Video games can support well-being through enjoyment, social connection and, in some cases, carefully designed or clinician-supported programs. They do not help everyone in the same way, and ordinary gaming should not be treated as a substitute for mental-health care. What matters is the game, the social setting and whether play fits alongside the rest of life.
How can video games support mental health?
For many people, games are simply an enjoyable hobby. They can also provide a shared activity, a way to keep in touch with friends or a structured experience used in a health-care setting. The American Psychological Association (APA) notes that some games may have mental-health benefits or be used during therapy, while the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe describes games as having potential in health care and health promotion. These statements do not mean that any particular consumer game is a treatment.
Enjoyment and a break from routine
Enjoyment can contribute to well-being, but it is not the same as treating a mental-health condition. A game may offer a satisfying activity or a break from everyday demands; that benefit depends on the player and circumstances. The Oxford Internet Institute’s 2025 overview describes multiple ways gaming can affect mental health, both positively and negatively, underscoring that there is no single effect shared by all players or games. Oxford Internet Institute: 13 ways gaming affects your mental health.
Connection with other people
For some players, gaming is social time. According to Pew Research Center’s 2024 U.S. teen survey, as summarized by the APA in 2025, 72% of teen players said they played partly to spend time with others. Forty-seven percent said they had met a friend online through a game, and 47% said gaming had helped their real-world friendships. Those are teens’ reports of their experiences, not proof that gaming caused stronger friendships. APA: Teen video gaming benefits and downsides.
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Games designed for a health-care setting
A game intentionally designed for a health purpose and used as part of a program is different from choosing a commercial game on your own. WHO/Europe has reported that games are already used in some official treatment programs. The sources cited here do not establish that a particular consumer title treats a condition or that game-based approaches work equally well for every person. WHO/Europe: Can video games make us healthier?
What do teens say about gaming and mental health?
Pew Research Center’s 2024 U.S. survey, as reported by the APA in 2025, found that 85% of U.S. teens said they played video games. On mental health, 32% of teen players said gaming had helped them, while 60% said it had neither helped nor harmed them. These are self-reports: they capture how respondents perceived gaming, not clinical diagnoses or evidence that games caused a mental-health improvement.
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The same survey also points to possible downsides. Forty-one percent of teen players said video games had negatively affected their sleep, and 80% of teens said bullying was a problem in relation to video game use. The findings are specific to U.S. teens and should not be generalized to all ages, countries or players. They show why the effect of gaming depends partly on when, how and with whom someone plays.
When might gaming be helping—or getting in the way?
Hours alone do not tell the whole story. WHO advises people to notice when gaming excludes other daily activities and to pay attention to changes in physical or psychological health and social functioning. These practical questions can help distinguish play that fits into life from a pattern that may be causing harm:
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- Purpose: Is play mainly recreation or time with others, or is it becoming the only way to handle distress or avoid problems? Motive can offer context, but it is not a diagnosis. The APA’s discussion of problematic gaming describes interventions that can help people pause and address excessive play. APA: Gaming to excess.
- Daily life: Does gaming leave room for sleep, responsibilities, relationships and other activities, or are those being crowded out?
- Social environment: Does play create connection, or does it involve harassment, bullying or increasing isolation? WHO includes digital environments among the factors relevant to mental health. WHO: Digital environments and mental health.
- Setting: Is this ordinary entertainment, or is a deliberately designed game being used within a health-care or therapy program?
What is gaming disorder?
Gaming disorder is not simply playing often or enjoying games intensely. In WHO’s ICD-11 description, it involves impaired control over gaming; gaming taking increasing priority over other interests and daily activities; and continuing or escalating play despite negative consequences. The pattern must cause significant impairment or distress. WHO says gaming disorder affects only a small proportion of people who engage in digital or video gaming.
WHO’s guidance also recommends paying attention when gaming excludes other daily activities or accompanies changes in physical or psychological health and social functioning. A high number of hours, by itself, does not establish a disorder. If you are concerned about your own gaming or someone else’s, speak with an appropriately qualified health professional rather than trying to diagnose the problem from play time alone. WHO: Gaming disorder Q&A; WHO: Addictive behaviour.
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How to think about games as part of well-being
It is reasonable to value gaming as a hobby or a way to connect with other people when it is enjoyable and fits alongside daily life. It is also important to take sleep disruption, bullying, distress or neglected responsibilities seriously. A game used in a clinical program is not interchangeable with an ordinary game, and neither positive survey responses nor the existence of therapeutic programs proves that gaming is treatment for an individual.
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