Are video games bad for kids' mental health?

I can agree with a ton of these article's points. English is my second language, I was taught the basics in school but, despite having a scouser teacher, I never really developed a passable accent or the grammar necessary to communicate my ideas effectively (so, poor language skills on top of an at the time undiagnosed SzPD were not ideal). Because of videogames I learnt enough english to coast through english classes and start reading for fun, whereas before I saw it as a chore. Further, playing AC2 made me want to study italian, and a few years later I got a B2 through l'universitá per stranieri di siena. So have other games, Stalker gave me an interest in ukranian, wolfenstein in german, and AC: Unity in french. I've learnt some of those languages on my own time, but definitely not enough to achieve even an A1 (or the equivalent).

Other games have shown me interests I didn't know I have. 4x games like CK2 led me to burning the midnight oil reading about obscure history, Rimworld about survival skills, Valheim and Zomboid about norse mythology, among countless others.

Though I will admit that certain games aren't good for me. Competitive games just get a rise out of me sometimes and I get unpleasant. But I've known my limits through them and learnt when to just take a step back and calm down instead of double down. Also, previously I kind of was ashamed of how much I played videogames, because I considered going out nearly every night of the week the normal when it just stressed me out. After getting my diagnosis (not just szpd) it all came into context and I've come to see the games I play as good for me.

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