Issues around Esports
What is going on around this space and what are these students, adults, and even children going through as they continue their pursuit of competitive gaming?
As of this year 2023, I believe that health is the key solution to most of our daily problems and just feeling ill or out of it really hinders what you can do throughout the day. Which is prominent for people in the Esports scene as they experience "mental fatigue and burnout"(Elizabeth M H Newbury, 2021) because of extended hours of gaming to stay competitive. This is a common occurrence as these players who are “younger than professional players in traditional sports,”(Elizabeth M H Newbury, 2021) continue to play more than 12 hours of their life to continue to work and grind regardless of their need for sleep, food, and exercise. Truly emphasizing the worries that are to come for these individuals, because as though this can be a dream job. It will only become an issue in the future as it will cause serious health issues such as, “torn tendons to vision issues,”(Elizabeth M H Newbury, 2021) and in my experience even carpal tunnel.
Then, if it is such a big issue shouldn't this issue be resolved?
Why even bring this up now, is there even a solution, what could we even do to help?
In my opinion, not everyone seems to know about this pressing issue and what gaming really does to people like myself who are so committed. We all think that gaming doesn’t really cause these issues if you just play for fun but for some of us, it could be a career that someone invested their whole lives into. Causing them to value gaming more than their health, which brings us to the solutions or temporary fixes that can help demonstrate a stronger mentality of having the need for physical improvement such as exercise. Instead of solutions that involve fixing their immediate addiction towards gaming, give them alternatives such as games that revolve around physical activities or even using programs/devices that help them solely progress to being healthier. For example, an article titled, “Physical Activity and Health Promotion in Esports…” talks about using movement based games such as, “ Exergames combine physical and cognitive abilities with immersive game experiences''(Sascha, 2021) which can help Esport players involve themselves to stay active through games and keeps themselves cognitively ready for competitive play. Even Esports as a whole can have, “enormous potential for physical activity and health-promoting efforts, provides a context for broadly disseminating interventions, and offers new ways of gaining access to an often-neglected population,” which if successful can ultimately help you guys to be more informed in ways to help Esports people with real and proven methods. This is why Esports health needs to be shown to a bigger audience to show that it's such a worrying issue in today’s society.
Lastly, what can you do to help and reduce the health issues that revolve around Esports players, as we all should look after one another regardless of them being strangers. The best way to help someone in this regard is to be aware and provide ample help in regards to going out to eat with them, going to the gym together, and spending time together. Any type of movement that allows them to step back from their games is a great way to help them feel healthier and more refreshed than ever before. Esports can bring a lot of joy and happiness but allowing rest and time to take breaks is needed, especially for students and even adults who are playing for 10-12 hours.
CITATION:
Newbury, Elizabeth M H. “Esports: Health and Safety at the Collegiate Level.” Wilson Center, 30 Mar. 2021, https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/esports-health-and-safety-collegiate-level.
Ketelhut, Sascha, et al. “Physical Activity and Health Promotion in Esports and Gaming–Discussing Unique Opportunities for an Unprecedented Cultural Phenomenon.” Frontiers, Frontiers, 23 Aug. 2021, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2021.693700/full.
I find your post very insightful on the health problems that are associated with sitting down at a desk for long periods of time. People especially one's who aspire to become career gamers have almost lost touch with a healthy diet and going out to exercise. I have read and watched videos on how big gaming teams mandate that their esports players get adequate exercise, rest, and diet. I think that lifestyle should be made more open to others who wish to follow their path so that way they can take care of themselves as well.
ReplyDeleteHello Benjamin, I found your post interesting and helpful when it comes down to the health issues that there are for the people that are playing games for many hours. This is very true about how they could have problems because if they don't have a diet and don't exercise they could get ill because of this and could have a result of many health issues in the future because they don't take care of themselves and there bodies. Still there are some teams that require there players to take care of themselves by getting in exercise and eating more healthy so that they don't have problems later in their lives.
ReplyDeleteHello Benjamin,
ReplyDeleteI think you created a well written article. You bring attention to a group who is usually alienated from society and show how siting for a long time is a health issue. However, this is a by product of most video games which has the player stagnate at a single point in order to play unlike the old arcade games which forced people to be more active.
Hello Benjamin, even though I’m not into gaming myself, I found your post to be very interesting. A lot of the times people don’t understand that playing video games has become a very popular job, whether you’re testing out the logistics or being paid to play. One thing this reminded me of was TikTok. After a certain amount of time it tracks that you’ve been scrolling for a while and it shows you a video letting you know to take a break. Even if a small reminder is being installed, I believe it could help.
ReplyDeleteHey Benjamin,
ReplyDeleteI am not gamer myself, but your post is really insightful. I've seen those photos posted online, which I'm sure are the extreme of the spectrum, of gamer's stations where there are bottles filled with urine because the gamer refused to take any kind of break away from the game. It's a subculture that grew to immense popularity, but still carries with it a kind of stigma sue to situations like that, I imagine. You've done a great job shedding light on this issue.