Games are bad for you

By Ellie Gibson Published 24 June, 2005

Say scientist and child.

It's official - games will break your thumbs and turn you into a nutjob, according to new reports from a German scientist and a South African schoolgirl.

Klaus Mathiak of the University of Aachen conducted a study of 13 men aged 18 to 26, published in the New Scientist, with the aim of discovering what goes on in gamers' heads while playing.

The subjects were asked to play for two hours a day while Dr Mathiak scanned their brains using magnetic resonance imaging. They were tasked with completing typical first-person shooter objectives - entering an enemy base, rescuing the innocent and killing all the guilty.

Mathiak says he discovered that the part of the brain which deals with emotions began to shut off as activity increased in the intellectual part. He reckons the same thing happens when we're confronted with real violence, and concludes that therefore games train our brains not to distinguish between what's real and what's pretend.

But Royal College of Psychiatrists bigwig Mike McClure says this doesn't mean we're all going to go mental. "You would have to say it is a small minority," he told the Scottish Herald.

"Most people can distinguish between them as a game and what they would be doing in reality."

However, while most of us might manage to maintain our understanding of the difference between Games and Real Life, we're still at risk of a syndrome known as PlayStation Thumb.

That's the name given to the familiar experience of being left with sore digits after a marathon gaming session by Safura Abdool Karim, a South African schoogirl who's just had a report published in the country's leading medical journal.

Karim, who is just 13, talked to 120 fellow pupils about the problem as part of a science project. In total, 45 of those questioned said they played games on a regular basis, and 15 complained of experiencing blisters, redness, tingling and a feeling of numbness, particularly in the thumb.

The report compares PlayStation Thumb to Repetitive Strain Injury: "Although RSI is not new, in the past it occurred mainly among adults," Karim wrote.

"Today computers and computer games are creating new medical problems which are becoming common in children." However, Karim said she herself does not own a PlayStation, believing gaming to be "a waste of time."

It's thought that within a few years PlayStation Thumb will be listed in medical textbooks alongside Tennis Elbow, Housewife's Knee and Bachelor's Wrist.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (40) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • the_angry_monkey #1 7 years ago

    I thought there was alrready a condition called Nintendo thumb - DAMN you Sony - must you steal everything :p

  • mcmonkeyplc #2 7 years ago

    Do I give a shit?

  • joey #3 7 years ago

    This is just rubbish, I play games all the carrot with not problems so far.

    My llama is real.

    My mother loves me.

    x

  • Tweakmonkey #4 7 years ago

    Learning to play a guitar was far more painful than any video game controller ever has.

  • Dodgymat #5 7 years ago

    "33% of those questioned complained of experiencing blisters, redness, tingling and a feeling of numbness, particularly in the thumb"

    Those casual Sony gamers always let the side down !

  • WangFu #6 7 years ago

    So what if the emotional parts of your brain shut off while playing (non-emotionally involving) games, as long as they turn back on afterwards. There is no training involved here, it's purely a response to stimuli which will keep us alive if ever we were involved with a real violent situation. The report doesn't even mention if your brain returns to it's 'default' state after playing games, and surely without even mentioning that this report can be completely discounted as pure scare-mongering. Can we have some 'real' scientists in the news for a change please?

    Almost as bad as that supposed 'Dr.' who claims to have found a formula for happiness. Why doesn't he just admit he's not a real scientist?

  • Darkedge #7 7 years ago

    don't forget the crippling mental illnesses such as "insert console name here" fanboyism, newspersons PR blindness and the worst of all - videogame scapegoat disease, regularly diagnosed in dickhead americans and the tabloid press
    Edited by 1 at 24/06/05 @ 14:06

  • jumpdeveraux #8 7 years ago

    Did those 15 out of 120 fellow pupils happen to be all young teen males ??

    As well as "Playstation thumb" the chances are high they might also be suffering from "Playboy hand".
    Edited by 1 at 24/06/05 @ 14:11

  • Singularity #9 7 years ago

    Games are bad for you
    Say scientist and child.

    Bugger off and do some real work
    Says forumite.

  • onyxbox #10 7 years ago

    What the hell's Housewife's Knee ?

  • kdsh7 #11 7 years ago

    Tweakmonkey:" Learning to play a guitar was far more painful than any video game controller ever has."

    I'd almost agree with you but my god, Crazy Taxi on the Dreamcast used to paralyze my hands for hours on end. Damn that Crazy Dash.

  • Teeth #12 7 years ago

    I posted an article yesterday with some of the same conclusions by the same people, which was reported in New Scientist.

    People don't become researchers in Universities for no reason, you know.

    Personally I think it's important for this avenue of research to be studied. It could lead to important findings. It's all very well to say "games don't affect me" but you don't know what you'd have been like if you'd never played games. Maybe you'd be a very different person.

    I personally have certain elements of my personality that I can certainly attribute to long years of game-playing.

  • WangFu #13 7 years ago

    Those scientists trying to create a black hole in a laboratory. Now them, I can respect.

  • @ministrator #14 7 years ago

    What the hell's Housewife's Knee ?

    Ask youre wife with this heat to have sex?

  • Ranger101 #15 7 years ago

    "Bachelor's Wrist. "

    Hey hey!

  • MBar #16 7 years ago

    i got blisters on control pad thumb when i first got a NES, no major physical ailments since.

    mentally, well now, thats a whole different box of trout. :p

    in conclusion: science can prove anything. then a month later, it disproves it. then a year later, it reproves it. did we ever get a solid answer on the effects mobile phones have on your squishy bits, eh? well?

  • bionutz #17 7 years ago

    I personally have certain elements of my personality that I can certainly attribute to long years of game-playing.
    Me too, definitely. But that's mostly because my experience has been enriched by the game universes. Actually I like to believe each game universe really exists and I'm learning (from selected games) quite a lot.
    Coming to the last part of the article: only casual gamers suffer from this. When you learn you don't have to make full cycles up-and-down to click fast or that pressing harder doesn't help you don't get those things anymore!

  • teabagger #18 7 years ago

    13 people...

    Any 'result' is meaningless with those kind of numbers.

    A scientist should be aware of this, surely?!?
    Edited by 1 at 24/06/05 @ 15:02

  • Ginger #19 7 years ago

    "nutjob"

    Word of the week or what \o/

  • onyxbox #20 7 years ago

    Ask youre wife with this heat to have sex?

    Is it that obvious I'm married :-D

  • caligari #21 7 years ago

    No it's true. Button bashing on Track and Field's 100 metre sprint caused two of my fingerbones to splinter.

    The following hurdle event was played with two bloody stumps.

    I am now addicted to morphine.

  • Bertie Verified Senior Staff Writer, Eurogamer.net #22 7 years ago

    Pfft. If there's no injuries involved, it can't be fun!

  • captain-future #23 7 years ago

    and I thought TV makes you stupid...

    *yawn*

  • sunjumper #24 7 years ago

    Amusing fact according to another study found <a href=http ://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7548> here </a> much almost the same thing that happens during playing violent games also happens during the female orgasm...

    Also it should be tested what happens when the test subjects read a text that describes a violent situation, see a movie with the same content and hear to a verbal retelling of such a situation to see how the brain reacts.
    Edited by 1 at 24/06/05 @ 16:50

  • Toonster #25 7 years ago

    Games aren't bad! Haven't you ever read the book, 'Bad is Good'?

  • Xerx3s #26 7 years ago

    Seriously, i can go around and ask all my friends what they think of games, but does that make it a good "study"? NO! 13 subjects doesnt make a good study! 500 ppl from every country in the EU might give a clear picture, but not 13 ppl!

    I dont know about the rest, but ive been a regular gamer sinse me childhood now and ive never encounterd what this person claims (except with the snes pad + KI of course, but who cares).

    Reeks like another twat who wants to be populistic and get his name on the frontpage, the fast way.

    Seriously, if what they claim is true, then about 90% of the Eu 30- population would be mental! [...]

    "Karim, who is just 13, talked to 120 fellow pupils about the problem as part of a science project." - Errr, whats this? A joke? Your kidding right? Your reporting what a 13 year old cooked up for her skewl project?! EG, if this is your new idea of news stories, then i fear for the future of good reporting... Now go stand in the corner and be ashamed of yourself!

  • Bru-Man #27 7 years ago

    Housewife's Knee is the name given to a painful swelling of the tissues around the knee. It's called that because it used to occur to the historical figure known as a 'housewife' who repeatedly knelt on hard floors to scrub them.
    Also heard it called Maid's Knee.

    Oh and personally I find it interesting to read articles about things like this which relate to videogames in a wider sense than "OMFG! Gr4fx :D".
    But each to their own I guess.

  • twinbee #28 7 years ago

    Nintenditis is a lot catchier than Playstation thumb.

  • ProfessorLesser #29 7 years ago

    /agress with Teeth and Teabagger

    /is scientist.

    /is statistician.

    /laughs at hand picked-sample of 13 street-turds.

  • Markusdragon #30 7 years ago

    For this loss of ability to tell the difference between reality to work, you'd need something to trigger the belief that you're still in the game. Happily, I don't have any blocks above my head, and my warthog isn't likely to turn up within the next few days.

  • JonasWolfe #31 7 years ago

    IMO why doesn't that nosey 13 year old fuck off and mind her own business. If she doesn't like games, keep her whiney opinion to herself. Leave the fun to us!

  • adfegg #32 7 years ago

    "Playstation Thumb"? That's a bit specific, isn't it? "Gamer's Thumb" would probably be more appropriate.

  • Carrybagma #33 7 years ago

    Scientists are bad for you.

  • Teeth #34 7 years ago

    Yes, the sample size is way too small. Why can't there be a sensible study of things like this? sunjumper's got the right idea, I think.

  • m2h #35 7 years ago

    I don't experience any thumb issues being a PC Gamer. :p
    But having most of your fingers and wrists cramp up is a bitch.
    Do I blame games? No. I blame myself for not using my computer in moderation.

  • Tweakmonkey #36 7 years ago

    EG, if this is your new idea of news stories, then i fear for the future of good reporting

    This was reported on BBC news also.

  • Lothar Hex #37 7 years ago

    I'm waiting for "GAMES GIVE YOU CANCER". Hell, everything else does.

  • tasadar #38 7 years ago

    bullshit i been hearing this for a long time i been playing games since the commodore 64 (20 yrs ago) and i never felt an urge to go on a killing spree.
    video games are like films and books a means of entertament there are games for kids for teens and for adults.
    and about the thumb injury if you stay for a long time doing the same thing without a rest it may have some effect but that's can happen in anything you use for a long time without resting
    Edited by 1 at 29/06/05 @ 20:38

  • pikemon #39 7 years ago

    >> 13 people... Any 'result' is meaningless with those kind of numbers.

    Well actually, if you are doing research in the field of neuropsychology or any kind of biological study, 13 specimen ARE enough for many scientific purposes.

    I mean, you don't need 500 samples to determine whether naked Lara Croft gives a hard on to 15 year old boys or not.

    Still, I find the whole article a bit unsatisfactory and lacking in details. "Shuts down your emotional brain" sounds like a dramatic concept, but what happens when you're playing chess or ice hockey? I'd like to see MRI scans on that.

  • hahariiiiight #40 5 years ago

    The porch monkey doesnt even have a playstation! she can shove that study up her african ass for all i care.