Written by Shawn Gao 2022 Cohort
When we talk about digital media, what kind of impact do we expect it on society and people in communities? As more and more digital media products are developed and widely used by everyone, there is growing interest in the relevance of digital media and mental health, especially in video games.
Whether video games are a healthy leisure activity has been discussed for decades. Since the release of Mortal Kombat, Doom and Night Trap in 1993, there has been no end to skepticism from the video gamers’ community. These games are filled with gory, erotic elements, and parents are concerned and blame the violent aspects of fun for teaching their teens to engage and mirror behaviour. The adverse effects of violent games on young people are being taken more seriously than ever before, and hearings have even been held in the United States to discuss them. One hearing led directly to establishing of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) in 1994. It was the first time people started to care about the subtle influence of digital media on people’s behaviour and sanity. Mental health refers to cognitive, behavioural, and emotional well-being. Cultural products like video games do have an impact on people’s mental health and selectively guide their behaviour.
Video games should be regulated under the law to the appropriate target groups, but the continuous development of technology also made the world aware of its great potential in psychotherapy.
Scientists and game and VR designers from South Korea have reunited a mother and her long-lost daughter, even though she had been dead for three years. This impossible task was done with the help of an interactive narrative game they had developed. The event was made into a VR human documentary that has 30 million views on YouTube. The story was so touching that people began discussing the desire to meet their deceased loved ones through VR games and conveying what they hadn’t had time to say. Psychotherapy through this method is highly possible and practical for those experiencing grief.
Any digital media technology, including interactive games, has two sides. It is not good or evil in itself; what matters is how people regulate it and use it. Digital media may hurt mental health but can also positively impact it. As an emerging discipline, there is still much research to be conducted and many social discussions to be carried out. This is precisely where we should be advancing our efforts to bring digital media into our lives healthier and allow technology to bring positive impact and change to the world.