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[adamsapple]

Eat your heart out, old geezers who have no idea what video games are.

Violent video games decrease stress hormones, study finds

A new study reveals that playing violent video games might decrease stress hormones and does not increase aggression, challenging previous assumptions about the negative impact of these games on behavior.

www.psypost.org

In a surprising twist to the long-debated topic of video game violence, a recent study suggests that playing violent video games might actually decrease stress hormones in some players. Contrary to popular belief, the study found no increase in aggressive tendencies, indicating a more complex relationship between video game content and player responses than previously thought. The findings have been published in the scientific journal Physiology & Behavior.

The results were quite unexpected. Contrary to what many previous studies have suggested, the researchers found no significant change in testosterone levels in either group. More strikingly, cortisol levels actually decreased in the group playing the violent game. This suggests that, rather than increasing stress, playing the violent game might have had a relaxing effect on the players.

Moreover, using the Implicit Association Test, the study evaluated aggressive cognition – essentially, how likely participants were to associate themselves with aggressive thoughts or behaviors. The results showed no significant difference between the group that played the violent game and the group that played the non-violent game. This indicates that short-term exposure to video game violence might not influence a person’s aggressive thoughts or tendencies as much as some earlier research has suggested.

 

[delfrickintree]

Im going straight to my psychiatrist to get a lifetime prescription for 8hours of violent gaming, taken occularly every night before bed.

 

[adamsapple]

Im going straight to my psychiatrist to get a lifetime prescription for 8hours of violent gaming, taken occularly every night before bed.

Apply directly to the forehead.

 

[Zelduh]

Does mass one-shotting endless random encounters in turn-based battles count as violent?

 

[Grildon Tundy]

So it was Uncharted 4, and research participants played either a violent or non-violent passage.

I think the decrease in stress hormones has more to do with the dopamine/reward system. You're getting more engagement, immediate feedback, and "success" with the many quick decisions you make in a violent section compared to a slow-walk or puzzle-solving segment.

 

[The Pleasure]

Apply directly to the forehead.

Bad news everyone! It's a suppository!

 

[Shin-Ra]

STRESS -20%
HEARING -30%

Gamers at risk of irreversible hearing loss and tinnitus, study suggests​

The new review suggests that gamers play for long periods of time with the volume turned up, beyond safe limits.

It says this could contribute to irreversible hearing loss or tinnitus, a constant ringing in the ears.

The paper, published in BMJ Public Health, reviewed 14 studies which in total involved more than 50,000 people.

The researchers urge more public health efforts to raise awareness of the issues for gamers, in the same way that has been done for live music and headphones.

​

 

[Phase]

I was definitely able to let off some steam playing Sekiro.

 

[ADiTAR]

I guess I'm stressed cause the most violent game I play is Splatoon.

 

[adamsapple]

STRESS -20%
HEARING -30%

Gamers at risk of irreversible hearing loss and tinnitus, study suggests​

​

Makes sense, hear less bullshit, get less stressed.

 

[rabbity-thing]

Doctors need to start prescribing E1M1 or one of the many fine generics for stress relief.

 

[bender]

STRESS -20%
HEARING -30%

Gamers at risk of irreversible hearing loss and tinnitus, study suggests​

​

Can I sell this trinket to a vendor? Sorry, I've been playing too much Brotato.

 

[kiphalfton]

Single player games, that is.

Social anything (i.e. multiplayer games, social media, etc.) brings the worst out in people.

 

[Soodanim]

STRESS -20%
HEARING -30%

Gamers at risk of irreversible hearing loss and tinnitus, study suggests​

​

It's funny they should mention headphones, because the rise is gaming headphones could well be a contributing factor to the problem. The noise impact on others can be something that makes you keep the volume down, so when you take that away it's a free pass for cranking it up.

 

[Humdinger]

Nice to see the results, although this part caught my eye:

"Participants were randomly assigned to play either a violent or non-violent passage from the popular video game “Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End” for 25 minutes."

That's a pretty tame choice for violence. They could have chosen something truly violent.

I would probably find watching non-violent portions of the game -- e.g., the family drama cutscenes -- to be considerably more stressful, just because I want them to end.

 

[intbal]

Is Jack Thompson still alive?
Can he be retroactively incarcerated for taking away stress relief solutions from children, thereby increasing the likelihood of violent acts?

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

I'm sure this depends on precisely what type of violent game is being played.

A SP zombie smasher like Dead Rising? Sure... Therapeutic!

A tense online MP twitch shooter like COD? Hell no! Probably increases stress.

 

[Kssio_Aug]

I believe it. It can be so satisfying play games such as Doom, God of War 1-3, and Gears of War.

 

[dreamstation]

Playing through Evil West now after getting it on PS plus. Hell yea, love slaughtering me some shit

 

[Johnny2Bad]

I'm an old geezer and I love violent video games.
There's nothing like coming home from stressful day and killing numerous people.

 

[jayj]

Funny how just about everything boomers thought about video games after watching too many Dateline NBC specials is turning out to be proven false.

 

[Portugeezer]

Mofo's after butchering shit in Dying Light 2

 

[adamsapple]

Mofo's after butchering shit in Dying Light 2

20 Killstreak

 

[Woggleman]

I just played No Return for a couple hours and I feel very relaxed.

 

[Rawbutt Jellybean]

STRESS -20%
HEARING -30%

Gamers at risk of irreversible hearing loss and tinnitus, study suggests​

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There's some games where you're at a pretty big disadvantage if you don't have your sound cranked up to hear somewhat faint sounds like footsteps. Going to be a lot of competitive fans of shooters dealing with hearing problems for most of their lives.

 

[SHA]

I hate when we see a bad study about video games followed by a good one, this should stop, we know games are awesome and bring no harm except the opposite actually, it's rewarding even in real life, seriously, in Tech, you need critical thinkers, guys and girls who don't play games are bad trends especially in the Tech industry, if you don't believe games are good, you are in grandpa camp in slow paced environment and missing a lot actually cause the notion of who "don't play games" are nothing but bad news in a competitive industry.

 

[El Muerto]

STRESS -20%
HEARING -30%

Gamers at risk of irreversible hearing loss and tinnitus, study suggests​

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Can confirm, have tinnitus. No hearing loss, just an annoying ringing in my ear if it's super quiet or have headphones on and there's no sound.

 

[SirKicksalot]

I was stressed as fuck by all the weapon juggling and bing bing wahoo bullshit in Doom Eternal.

 

[MiguelItUp]

I can totally get that cause you can take out your stresses on in-game enemies that don't matter, lol.