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In 2022, 648 people died of mass shootings–the second-highest annual tally ever recorded. Gun violence has since continued at a rate averaging at least one mass shooting per day.
Many politicians and influencers attribute mass shootings to poor mental health behavior created by video games, citing inconclusive research.
For example, former Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy video games were cited as a driver behind gun violence: “But the idea of these video games harming individuals with a game of shooting individuals and so on—I’ve always felt that it’s a problem for future generations and so on . We look from studies that have previously shown what this can do for individuals.
Stanford Brainstorm Lab research is focused on the intersection of technology and mental health. We spent months reviewing 82 medical research articles covering all of the reputable literature and scholarship in the field for any studies that had any kind of causal link between playing video games. and violent behavior.
In short, current medical research and scholarship have found no causal connection between playing video games and real-life gun violence. Other studies have shown an association between playing violent video games and “aggression,” here defined as any behavior intended to psychologically or physically harm someone and measured through self-reported surveys rather than recorded actions. Violence is considered any act that causes physical harm. Even considering the variety of actions covered by this definition—from a simple push to assault with deadly force—such studies have not found a causal link between video use game and violence.
Taking this inherently limited approach a step further, a new research team examined whether changes in violent crime tracked releases of violent video games over time. A close analysis of the FBI’s annual crime reports and 30 years of violent video game sales does not provide any evidence that the latter causes an increase in actual violence.
This will undoubtedly surprise many. After all, in a culture that fetishizes guns, surely video games cannot be excluded as a cause of gun violence? But this expectation of a causal relationship is made very much as part of larger scapegoat narrative through vested interests for decades.
The same article examining real-world violence data actually found a reduced of violent crime following the release of popular, violent video games and continues to hypothesize that video games may serve as an outlet for violent tendencies rather than a cause.
Finally, it’s worth noting that while these video games aren’t a unique phenomenon in America, relatively unrestricted access to guns—especially those specifically designed to kill people—is, at least in the developed world. This ease of access to guns remains the most compelling reason for American exceptionalism when it comes to our alarming, unnecessary, and persistent proclivity for mass shootings.
The scholarship we reviewed does not simply indicate a lack of causal relationship between video game use and gun violence. Recent research has also revealed many compelling benefits of playing video games.
At their core, games confront players with new challenges and immediate feedback on the player’s technique. This unique way of coping with difficulty allows the players to adopt an iterative approach to the progress of the game and the subsequent feeling of success, thus helping them to adopt a healthy perspective towards reality. world problems.
In addition, many video games are social. Scholarship on multiplayer online video games reveals evidence of improvements in self-esteem and cognitive and social skills with concomitant reductions in depression, stress, and loneliness. Links between social well-being and online gaming are known regardless of player age or intensity.
Diagnosable conditions can also be addressed by the positive effects of video games. Studies have shown that video games can act as new adjuncts or alternative treatments for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and can play a role in the prevention and treatment of adolescent depression and anxiety.
Mental health stigma, a significant barrier to seeking mental health care, is another significant challenge that video games have proven adept at overcoming. Hellblade is perhaps the most compelling example of a video game addressing stigma. This game was developed by Ninja Theory in collaboration with mental health experts, patients, and scientists who worked together against long-standing norms of inaccurate portrayal of mental health by authentically weaving the experience of psychosis in the narrative of their protagonist.
The result is not a superficial, stereotypical portrayal of schizophrenia but a nuanced, empathetic portrayal that leaves many players feeling like they understand the disease for the first time. Risk-averse game developers will be pleased to know that mental health messaging does not play a negative role in game selection, regardless of a player’s mental health status.
This is not, however, to label video games as a panacea for mental health. Any treatment or intervention has its risks. Video game addiction and the spending associated with it are real issues that need to be addressed. Like any addiction, video game addiction occurs in instances where players devote so much time and attention to video games that it interferes with or imposes other normal aspects of their lives. Video game addiction affects 8% of young people in the US, a serious threat to the mental health, growth, and development of many teenagers who suffer from it. For this reason, the World Health Organization continues to recognize gambling addiction as a disease.
Despite these drawbacks, video games promise an exciting, innovative, and positive way to address the ongoing mental health epidemic. However, healthy play cannot reach its true potential until clinicians, developers, and the general public work together.
Clinical medicine should look to the video game industry as an ally and a source of effective activism and novel treatments. The video game industry must recognize the value that physicians, mental health professionals, and patients stand to contribute to future video game design and development. The public needs to understand that video games do not cause violence, can greatly reduce stigma and barriers to access, and hold the potential to inject goodness into our daily lives.
Our studies have found that the continued vilification of gun violence as the end result of video game use has no basis in fact or research. As collaborations between the gaming industry and clinics spread, video games could be part of the solution. Meanwhile, our colleagues at Stanford and many others have consistently demonstrated that gun control the most effective way to reduce gun violence.
Have an opinion for or against video games on mental health? Email the Stanford Brainstorm Lab at brainstormlab@stanford.edu.
David Dupee, MD, MBA is a resident physician in psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine and the director of strategy at Brainstorm: The Stanford Lab for Mental Health Innovation. Varun Thvar is a research intern at the Stanford Brainstorm Lab. Nina Vasan, MD, MBA is a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine and the founder and executive director of the Stanford Brainstorm Lab.
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of luck.
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