Pokemon Go can be good for your mental health

It’s fun and adventurous, but like many video games an addiction can be troublesome

We’re hitting the middle of the summer this week. July is almost over and we’re heading into the long hot days of August. The kids are having fun, playing the new Pokemon Go game, getting out and about in groups, exploring the city. But all is not as well as it seems. Last week, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health reported that one-third, 34 per cent, of Ontario students experience increased levels of psychological distress. That’s an estimated 328,000 kids. That’s a lot of kids. And more disturbing is that this is a 10 per cent increase over the 2013 number. The situation, it seems, is getting worse.

The survey found that among girls, the numbers are twice as high (46 per cent) as they are among boys (23 per cent). They also found that the later teen years and early twenties were a peak period of stress for many.

Only one in five students reported visiting a mental health professional. That leaves 80 per cent who go untreated. That has got to be unacceptable, right? Surely we can’t accept this level of care for our kids.

While the students rated their physical health as excellent or very good, 88 per cent of respondents did not meet the recommended daily physical activity requirement of 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity. Wow. They’re not riding their bikes, playing soccer, tennis, basketball, or swimming.

Instead, the survey indicated that 63 per cent of students spent three hours or more of their free time facing a computer or television screen, with 16 per cent spending five hours or more daily on social media.

Social media has had a huge impact on society. Over the past 10 years, we’ve seen technological innovations that have put a computer in almost everyone’s pocket. The development of applications has exploded as developers find ever new and amazing ways to make our lives easier and keep us constantly entertained. Got a problem, I bet there’s an app for that. Bored? Angry Birds, Candy Crush, and Farmville to the rescue.

But the downside is not pretty. Dr. Hayley Hamilton, co-investigator of the study, highlighted the connection between time spent on social media and the increased risk of cyberbullying. We’ve seen the real life impacts over the past few years in the cases of Rehtaeh Parsons and Amanda Todd, to name just two Canadian kids who killed themselves over cyberbullying. The number of American examples is much greater.

And then there’s the problem of addiction. The study found that an estimated 13 per cent, or 122,600 students, reported problems with video gaming including preoccupation, loss of control, withdrawal symptoms and a disregard for consequences. Not surprising, the challenges are greater for boys (20 per cent) than they are for girls (5 per cent).

So, what is to be done? We can’t cork the cyber genie back in its bottle. It would be unrealistic to expect kids to eschew social media completely, but some balance is needed to even out the playing field between screen time and face time. Lisa Pont, a social worker with CAMH who helps youth and families with their technology use advocates for good “cyber health” to keep technology in control

Enter Pokemon Go. It’s only been a few weeks and already the game is the talk of the town. People are commenting on the groups of kids gathering in parks and public places searching for the elusive Pokemon creatures. Some problems have emerged with privacy on personal property, inappropriate Pokéstops, and courting danger by inattention to real world cars and cliffs. But overall, the potential of Pokemon Go to provide a solution to the inactivity level among kids is welcome.

Pokemon Go is not a form of “happy pill” that will suddenly see improvements in mental health, and indeed, it could lead to more problems as people become more and more invested in capturing all the creatures. But it is a good example of bringing together social media and physical activity to build community and personal relationships.

Just remember, it’s all fun and games until someone falls off a cliff. Play safe people.

DARREN CALABRESE, THE CANADIAN PRESS Summer’s hottest craze, Pokemon Go, is popping up everywhere, as young and not-so-young players try to capture the elusive creatures. But Margaret Shkima urges some caution.