Why do Video Games Make You Angry?

One of the primary reasons video games can anger you is that video games can stifle emotions. It may sound odd and you may ask, “if video games suppress my emotions, then shouldn’t anger be suppressed as well?” That’s an important issue, so let’s try to answer it in this section. Also Read: How to Make Wild Animal in Little Alchemy?

The amygdala is a part of our brain that controls the feeling of negativity. When we feel anxiety, fear, anger and sadness the amygdala is activated. However, studies using fMRI have demonstrated that when we begin playing video games when we feel these emotions, the amygdala begins to settle down. This means that the negative emotions we feel are shut down.

Furthermore, continuous suppression hinders the amygdala in creating connections with the hippocampus. This is the brain’s part that is responsible for learning. It prevents gamers from learning that make their game progress slow. This causes more anger that is vented at the game or teammates.

But, these feelings don’t disappear. They are buried below the surface. If we are confronted with an unpleasant incident in a sport that creates frustration, these emotions are released. Because of reasons we’ll discuss in the next section the suppressed emotions show up as anger.

Emotional suppression is a huge issue among males. In our society, men learn that anger should be the sole acceptable emotion to communicate. In the end, the majority of men do not grow up having the emotional vocabulary needed to convey their feelings.

Video games can make the issue more difficult. Due to emotional suppression, people begin losing the ability to recognize their feelings. The condition is known as Alexithymia. It is the inability to recognize the state of your emotions. A majority of gamers are alexithymic.

If you’re watching a sad film and you are the only one crying during a tragic scene, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re in control of your emotions. It could be that you’ve blocked out your emotions to an extent that you’re having difficultly feeling sadness. But, it doesn’t mean that your feelings no anymore control your life. The only difference is that when they affect your actions, it’s harder to stay conscious of it.

Most often, people play video games in order to get away from their troubles in real life. A few kids start playing games on the internet because they are victimized in school. Some kids begin playing games in order to avoid their academic or professional failures.

If a person who uses games to escape their problems in real life confronts a situation within the game in which they begin losing, the feeling of defeat they’ve been trying to avoid starts to rise again. They start to feel frustrated and annoyed by the fact that even video games don’t assist them. Also Read: How to Make a Human in Little Alchemy 2?

This activates their ego. It is the defense mechanism that helps to shield our emotions from suffering. When players begin to feel like they’re an failure when playing games that are competitive, such as Dota 2 or League of Legends and their ego gets activated. 

This creates a story that says they’re not the problem and that it’s not their fault they’re losing the game. The self-deprecating ego of the gamer tells them that it’s the other players and their fault that they’re losing. Gaming doesn’t have to be violent to cause the gaming anger.

The brain then engages in hyper-selective thinking to come up with the evidence that supports their story. The player is then able to let loose some steam by shouting at their opponents during the game. 

This is how their ego shields them from emotional hurt and diverts their feelings towards the other gamers. They may believe that playing video games makes them angry, but this is their ego that is acting to protect themselves.

One of the main reasons gamers become angry during video games is a conflict of interests. Different gamers take on video games in different ways. Some gamers may want to play to have fun, whereas the other player’s aim is to be successful and rise in ranking. One player could be more laid-back, and the other more aggressive. Also Read: How to Make Livestock in Little Alchemy?

If these two types of players are on one team it can result in an unintended conflict of goals. While it can be enjoyable to win however, if you become too focused on the aim of winning then you could see the non-professional player as an issue, since they’re not putting in enough to be successful in the game. This can cause you to be angry since it is frustrating to encounter people who aren’t playing this game to the same intent.

If you’re a casual player who doesn’t want to lose, the one who is competitive might be angry at you due to actively hindering their progress within the game. If you respond with anger this can lead to an exchange of words in which two players are skewed and can cause toxicity to continue.

The combination of these causes can create toxic environments within the world of video games. When players are unable to overcome their frustrations by playing games or release their frustration by expressing anger, it can create unhealthy environments.

A raging crowd of people during games is a common sight. If a new member joins the community, they soon realize that they must be equally toxic in order to survive. In the end, in the end, toxicity and rude behaviour become accepted as normal. Also Read: How to Make Time in Little Alchemy?

Many gamers believe that their words don’t cause harm to anyone else. They think they are safe because “it’s just words.” Everyone helps reinforce each other’s harmful behaviours, making the atmosphere more toxic, particularly for players who aren’t yet familiar with the game.