Are Competitive Video Games Bad For Us?

Competitive video games are not for everyone, but I for one can’t get enough. Lately, I’ve found myself playing vast amounts of Destiny: Crucible, and it’s highlighted all kinds of aspects of my personality I forgot existed.
Early into my play experience, I was pitted against powerful opponents who were better equipped for handling themselves than I was, so I died, lots. As can be expected this didn’t go down well with me and I began to show signs of anger and frustration, which just made me play worse. A couple of hours go by, and I’m back in the race with equipment which matches up easily with other people and gives me a fighting chance.
Although a small thing a powerful life lesson was learnt here — sometimes in life we will find ourselves in battles we are not equipped for, but all it may take sometimes is a couple of little changes, and you could be leading the fight.
Growing up playing video games I’ve learnt when I’ve hit my limit and needed to rest, but I wondered what about those who are young and haven’t quite hit their limit? I frequently see people doing 24–48 hour streams for video games such as World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, and Battlefield, all massively competitive. I couldn’t help but question if in all these people playing video games they were altering the way we communicated with others and causing spikes in our ability to regulate emotions.
I decided to do a bit of research into competitive gaming, and the effect on our brain and was surprised at the lack of research I found. The research involved negative effects such as an increase in aggression (but only noted at +4%) and the visible health effects of sitting around doing nothing for extended periods of time (another article, another day!).
In my research I found that the positives massively outweigh the negatives, some of these benefits include but are not limited to;
Increased brain function

Use it or lose it. A term I’ve heard lots growing up in the sports industry. Video games have been shown to have tremendous effects on the use of our brain by activating and in some studies even improving growth of the brain in particular regions leading to improved fine motor skills, improved coordination, improved decision-making capabilities, decreased brain deterioration.
Lots of games are now being made to cater to these specific benefits, some of which we’ve likely seen all on the TV such as brain training games which are being used to attempt to fight back brain problems in later life
Socialisation
This part doesn’t need much explaining; I mean c’mon? Some may argue that by playing games you are missing out on opportunities to socialise with people in person, but what if this isn’t possible? For myself, gaming has allowed for me to socialise with family members who live in other areas of the country and even strengthened our relationships.
Emotional Regulation

Every time a video game forces a change in your emotions you take one step closer to being able to control your emotions to suppress or embrace them as needed. Think of every time you get angry at your team for being awful (Is it your team, or is it you?), a couple of seconds after it’s finished you can laugh at yourself as you come back to reality and realise just how little the video games mean.
Do you think video games are bad for us? I’m not sure what I think, but I can see the pro’s and con’s to them and the applications of them for development in people who have health issues.
I’ve already seen the Nintendo Wii improve my brother’s coordination and improve cognitive development to aid in his ability to function like every other child his age.
