The corona pandemic and online gaming, it seems a match made in heaven. Ideal in times of a lockdown. Corona is turning our lives upside down. We all have to stay at home. Schools and leisure services are closed. Social contact has to take place at a distance. Digital entertainment like online casino gaming become an important alternative for many. In the past few months there has been a lot of gaming. Worldwide, we see a large increase in online gaming activities. Is this something we have to worry about? Is this pandemic creating a generation of problematic gamers? Or will we see a generation that has extra digital skills thanks to this? Actually, we don’t know yet. Worldwide researchers are studying the theme of gaming. Research results are still too early to make any statements.
Gaming as a whole antidote to insecurity, gloom and loneliness.
When we meet our basic psychological needs, we feel energized, and we can deal better with setbacks. Online gaming fulfills the three basic needs: autonomy, connectedness and competence.
Everyone fulfills those basic needs in a different way. People get energy from the activities they enjoy doing themselves (autonomy) and for many that is gaming. It is logical that gaming becomes extra attractive during corona time. Online gaming is a digital form of play: a healthy activity and has been used by humans for a long time. Online games play strongly on the feeling of freedom of choice: players make their own choices. You can let your own created character move in your own corona-free world that you help design.
The lockdown makes us look for alternative forms of social contact and connection.The social interaction within gaming, made it the most secure group activity in this pandemic. Online games provide relaxation and entertainment, often in contact with friends. Seeking out activities in which you are skilled or from which you can learn something turns out to be very healing (competence). And this is precisely what online games, with their different levels, feedback systems and punishments and rewards, do. Online games challenge you to become better and get further. Take online casino games for example. It is relaxing and you don’t have to go to a real casino to play. You can play games casino games at Slothino casino comfortably from home.
While online gaming is a healthy coping strategy for the majority, it can also pose risks for vulnerable gamers. Much depends on the reasons why someone gambles. Negative motives are riskier: gaming because you have been feeling bad for a while and can escape from these feelings, because there are tensions at home, because going to school is difficult or because you’ve always had trouble with social contact or struggled with low self-esteem. The number of hours someone spends gaming is thus not enough to determine whether there is a problem. More important is the question of what place gaming occupies in a person’s life.
Social isolation, and online gaming as coping method for stress and negative emotions create new habits. When this persists, it can lead to deteriorating functioning and develop into a gambling disorder. Gaming is then not a casual hobby. If somebody starts to isolate himself more, neglect hobbies and other social activities. When school results deteriorate and almost all free time goes into gaming, it starts to be a problem. So, we as a society regain more freedom and “normal” life resumes, it is crucial to keep an eye on the situation. But let’s not wait for that and take action when we see this kind of behavior.