Sitting for long periods of time, lack of exercise, and psychological stress from games can cause decreased libido and erectile dysfunction in men.
According to Dr.BS.CK2 Tra Anh Duy, Men’s Health Center, entertainment interests play an important role in maintaining men’s psychological, physical and physiological health. Healthy recreational activities not only help reduce stress but also directly affect hormone balance, sexual performance and the ability to maintain long-term performance.
A study in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine shows that participating in relaxing recreational activities can help reduce cortisol levels in the blood and increase testosterone – the main hormone that helps maintain men’s physiological health. Maintaining a stable testosterone level is important for sexual performance and overall health.
Although playing games can help reduce stress in the short term, overusing games can cause problems related to physiological health. A study from the American Journal of Men’s Health found that people who play games excessively tend to have lower testosterone levels than those who participate in physical activities. Prolonged sitting, lack of exercise, and psychological stress from games can cause decreased libido and erectile dysfunction.
In addition, spending too much time on video games can cause sleep disorders, leading to fatigue, stress and reduced sexual ability. Therefore, it is important to maintain a balance between gaming interests and other physical activities to protect physiological health.
Prolonged sitting, lack of exercise, and psychological stress from games can cause decreased libido and erectile dysfunction in men. Image: Pexels
Other health problems in men who regularly play games
According to M.D. Calvin Q Trinh – Director of HMR Physical and Rehabilitation Unit, playing games for more than 180 minutes a day can lead to many harmful effects on physical and mental health.
Gaming often leads to carpal tunnel syndrome, numbness in the fingers, reducing the range of motion of the wrist and causing pain in the hand. Some other conditions include skin blistering, calluses and numbness in the hands (peripheral neuropathy) or even blood clots.
Tendonitis arises when overuse, bone and muscle connective tissues become inflamed, your hands can become sore and swollen, which can affect the flexibility of your hands when playing games. In particular, the thumb joint is also very susceptible to injury when playing games.
High-intensity repetitive movements when playing games can cause muscle inflammation, muscle pain, muscle damage, and pain along the length of the muscle. At this time, you may feel pain in your elbow, forearm, and may spread down your entire arm.
Bicep muscle pain often occurs in PC gamers, because this muscle is often overused. If the condition is not corrected, you can get injured, and the injuries can get worse for a variety of reasons.
Constantly looking up and down, poor sitting posture, prolonged sitting and inactivity, and improper desk design can put strain on the back and neck. This condition becomes more serious when you have to do these things continuously, leading to severe upper body muscle imbalance, and the disease will progress to degeneration and herniated discs.
Playing games a lot also affects players’ mental health, such as always feeling tired, feeling like they’ve lost energy, or having difficulty resting due to prolonged and continuous gaming. Regularly playing games also causes boredom, pessimism, loneliness, and insecurity; Loss of interest in old hobbies and interests, everything is focused on games; easily feel frustrated, irritable, and easily quarrel even over very small things. Many players also have sleep disorders; Loss of appetite, eating less, even tending to violence or suicide.