Survey shows video games that help veterans with their mental health

(Wifr) – A new survey shows that video games overall have a positive impact on the mental health of veterans and military members for active service.

A national survey by Entertainment Software Association shows that the average veteran video player is 37 years old, serves for 6 years, is a college training, employed full-time and married to children.

“Veterans really benefited from the video game,” says the survey.

“The main reason why veterans, just like the rest of us, play video games is that they are entertaining,” said Pierre-Louis. “But they also do it to relax, reduce stress and currently with family members and friends, both militarily and non-military.”

Stanley Pierre-Louis, President and CEO of ESA, reports that 86% of the veterans surveyed to use gaming as an outlet for stress and fear.

“We were not only of the positive effects on their lives and how they quantified, but also from the fact that they really demonstrated who the player is what everyone is,” said Pierre-Louis.

Kyle Johnson is a veteran of the Navy who plays video games at least two hours a day. During the active service, he said that gaming gave a foretaste of home life.

“If we had no access to online, we wanted something that we could play together, like Coop and the like.” Johnson explained. “So it's pretty nice to do something that you can do all together.”

“This is how video games are easy access for military members that don't give many options,” said Johnson.

He announces that games like Mario Kart and Smash Bros were most popular among the comrades.

Staff Sergeant Bradley Andal has been with the Marines for eight years. He says that video games not only offer an outlet for relaxation, but also associated it with his family at home.

“I've been stationed in California in the past six years,” said Sergeant Andal. “So it was like our way to interact with each other, except for speaking on the phone or on social media.”

79% of those surveyed state that they play video games at least weekly, including friends, family members and other service members.

Andal says his father, a veteran of the Marine Corps Combat, would watch him play in the game of the first person and criticizes the accuracy of the game.

“He would criticize what is in the video games. He says, no, that's not exactly. I mean, he has never seen him, you know, a negative reaction to the video games you are playing now.”

The online survey collected data from 22 to 50 years PC/Console video players in the USA a total of 1,604 people who were asked as a whole.

Here you will find the entire survey.

Copyright 2025 Wifr. All rights reserved.