Pokémon GO’s Mental Health Benefits Detailed In Academic Study

Pokémon GO’s Mental Health Benefits Detailed In Academic Study

It is important to emphasize the fact that while these aspects are positive, they are only in regard to mild depression. Players with more severe, clinical forms of depression and similar mental health challenges may be less impacted by Pokémon GO’s benefits. However, LSE notes the “ease of use, relatively low cost and high accessibility, the researchers argue location-based games could be attractive subsidy targets for policymakers“. This means games similar to Pokémon GO, like Niantic’s newly announced game Peridot, could be specifically designed and marketed with these mental health benefits in mind.
Mental health and depression can be difficult topics to broach, even in minor cases. However, video games offer a unique opportunity to connect with others and explore these issues. For example, popular titles like indie RPG Omori help to open up the topic to an audience, promoting conversation amongst gamers. At the same time, exercise-based games provide opportunities and motivation to build good habits, which can be beneficial for tackling mental health challenges. While Pokémon GO is only one example of mental-health positive mobile gaming, its prevalence has made the impact easily identifiable to researchers. Hopefully, these types of games will continue to benefit players as new titles become available.
Source: The London School of Economics

#Pokémon #GOs #Mental #Health #Benefits #Detailed #Academic #Study

Pokémon GO’s Mental Health Benefits Detailed In Academic Study

It is important to emphasize the fact that while these aspects are positive, they are only in regard to mild depression. Players with more severe, clinical forms of depression and similar mental health challenges may be less impacted by Pokémon GO’s benefits. However, LSE notes the “ease of use, relatively low cost and high accessibility, the researchers argue location-based games could be attractive subsidy targets for policymakers“. This means games similar to Pokémon GO, like Niantic’s newly announced game Peridot, could be specifically designed and marketed with these mental health benefits in mind.
Mental health and depression can be difficult topics to broach, even in minor cases. However, video games offer a unique opportunity to connect with others and explore these issues. For example, popular titles like indie RPG Omori help to open up the topic to an audience, promoting conversation amongst gamers. At the same time, exercise-based games provide opportunities and motivation to build good habits, which can be beneficial for tackling mental health challenges. While Pokémon GO is only one example of mental-health positive mobile gaming, its prevalence has made the impact easily identifiable to researchers. Hopefully, these types of games will continue to benefit players as new titles become available.
Source: The London School of Economics

#Pokémon #GOs #Mental #Health #Benefits #Detailed #Academic #Study