Can video games cause an anxiety disorder?

The answer is YES.

In an earlier post I briefly talked about my hypothesis about video games causing my own anxiety disorder. As a college student (and former video game addict), I have been much too busy recently to play video games. While one would expect that the demands of college would make anxiety worse, the opposite was true for me. Today, for no particular reason, I tried playing some old-school Super Nintendo Donkey Kong (the original).  I noticed that the game REALLY PISSED ME OFF. My heart was racing, my chest was tightening, my hands were becoming sweaty--I was having a fight-or-flight reaction. It made me wonder if playing video games heavily since the age of 4 has had an effect on my psychology. I then began to think that perhaps the video games themselves don't cause the anxiety disorder, but a symptom does. A symptom of chronic fight-or-flight reactions is paranoia. If a person is constantly (more or less) in a state of paranoia (in whatever degree) this will impact how they perceive the world. In other words, being chronically in the 'offensive/defensive' causes a person to always be on the lookout for potential danger, causing them to see the world as being a dangerous place.

My anxiety was at its worse during the time I played World of Warcraft (from person experience, this game can cause intense adrenal rushes). The vast majority of games exploit the craving people have for excitement. It's counter-intuitive that people would love to do something that makes them angry, but I hypothesis that it is precisely this reaction that cause the video game craving. Essentially its an addiction to anger/stress

Random thought: wife-beating husbands also crave this anger induced fight-or-flight response which provides an emotional high.

This semester at the college, there was this kid that was on the other end of the hallway where I was. I would always hear him yelling and swearing up a storm (at first I thought he was insane, then I found out he was a video game addict). In short, it seems very plausible that video game addiction (or more specifically a stress addiction) can be the root cause of anxiety disorder (social phobia, general anxiety, etc). Video games may not only be linked to a way array of anxiety disorders, but may also be linked to anger problems, hypertension, depression, paranoia etc.


For more information on this, surf the Google, and/or check out the link below.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/she-bets-her-life/201101/video-gaming-can-cause-depression-anxiety-and-social-phobia-2

Affirmation Mindfulness

Affirmation mindfulness is truly an amazing technique. If you suffer from disorders like anxiety, depression, poor attention span, anger, etc., you may want to pay attention (in fact everyone should, that's the purpose of mindfulness).

The Buddhists often use labeling during their meditations (such as labeling their breaths..."rising....falling"). This is kind of similar, but instead of using labeling to create a concept to view a sensory experience (which causes a person to swap back and forth from actual experience to a concept and vice versa), the purpose here is to make an affirmational word become a trigger to lock a person into a deep state of awareness. I believe the best thing is to focus, not on an interpretation of what we experience, but the sense itself. The following is the list of the affirmational words to be used...

• "Seeing..."
• "Smelling..."
• "Tasting..."
• "Hearing..."
• "Feeling..." 
• "Thinking..."

Basically, the point here is to be aware of the senses. We often get so wrapped up in focusing on our perceptions (a product of the imagination) that we lose touch with reality. This technique is incredibily useful for emotional disorders like anxiety, a problem caused by an overactive imagination (people with anxiety disorders are habitual when it comes to perceiving the world with concepts instead of the senses...)

The importance of falsifying emotionally charged-thoughts

Anxiety, depression, anger....how do we get rid of these nasty things? Well, one way that I have found to be incredibly effective is to falsify habitual thoughts.

Emotionally negative thoughts are the biggest source of stress, and some people obviously have more emotionally negative thoughts than others. Issues with anxiety, depression, anger, etc. are linked to thinking behaviors that have become a habit. I say the behavior is a habit because nobody consciously chooses the way they think on a day-to-day basis. The majority of our thought process is reflexive depending on the signals our nervous system receive (i.e. the environment). For example, if you have social anxiety disorder, the problem is that when in a social situation you habitually think emotionally-charged thoughts that cause a painful physiological reaction. We are creatures of habit, we have to be because our day-to-day life is so damn complex we are forced to rely on habits. That said, habits can be changed if they are consciously overridden. The way to change the habit of thinking emotionally-charged thoughts when in certain situations is to do the following things:


1. Become fully aware of your thought process (many people with problems like anxiety and depression are not aware of their thoughts)


2. Realize that the thought is not reality, but is just a thought (like realizing a nightmare was just a dream, this removes the emotional power of the experience)


3. Find a way to discredit the thought, view it as being ridiculous in some way (finding a way to laugh at the thought is a good way to change the perception of it).

I know as well as anyone that anxiety and depression are not pleasant, I've experienced both at an extreme level. A lot of anxiety and depression is more physical than anything, but those feelings (we feel emotions) are caused by emotionless thoughts (thoughts =/= emotion, but are associated with emotions). The key here is to falsify the thoughts and disconnect the emotional associations.

Is everyone crazy? (mental illness and lack of mindfulness)

I've been doing some studying on mental illness (have taken classes on it and am taking one now, plus I have looked up a lot of stuff using Google :P ). And it seems to me that a lot of mental illness is caused by thoughts. It appears that stress-inducing thoughts are bar far the biggest cause of mental illness (aside from being human). And what is the cause of stressful thinking? Lack of awareness (at least in my opinion). When I am aware of my thoughts, and more importantly, aware of the fact that my thoughts are thoughts, they don't cause me stress (like realizing a nightmare was just a dream).

I believe that being in a state of awareness of the present moment (of our senses more specifically) is the intended default mode; but we have been bombarded with nonsense from TV and the internet, plus have been taught to see the world through the imagination in school (they teach you to see history through such a lens, for example). Most people today see the world through their imagination, they are constantly thinking about things that have happened or "will happen" (most people can't predict the future that accurately). I'm not much better (it's hard to stay in a state of mindfulness for an entire day), but I realize that mindfulness causes a shift away from being consumed with the imagination to a more accurate one (the imagination can distort our perception of reality).

I believe people that have thoughts constantly streaming through their heads, not being focused on the present moment, have a form of mental illness that is more common than not in today's world (given how hectic it is, people have adopted this sort of thinking, I believe, as a coping strategy). I'm obviously included in this bunch, but I'm also trying to shift myself out of it. I'm hoping that in time I can make mindfulness the default mode, instead of worrying (I notice that when I'm doing nothing my mind automatically starts worrying).

On a heavy end of the spectrum of this are anxiety disorders and depression (caused by a high volume of stress-inducing thoughts). I hope in time, people wake up from the daymares (like daydreaming) caused our imagination by realizing that it's not real (our brains are not really time machines going into the past or crystal balls looking into the future).

I still struggle with the process of trying to wake up, but I'm getting better in time.

The way thoughts make us feel...

I believe people (myself included) believe everything they do because of the way the beliefs (i.e. thoughts) make them feel, not because of the information itself. This idea may not seem strange on the surface, but give it some thought--does it feel strange now? If such a thought for you is underwhelming in the way it makes you feel, it's not the thought itself that is underwhelming, but the lack of mutually shared "feelings" between us. Some people might argue against this idea by pointing to beliefs that create unpleasant feelings (why would people want to ever entertain thoughts that make them feel bad?). I would argue that such a phenomenon (or is it "phenomena"?) occurs because of a belief that not thinking that thought would leave open certain vulnerabilities (the feeling of fear is a powerful thing).

Anyways, I don't want this to be a long post. But try to meditate on this idea, it is an incredible awareness (a feeling I personally enjoy, which is why I enjoy mindfulness and the ideas that lead me to it).

Believable Day-Terrors

Day terrors occur when we are partially asleep (i.e. not mindful or awake). While it's hard to be fully awake, even when practicing meditation and mindfulness techniques. This is because most of us have become so used to not being totally awake (being lost in thoughts, which are really just dreams that occur while being partially awake). And sadly, this sort of habit leaves us vulnerable to stress and causes a weakening of our ability to be aware (i.e. mindful, awake, and so on).

The scariest of day-terrors are those that we find to be the most believable. Just about any day-terror has an emotional effect, but for the moments that we truly believe the day-terror is really happening, it has an effect nearly as powerful as if it were. Such as if we are worrying about something we plan on doing in the future, and some scenario pops up with some problem(s). The fact that we find it incredibly believable that this event will happen (it being based on a real-life plan), this is why it can cause an incredible amount of stress. I believe this habit is learned by-the-way, but that is a different subject all-together. In short, a day-terror (or "worrying thought") is much more emotionally disturbing if we believe it is real, and the closer of an association with reality the day-terror has, the more "real" it will seem. Whenever you worry about the future, this is a day-terror (it's not real, reality is what's occurring in the present moment as you experience via the senses, anything else is just a thought).

Be mindful.

The type of music you listen to matters!

Feel like I'm stating the obvious here, but the type of music you listen to does matter. Like the types of thoughts we make a habit of thinking, the type of music we make a habit of listening to has an incredible impact on our well-being in the long run. The question is how music influences our emotional well-being (the kind and level of influence). The reality is that people don't like music, but the way music makes them feel. Harm is done to the self if music is used to create anger and/or aggressive emotions (such as rap, metal, and rock music). Whatever emotional states we nurture, the greater they will permeate the soul. Music is big because of the way it alters our emotional state, so keep all of this in mind when listening to your "favorite" music. I suggest listening to relaxing music with inspiring lyrics.

Electronic entertainment and mental disorders.

Electronic entertainment is a huge industry in modern-times. Unfortunately, I don't believe we even come close to understanding the negative psychological affects of electronic entertainment. Many people write it off as ...

"it's just television.."
"it's just music.." 
"it's just the internet.."
"it's just video games.."


All of these things, I believe, cause an over-stimulation of the brain. Our brains are simply not intended for these sorts of sensory stimulation. As far as mental health is concerned, we have seen a rise in..

-Anxiety disorders
-ADD/ADHD
-Depression
-Lack of motivation

...to name a few.

I believe the overstimulating affects of electronic entertainment can cause all of those problems. Young children's brains are especially vulnerable to the affects of electronic entertainment (their brains are still developing). Essentially, our brains wire to accommodate the things we experience (what we sense, and how we react).  And the type of sensory stimulation we seek out from electronic entertainment is not necessarily conductive of good mental health, but rather for the type of feeling we desire to experience. Many people blame electronic entertainment (like those listed above) for having a bad influence, but it is them who is reacting to the consumer's desires. Fox News, for example, tries to promote the most worry-producing stories they can. Why? Because the consumers of Fox News are more interested in viewing those types of stories because they are EXCITING!!

At the end of the day, the type of electronic entertainment we consume depends on the way we want to feel. The most popular feelings that people want to experience today are the "adrenaline rush" and "sexual arousal". Both of these desired feelings, when experienced on a constant basis, are not healthy for an individual or society. Just because a food taste good doesn't mean it is good for  you, and the same goes for electronic entertainment. 

Irrational Past/Future thinking underlies anxiety and depression.

The title of this post says it all. Essentially, especially for anxiety, the sensations come about when worrying about the past or future. Our imaginations are so damn powerful that when we imagine either (past or future), they seem real, and our body reacts accordingly. All that exists is the present moment, and typically the present moment isn't very threatening. But for someone with anxiety (like myself), it takes thinking about the past or future to generate the response. Now this is all well and good, and perhaps obvious in hindsight—but it can make for a useful technique to disable anxiety/depression-provoking cognition. All you must do is be aware of the thoughts that are flowing in the mind at the present moment, and for each you notice, make sure to tell yourself that "it is just a thought, and nothing more". The reality is that a thought is just a thought. People with anxiety and depression (and probably 99% of all people) are affected by stressful thoughts because they believe those thoughts to be MORE than thoughts. If I was to imagine an serial killer was trying to kill me now, it may cause a small stressful reaction if I was aware that it was my imagination (i.e. that I correctly label the experience as 'imaginary'). But if I believe such an occurrence (me getting attacked) is really about to happen, I would have a panic attack. We have panic attacks (and anxiety/depression) because we believe that our thoughts are true. I know this seems obvious, but the devil is in the details. A person that struggles with these problems needs to slow things down, and look closely at the thoughts (i.e. cognition) that is causes their symptoms.

This is all just food for thought, and is not a substitute for proffesional treatment. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to leave a comment☺

Awareness is key for overcoming anxiety and depression.

Many people are anxious and/or depressed, yet they don't understand why. I am a person that is currently working towards overcoming anxiety (and occasional mild-depression). I've found that with awareness (i.e. mindfulness of thought) a lot of cognition was going on "behind the scenes" that I was unaware of. Not only did I notice a lot of worrying going on, but the worrying is just plain irrational. This is the key, I believe, to overcoming problematic thinking (which is the typical cause of anxiety and depression). In other words, the problem is the habitual fear-based thinking that is typically irrational. Irrational thoughts based on reality can be indistinguishable from reality without awareness and logical breaking-down of the thoughts. The key is to just listen to your thoughts. When a worrying thought passes by your awareness, proverbially grab onto it and observe it through the lens of logical thinking. I've also found it helpful to write down my thoughts to organize them, and then take those thoughts and break down why those thoughts are fictitious. Reality doesn't cause anxiety disorders and depression, thoughts do. It's as simple as getting your thoughts together, but just because something is simple, doesn't make it easy. I know very well that overcoming irrational thinking isn't easy, but it's certainly a worthy endeavour. 

This is all food for thought, it's not intended to substitute professional help. But when it comes to overcoming anxiety and depression, knowing is half the battle. 

Mindfulness is essential for good mental health.

Mindfulness is an incredible tool that the vast majority don't utilize. I believe we, as a society, are addicted to a reliance on autopilot—mindfulness is the enemy of autopilot (and vice versa). Mindfulness cannot be done automatically. In other words, our autopilot cannot learn mindfulness, but it can learn to remind us to engage in mindful behavior. Before I go any further, let me explain what mindfulness is. 

Mindfulness is an intentional focus on being aware of the present moment. A good way of doing this is to just step back, appreciate the moment with the senses (listen, see, taste, touch, smell), and also be aware of the thoughts that pass through awareness without pushing them away or encouraging them (just let them flow by). Play around with mindfulness, perhaps do some research on it if you don't feel that you have a good bead on it. 

When a person is mindful the brain correctly labels thoughts as being thoughts, and doesn't get all tangled up in them (a person that is aware of the present moment is able to easily see that a thought is just a thought, and not a threat). 

The ability to be aware is like a muscle, use it or lose it. And if you want to overcome things like depression and anxiety, awareness is literally the key (autopilot programming is by far the biggest cause of stress, anxiety, and depression).

If you have any questions about mindfulness, feel free to ask. Poor cognitive behavior is at the root of so many psychological problems, and mindfulness is amazing at getting people back on track (even though it takes a ton of discipline, it is very effective). I believe mindfulness is the kind of behavior that we are suppose to be engaged in—but in the age of information, we are overwhelmed with worry-provoking stimuli. The body in its natural state wants to relax, it takes worrying with a lack of awareness of the present moment (both go hand-in-hand) to stoke the proverbial fire.