental health services through avenues such as telehealth.
Though online gaming can boost mental health in young men, it can also negatively impact their physical health, especially when it comes to their eyesight.
The Rise of Digital Eye Strain
Even though online gaming provides social and mental support, there are physical side effects to consider. Namely, the past few years have seen a rise in digital eye strain as people spend more and more time online and on digital devices.
Insights from the Ophthalmology and Therapy journal indicate that the prevalence of digital eye strain ranged from 5% to 65% in the pre-Covid era. As digital learning and work took over, this prevalence rose to amounts between 50% to 60%. Today, visual and ocular symptoms associated with DES include dry eyes, itching, foreign body sensation, watering, blurred vision, and headache. Meanwhile, non-ocular symptoms include a stiff neck, general fatigue, headache, and backache.
Some causes of digital eye strain include reduced contrast levels, screen glare, and reflections, wrong viewing distance and angles, poor lighting conditions, improper posture, and infrequent blinking. For gamers, these factors can frequently occur but are often overlooked. With countless new video games across various genres being introduced annually, many passionate gamers spend long hours in front of their gaming setups, often in unideal settings.
Tips to Mitigate Eye Strain When Gaming
Fortunately, the rising prevalence of digital eye strain doesn’t mean gamers should give up their hobby and pastime. Below are some tips for reducing and preventing eye strain during long gaming sessions:
Filter Out Blue Light
While also naturally found in sunlight, blue light from LED screens and other indoor lighting sources can harm your eyes when exposed for long periods. Today, many eyewear products have blue-light filtering lenses. Gamers can opt for gaming glasses designed to block out blue light and enhance visual clarity. Moreover, different eyewear brands have exclusive gaming collections, such as the Oakley x Fortnite Helux model, which features thin temples for comfortable use with gaming headphones; these glasses are also designed to be lightweight, so they don’t hurt over time. Looking for similar specs in your next pair of glasses should help ensure more gaming comfort.
Change Your Monitor
Unlike regular televisions and office monitors, gaming monitors are designed to enhance the gaming experience. New premium models like the Alienware AW2725DF boast features like high refresh rates and low response times to offer a competitive edge for eSports and FPS titles. The new Alienware is also an OLED monitor, which provides vibrant and “truer” colors, even in games with dim settings. As such, changing or upgrading your old monitor to a gaming monitor can help reduce strain on your eyes.
Build Healthier Habits
Studies have indicated that regular physical exercise and good nutrition can help your eye health. These habits can reduce your risk of developing vision loss and blindness and can lower stress, which can ease eye strain and other DES symptoms, such as headaches and dizziness while gaming.
The University of Waterloo even finds that exercise can relieve dry eyes. All these benefits can make the gaming experience more enjoyable by ensuring your eyes are less prone to fatigue. So be sure to build healthier habits and balance them alongside online gaming: use screen breaks to go for a short walk, stretch at your desk, or eat fruits as your gaming snacks instead of chips.
That way, you can mitigate the negative impacts of online gaming on your eyes while still enjoying the hobby in moderation.
