It has long been suspected that prolonged gaming sessions cooks the brain. But now fresh data has emerged for Pakistan to prove that gaming addiction leads to low sleep quality and daytime dysfunction.

The survey was done during the COVID-19 national lockdown between June and July 2020 and data was collected using Google Forms for 618 people. They were 67.5% male and 56.3% of them were aged 23 to 27 years. They had to be above 18 years to take part in the study.

Out of 618 participants, 352 played online games. Among online gamers, most (67.3%) reported that their gaming hours had increased (from slightly to almost double) during the lockdown.

Also, 12.5% of people in the study were classed as addicted to gaming. Participants with a gaming addiction had much poorer sleep quality, higher sleep disturbance, lesser sleep duration, and higher daytime dysfunction. Gaming addiction was more prevalent among men compared to women.

The experts said that when you spend too much time on screen it tires out or fatigues your peri-orbital area. This makes it difficult for your eyes to close and makes it harder for you to sleep.

If you play games online your stress hormone goes up. “Playing online games cause norepinephrine release in the cortex and dopamine in the midbrain,” the study said. “These neurotransmitters are part of the reticular activating system and keep gamers awake.”

People who are addicted to gaming lose interest in real life and some focus on how they can achieve more in the game. This can lead to psychosocial problems, relationship problems, inability to focus on small tasks. It has also been associated with stress, mood modification, and poor academic performance.

The study was titled Prevalence of gaming addiction and its impact on sleep quality: A cross-sectional study from Pakistan and was published in Annals of Medicine and Surgery on April 20, 2022. It was prepared by experts from Ameer-ud-Din Medical College (UHS, Lahore), Lahore General Hospital, Lahore Medical and Dental College, COMSATS University, Lahore, Kabir Medical College, Gandhara University, International Gaming Research Unit, Psychology Department, Trent University, Nottingham, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan and School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, Sweden.