• Question: Do you play computer games, and how long minimum roughly will you have to play for each day before you go one of these three things: blind, crazy or disorientated?

    Asked by to Ben, Dave, Ditte, Heather, Rebecca on 19 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Ben White

      Ben White answered on 19 Jun 2014:

      Hi@whatisinmypocket – what IS in your pocket?

      Yes, on my PC though as it’s faster and the graphics are better than Xbox One or PS4.

      It depends what I’m playing, if it’s a hard game like Dark Souls 2 then maybe an hour or so before I want to break my controller. Apart from that I don’t have much time to play, and probably not enough to go blind (I’ve recently brought glasses), crazy (maybe I slowly am), and disorientated… actually the disorientation does happen sometimes and I’m glad I don’t play something like the Oculus Rift too much.

    • Photo: Rebecca Gladstone

      Rebecca Gladstone answered on 19 Jun 2014:

      I play computer games sometimes. When I am travelling to stop myself being bored I play games on my phone. I also play brain training games to try and use and improve parts of my brain that I am less good at in a fun way, some tasks I find really difficult and some easy.

      Certainly looking at a screen for too long could affect your sight by getting computer vision syndrome but there isn’t any evidence that you could go blind. It is possible that the illusion of motion in a computer game could make some people feel sick or disorientated but this won’t affect everyone. Mental instability is a very complex issue and can have many and multiple causes. Your brain function my be comprimised though if you played without stopping for food, water or sleep the things that we really need to keep our brains and bodies functioning normally. There might be other concequences of playing alot and isolating yourself though, like learning how to interact well with people face to face!

      In reality everybody is different, it is all about a healthy balance and games can also have a positive influence on your life. There is a very good video that discusses this…

    • Photo: Heather Ritchie

      Heather Ritchie answered on 19 Jun 2014:

      I am an avid gamer (or at least I used to be before I started my PhD!) and I like all sorts of games. I enjoy casual games on my ipad when I’m travelling, but at heart I am a PC gamer and I love games I grew up with: The Sims, Tomb Raider, Wolfenstein, Quake etc. Because I no longer have so much time to play I (un)fortunately doubt I will ever go blind, crazy or disorientated! I have made myself dizzy before playing the Wii too long. (And embarrassingly pulled a muscle in my shoulder playing Wii table tennis too enthusiastically – I don’t like to lose!)

    • Photo: Dave Baker

      Dave Baker answered on 19 Jun 2014:

      I don’t play any games. I get bored really quickly. I like playing real games like football…

    • Photo: Ditte Hedegaard

      Ditte Hedegaard answered on 26 Jun 2014:

      I’m with Dave, I don’t really play computer games, I’m much more into watching TV where I can just lay on the couch and relax.

      I think that the time it takes to get blind, crazy or disorientated from playing computer games depend on the person. I often get an headache after just 5-6 hours in front of my work computer, so I don’t think I would last long if I started playing computer games.

Comments

  • Photo: Ben

    Ben commented on :

    @RebeccaGladstone raises very important points on why it’s good to take breaks from staring at screen and playing computer games, and also the benefits associated with gaming. They may have also just explained why I forked out a load of money at SpecSavers.