What are the health risks associated with esports?

Esports is quite popular nowadays and has a large player inflow. Each of these player's dream is to make it big into the esports industry, and most of them work hard. However, like with any other job, it also comes with related health risks that can be quite harmful in the long run.

Often these signs are neglected heavily in the past as they were associated with gaming and people usually did not take that seriously. With increasing popularity, more and more focus is shifting towards these issues.

There are many types of health issues a player can face in esports. These health risks can be defined mainly in two categories: Physical and Mental. One may be the trigger for the other.

The Mental health risk side of esports includes:

Mental risks include stress, but it can be caused by other mental health-related issues. Players aiming to become or currently playing at a semi-professional level spend the majority of their time practising, be it by themselves or via scrims with their teams. Watching others perform better in these scrims and tournaments can sometimes lower a player's morale and induce performance-related stress.

It is not uncommon for even pro players to become depressed with stress. This further chains into more practice, leading to burnout leading to stress, turning into a cycle. Another way players can go into depression is often overspending, especially in games that feature an aspect similar to gambling through loot crates with random rewards of varying rarity.

Players can often spend a lot in these games without even realizing it, and when they do, it’s usually too late. Several of these cases go unnoticed in this fast-paced industry. Thankfully, mental health awareness regarding esports has just started to become mainstream.

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Physical health risk issues in esports:

One would think that usually, esports titles require players to sit, but that does not stop health-related issues either. Issues like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Eye strain, Sleep Disorder and more are quite common for people who have long gaming hour sessions, which esports pros are no strangers to. Constricted/repeated movements are a great way to create muscle memory in any game and can have a huge advantage.

However, it all comes falling when a singular body part is overworked. Instead of getting better, players get worse and will have to sit out for tournaments they practised for. Blurry visions and dryness are also common symptoms of eye strain that are reportedly caused by blue light from the monitor, it also reportedly messes with the sleep schedule further elevating the issue.

Another popular issue gamers face is obesity, which speaks for itself if a player isn’t taking care of their physical health while gaming. While players may think they are moving enough, it’s just their hands and mouth.
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What are the Solutions for these health risks?

Gamers are slowly getting more and more aware of these issues, which is a great thing. To negate most of these things, players need to take a break. When things get rough, it is always recommended to take a short break, even in real-life jobs.

Most importantly eating healthy and going outside to the gym or walks. Another thing players with extensive game time can do is get comfortable while gaming, and by that, we mean better peripherals that suit your needs, better quality chairs can be expensive but can go a long way in terms of comfort and maintaining posture.

Reputed esports organisations are also aware of these issues and have included break time for their players, while also providing other facilities to ensure players are in a better mental and physical state to give their best during matches.

Also Check: Why is esports so popular?