How do video games cause alexithymia?

Regular gamers tend to feel their emotions with less intensity than other adolescents. Regular gamers express their emotions less than other adolescents. Regular gamers have difficulty identifying and describing emotions, which translates into a higher level of alexithymia than other adolescents.

How does alexithymia develop?

Several subsequent studies suggested that alexithymia might develop in response to overwhelming stress to avoid experiencing agonizing and unbearable emotions[97,98]. During the previous two decades, this “state or trait” issue has been assessed in several studies discussed in the next section.

Can video games affect emotions?

Gaming Causes Poor Emotional Regulation

One of the biggest negative effects of video games can lead you to struggle with regulating your emotions properly. Studies show that people diagnosed with Internet gaming disorder are more likely to be aggressive, depressed, and anxious.

How does playing video games affect your mental health?

Gaming has also been associated with sleep deprivation, insomnia and circadian rhythm disorders, depression, aggression, and anxiety, though more studies are needed to establish the validity and the strength of these connections.

What is alexithymia linked to?

Alexithymia is when a person has difficulty experiencing, identifying, and expressing emotions. It is not a mental health disorder but has links with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), eating disorders, and various other conditions. It can occur with autism.

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Do video games suppress negative emotions?

Some of the negative effects of excessive gaming can include emotional suppression, relationship issues, social disconnection, and negative emotions. These can affect children, teens, and adults.

Do video games drain your mental energy?

Mental or physical exhaustion

If you're affected by gaming fatigue or burnout, you will most likely experience symptoms of exhaustion which include feeling tired, lethargic, irritable, and emotionally drained. You may also experience physical ailments such as headache or feeling physically weak.

How does gaming negatively affect the brain?

Just 10–20 minutes of violent gaming can increase activity in the brain regions associated with arousal, anxiety, and emotional reaction, while simultaneously reducing activity in the frontal lobes associated with emotion regulation and executive control.

Can people with alexithymia cry?

Some alexithymic individuals may appear to contradict the above-mentioned characteristics because they can experience chronic dysphoria or manifest outbursts of crying or rage.

What is the root of alexithymia?

In fact, subsequent research both from the field of developmental psychology and from neuropsychology has found that the root of alexithymia could lie in either a problem of cerebral organization, or in a marked lack of suitable emotional models during the passage from childhood to adulthood, or else a combination of ...

Is alexithymia low empathy?

A core aspect of social cognition, empathy, has been reported to be reduced in alexithymic individuals (Moriguchi et al., 2007; Grynberg et al., 2010).

What happens to your brain when you play too much video games?

Excessive video game use can lead to the brain being revved up in a constant state of hyperarousal. Hyperarousal looks different for each person. It can include difficulties with paying attention, managing emotions, controlling impulses, following directions and tolerating frustration.

Why do I feel weird after playing video games?

Liquid in the semicircular canals of your inner ear allows you to sense if you're moving. But the brain can get confused if your inner ear senses that you're sitting still while your eyes see the action on the screen and tell the brain you're moving. That may leave you feeling sick, dizzy, or drowsy.

Why do I feel depressed after playing video games?

In addition, excessive gaming creates an environment where individuals are often isolated in the physical world, such as in their room a lot; they may have withdrawn from friends and family, and often, exercise is sparse. This environment and lifestyle can lead to feelings of depression.

Do video games cause apathy?

Playing video games for fun does not make you lazy. However, gaming to the detriment of all other hobbies, activities and interests can be problematic. It can lead to a lack of motivation and general apathy in other areas of life. But this isn't just limited to video games.

Do video games affect your personality?

The effects that video games may have on players' personalities can be positive, such as improving social skills, mental skills and finding solutions. It can also be negative on the players' personalities, such as violence, aggression, anxiety and stress.

Does video games worsen anxiety?

One study showed that people with Internet gaming disorder (IGD) demonstrated abnormal emotional regulation, expressed as anxiety and other psychological symptoms. Some studies detected an association between anxiety and online gaming and IGD.

What do people with alexithymia feel?

Alexithymia refers to an inability to express or identify emotions. People with alexithymia feel the usual range of emotions, but they are less aware of their own emotions and the emotions of others.

Who is alexithymia most common in?

Alexithymia is a term to describe problems with feeling emotions. In Greek, it loosely translates to “no words for emotion.” It is estimated that 1 in 10 people has alexithymia, but it is much more common in those with depression and in autistic people.

Is alexithymia caused by trauma?

Considering that alexithymia is associated with both childhood trauma and psychopathology, it is thought that the level of alexithymia may be a risk factor or a predisposition factor.

Can alexithymia fall in love?

Can Alexithymia Feel Love? The answer is yes, we can feel love. It might be harder to find the words to describe how you feel, but sometimes it can be easier to show love through actions. If someone with alexithymia feels and recognizes they are in love; it means the feeling is very strong and real.

Can people with alexithymia smile?

He has found, for example, that people with the condition have no trouble recognizing faces or distinguishing between pictures of people smiling and frowning. “But for a few of our really alexithymic people, while they can tell a smile and a frown apart, they have no idea what they are.

Is alexithymia a psychopathy?

Our findings reveal that in HDIs, alexithymia is uniquely related to the impulsive/antisocial features of psychopathy (PCL:SV Factor 2) but not to the interpersonal/affective psychopathic traits (PCL:SV Factor 1).

Does gaming ruin dopamine?

Dopamine exhaustion occurs when your body becomes chronically used to having a high level of dopamine from gaming. It causes problems for gamers because the activities that they would otherwise enjoy don't seem fun anymore.

How much gaming is too much?

For kids over the age of 6, the American Academy of Pediatrics says no more than 60 minutes on school days and 2 hours on non-school days. Kids under 6 should spend closer to 30 minutes. It's also appropriate for parents to know and approve the games their kids are playing.