Do gamers need digital detox for better mental health?

Words pique my curiosity and the term “digital detox” is intriguing. Not just gamers, but most everybody could use a little less internet. One of the things I like about arcade games of yesteryear is they have no internet-connectivity. You can just get lost in the game and not focus on the online connectivity.

Alas, some games I’ve supported having more online connectivity, like pinball, but I do understand folks that oppose this functionality. Maybe their main complaint is they can’t play the game if they don’t have internet. I would like to think a system could exist locally to track and then update online functionality again when the internet connection is active IE. with high scores, leaderboards and the like. But what about modes in games that are cloud streamed? Need the internet. Yes, could be a slippery slope.

Let’s play the devil’s advocate.

Came across an interesting study where participants agreed to use a program called Freedom (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=to.freedom.android2&hl=en-US) to restrict their mobile phone from internet access for two weeks and how this impacted their mental health.

“Participants who lost access to mobile internet spent more time engaging in face-to-face interactions, exercising, reading, and enjoying outdoor activities. This shift in time use was a major contributor to their enhanced well-being, as these activities are known to promote mental health. Increased social connectedness also played a significant role. With fewer distractions from notifications and social media, participants reported feeling more engaged and present in their relationships, which has long been linked to better mental health outcomes.” via Digital Detox: Doing This With Your Smartphone Can Significantly Boost Mental Health, New Study Finds – The Debrief

Am sure I could go on a two week hiatus from the internet. Unfortunately, that would mean a vacation from Twitch streaming, from publishing any new articles here, but doesn’t mean I couldn’t write them the old way: in a word processor that wasn’t online connected. Or, gasp, a typewriter, if anybody uses those any more.

As for gaming, however, don’t need the internet for many, many games I enjoy. My mental health is safe, because I already enjoy plenty of games that you can just turn on, add credits and hit play. I think the act of getting lost in a game and not worrying about social media and incoming messages and emails is a safe, sane world. Not saying those tools are always distractions, but they too often are.

Maybe someday we’ll go back in time. To the physical game world where you plugged in that cartridge and the game played completely off there. I would miss the global leaderboards and shared scores, but like I said a bit ago, those functions could sync up at some later date when a connection was active.

This doesn’t apply to MMORPG or online co-op games, of course. Playing against others online in games traditional games like Chess and other board games. There are plenty of games to play against others when they are not in the same room with you and that probably helps people’s mental health from feeling isolated and alone. I like playing solo games from time to time.

What is the impact of online on your gaming and mental health? Is it better or worse? Here we are PGM, play games more, but there is no requirement of playing games that require internet connectivity. At some point talking about your scores and achievements with others, being social, adds to the experience. That’s what we do here at PGM. Without the internet our group would not exist, so that isn’t lost on me.

Sure, we might be able to do some local group in person thing, and maybe we should have that, too someday, but as of this writing, our group needs the internet for what we do. I don’t personally need as much of it as we currently have. The cloud streaming gaming channels, yeah, they are cool, but don’t need them. Can play the older games on cart, disc, hard drive, whatever. I wonder if in some ways the internet has taken gaming backwards, not forward?

What do you think?