Multimodal Essay Final
Multimodal Essay Final
Multimodal Essay Final
Video Games have become increasingly popular over the last few decades. They became
small hobbies that were simple in design and concept, to legit careers, and pivotal parts of
people’s lives, in so many different ways. This perception of video games has created mixed
responses from society with the question of is this a good direction for video games? There are
many people who stand on each side but in my opinion, I am for this direction of video games,
and the way it ties into mental health. People also have mixed thoughts on if this direction of
video games is good or bad for mental health. I’m here to tell you that video games are good for
mental health by ways of, distraction from sad emotions or events, social interaction with other
How do video games distract you in a way that’s good? When thinking of distraction, you
usually don’t want distraction because distraction usually comes in forms of school or work and
those are two of the most important aspects of life in getting a good education and having a
stable job. Wouldn’t you think video games being a distraction towards these aspects be bad?
Well essentially yes, because it’s distracting you from the important things in life, but in other
aspects it can actually be good for you and your mental health. Video games can be a distraction
to the sad things in life or in times of tragedy because “recent research even suggests that video
games are as effective at reducing the depression in adolescents and might be effective means of
reducing pain and anxiety.” [(Friedman and Markey) 356-361] The idea of making people stray
away from those thoughts and events and have them focus their mind and attention on video
games which cause happiness, allows people to uplift themselves and not think about the sadness
they are experiencing. I also know this because of personal experience. I myself am a pretty big
gamer, so a lot of the information I will be talking about, I will be able to give my own thoughts
and experiences to show that the information being brought up is true for people. So, for my
personal experience with this is when my great grandfather passed away. I was ten years old and
was deeply saddened by this and it was on my mind for months. One of the main methods I used
to uplift myself was by playing video games. They made me happy and allowed for me to take
my mind off of the passing of my grandfather. If it wasn’t for video games, I would have been
upset for much longer and it would have been even harder for me to get over his passing.
This also ties into my next topic which is mental stimulation. This idea of mental
stimulation is making your brain think in certain ways to either achieve a goal or develop critical
thinking and focusing all of your attention on that game. Video games make you think and when
you take part in playing video games “almost every part of your brain is working to help you
achieve higher-level thinking. Depending on the complexity of the game, you may have to think,
strategize, and analyze quickly.” [WebMD] Video games stimulate your mind to focus on its
contents and it works. People put in hours and hours of time in playing these games and
understanding the concepts of how games work to try and beat the game and help improve
development of critical thinking skills. Some newer video games such as Red Dead Redemption or
Grand Theft Auto put players in different scenarios in which their decision making in the game
affects the outcome. This helps critical thinking skills by examining and understanding situations,
outcomes, and consequences and seeing if you made the right decision or not. Exposing this concept
of thinking to teenagers, or adolescents can improve their decision making and help them analyze
In today’s society, gaming is one of the easiest forms of social interaction online. When playing a
game you can use quick chats, or the more common aspect of voice chat. This builds social skills
for people who aren’t so comfortable or shy talking in person, and it allows people to build
character. While also building character, you can build so many friendships while gaming. Just ask
John Kieswetter. Kieswetter played video games with his younger sister and two cousins who lived
close and played as much as possible. He enjoyed playing with friends and family and meeting new
friends from gaming. Kieswetter’s sister unexpectedly died following complications from a surgery,
and gaming allowed him to distract him from this sadness, while also allowing him to talk to his
friends he had met playing video games. Kieswetter would talk to his gamer friends about his
situation and many of them reached out to him and offered their support. Kieswetter states,
“Gaming has had a huge impact on me as far as my mental health. The friends I have made over the
years are so incredibly supportive and I consider them family. They have been there for me, and I’m
there for them.” [Bach] Kieswetter’s story shows the impact video games has on social interaction.
It shows how easy it is to interact with other players, and really form connections with people that
may even be helpful to you in life. In Kieswetter’s case, his gamer friends were very helpful to him
and allowed him to get over a sadness and tragedy that had been affecting him. I have my own
personal experience with social interaction in gaming. I have met numerous friends while playing
video games, and even meeting them in real life and continuing our friendship on both social media,
and real life. This is a way to build friendship and improve your mental health by allowing you to
have people to talk to and interact with, so you don’t have a sense of loneliness or anxiety.
My final talking point is how video games make you feel a sense of accomplishment. Why
would this be helpful towards mental health. Well, when playing a video game, and dedicating your
time, energy, and thinking skills, to beat a game and get the satisfaction of completing the game, it
stimulates happiness and achievement and uplifts you making you feel better. This feeling of
accomplishment also encourages critical thinking, and really using your brain to figure out how to
solve this puzzle or beat this level to get closer to the goal of beating the game. The continuous act
of completing games encourages this sense of critical thinking, allowing people to be determined to
solve problems and put all of their will power in completing their task. In the best games available
on the market, the success and accomplishment factors are “so effective because it adjusts itself
dynamically; the difficulty level is continuously being calibrated to players’ abilities through
increasingly more difficult puzzles demanding more dexterity, quicker reaction times, and more
clever and complex solutions.” [Granic 71] Granic’s explanation of how accomplishment affects
gamers is a fantastic way of explaining it because she touches on how the difficulty of these
challenges change depending on the senses of the player, and it really shows how it makes
Although I have presented a lot of information and evidence of how video games can
help mental health, there is one main objection that people think of instantly. Gaming can cause
serious amounts of rage and anger, while also serving as a distraction against important aspects
of life such as schoolwork, family time, or work. To counter this argument is pretty simple. Yes,
these points are valid because I myself have experienced these points and know many people that
have experienced them as well, but the pros outweigh the cons here. It is more often that people
experience more happiness and joy than rage and anger when playing video games. Yes, there
are those moments where rage and anger occur, but typically, it is not the entire experience, and
most of the experience of playing a video game results in happiness. For the point of distraction
in a bad way, the simplest way to avoid this is to limit one’s time playing video games. This
form of distraction is very common that I myself have also experienced, but in order to avoid
this, you must either limit your time when playing video games or complete the more important
tasks first and then you can avoid this problem easily. Even though these objections to my
argument may seem like they are pretty big, they are very easy to avoid or aren’t as prominent as
people think they are. There is this perception on video games that they aren’t good for people
and how it may be a waste of time or money, but that just simply isn’t true.
Overall, video games can improve one’s mental health in various ways. From mental
stimulation to distractions from sadness and times of tragedy. It shows how big of an impact
video games have on society because of how prominent video games are in our world. People
have careers of gaming, and millions of people around the world play every day to experience
Popular Sources:
[1] Bach, Deborah. “Mind Games: How Gaming Can Play a Positive Role in Mental Health.”
Microsoft, Microsoft, 3 May 2021, https://news.microsoft.com/features/mind-games-how-
gaming-can-play-a-positive-role-in-mental-health/.
[2] “Video Games: Do They Have Mental Health Benefits?” WebMD, WebMD,
https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/mental-health-benefits-of-video-games.
Scholarly Sources:
[3] Friedman, Howard S., and Patrick M Markey. “Video Games and Mental Health.”
Encyclopedia of Mental Health, Academic Press, Oxford, 2016.
[4] Granic, Isabela, et al. “The Benefits of Playing Video Games.” Pro Quest, Pro Quest, Jan.
2014,
https://www.proquest.com/docview/1492508455/fulltextPDF/1CBAD6F9A0434052PQ/1?
accountid=10796.