Gaming provides a relaxing and exciting escape from daily stressors. However, lately, there’s been an increase in burnout among student gamers, and it’s affecting other parts of their lives, including academics. It negatively affects a student’s ability to focus while studying, which, in turn, affects their grades. For example, it can affect one’s productivity in assignments, and the student might be asked to rewrite essay because of poor quality. On top of that, affected student gamers tend to experience strained relationships because of their social withdrawal.
Luckily, it’s a problem students can avoid, and this article should help. It covers key information about video game burnout, such as what it is, symptoms, causes, and several tips to avoid or combat this issue.
What Is Gaming Burnout?
Gaming burnout is the physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion from excessive or compulsive gaming. Students commonly characterize it as losing interest in gaming, but there are other symptoms, including:
- Difficulty sleeping.
- Feeling annoyed or angry while playing.
- Feeling sad or anxious while playing.
- Social isolation.
- Physical discomfort from playing for long hours.
- Procrastinating responsibilities.
Video game burnout sometimes negatively impacts other parts of a student’s life, making them neglect other responsibilities and lose interest in things they love doing.
Causes of Gaming Burnout
The best way to solve video game burnout is to prevent it, but we’ll also cover ways to deal with it. Student gamers should judicially balance gaming with academics and other parts of their lives. Thus, knowing what causes gaming burnout is important to protect yourself and your future. Here are some of the main causes of gaming burnout to watch out for.
Excessive Gaming
Gaming is a lot of fun. But playing video games for extended hours without rest routinely can quickly take the fun out of it. Many student gamers suffering from video games play these games excessively and even prioritize the games over other essential activities like eating, sleeping, exercising, and social interactions. So, if you find yourself gaming excessively to the point that you have no time for assignments and must delegate them to professional writers like those discussed in the PayForEssay review, it might be time to pump the brakes.
Playing the Same Games Repeatedly
Sometimes, gamers feel burnt out from gaming because they play the same games simultaneously. It is a habit many gamers have, especially those who play first-person shooter games. Understandably, some game titles are a lot of fun, especially online multiplayer, but playing that one game repeatedly eventually gets boring.
Modern Game Practices
Video game burnout is not always entirely on gamers. Game developers are using every tool to keep gamers playing even when bored. Games used to be adventures players could complete in a few days; however, developers nowadays want you to spend hundreds of hours on one title.
Online games are the worst at this, whereby a student gamer will keep playing for hours daily to avoid losing their progress or dropping on leaderboards. Thus, they eventually burn out.
Pressure to Keep Playing
Gamers can also burn out because of the pressure of gaming. Competitive gamers are under pressure to perform in online tournaments and spend lots of hours perfecting their gameplay. Some gamers face burnout because of the pressure to play from their friends and social connections. They feel they have to keep playing to maintain these friendships.
External Factors
The things happening around you can affect your relationship with gaming. Family issues, worldwide events, relationship troubles, and other factors can push gamers to compulsive gaming to try and cope. Student gamers can also get frustrated when struggling to balance gaming with school and other responsibilities, leading to burnout.
Tips Student Gamers Can Use to Avoid and Deal with Gaming Burnout
The best way to avoid gaming burnout is to anticipate and address the above causes before they affect you. Here are some valuable tips.
Set Time Limits for Gaming
Set limits to avoid spending too much time gaming. Create specific gaming times in your schedule and keep track of your game time by setting alarms. It will help you enjoy gaming without compromising other parts of your life.
Take Breaks
Take breaks during gaming sessions to refresh your mind and relax your eyes. For example, gaming for 6+ hours straight is not healthy. You can instead add short 10-30 minute breaks in between, take a walk, or participate in any activity that gets you away from the screen. You can also split it into two 3-hour sessions. It will help prevent over-obsession, which often leads to burnout.
Diversify Your Catalogue
You don’t have to play that one exciting game every time. It will get boring. Switch it up and consider even changing the genre to avoid getting bored. If you’re used to multiplayer games, try an interesting offline RPG occasionally; it keeps things interesting and can prevent a gaming rut where you don’t feel like playing anything.
Play for Fun
Prioritize fun in gaming unless you’re a successful competitive gamer. Some games are designed to get you hooked and make you log in daily with attractive transactions and “responsibilities.”
Some survival games slowly become chores, and gamers don’t realize it until they’re hooked. So, prioritize interesting titles that you can easily put away when needed. Take your time to read game reviews to identify the best games.
Balance Your Life
Create a healthy balance between the different aspects of your life. Student gamers are likely to become compulsive gamers to cope with challenges outside gaming. For example, you can avoid stressors such as poor grades by taking your academic responsibilities seriously. You can also talk to someone about the external stressors contributing to excessive gaming.
Shutting Down
Gaming should be fun, so feeling burnt out means it’s time to make some changes. The above tips should help avoid gaming burnout. However, you should know when to seek professional assistance, especially if you’re burnt out but can’t stop gaming; it might be a sign of gaming addiction.
