Mental Tips

Understanding Stress in Gaming

If Eminem wrote ‘lose yourself’ for a gamer it would go something like this…

Yo, your palms are itchy, fingers weak, eyes are heavy
They’re snowballing to our nexus already, feeling sweaty
You’re nervous, but on the surface Thresh looks calm and ready
To hexa kill, but you keep on forgettin’
What game plan your team had, the whole crowd goes so loud
You panic, try to speak, but the words won’t come out
You’re tiltin’, now, everybody’s screaming’ ‘NOOB’, oh no!
The nexus blows, you’re dead, over, blow!

Competitive gaming and gaming at any level is very intense. It could be termed the most gruelling psychological sport on the planet. Not only does gaming place a merciless stress on a gamer’s mind, it also impacts a gamer’s body physically. Unfortunately, when managed incorrectly this stress could have detrimental effects to both your performance and general health. 

So, what is stress and what are the signs?

Stress is very much related to the quality of experience that you have in relation to the environment that you are in.  An athlete can become over or under-aroused in reaction to their environment. This results in distress on an athlete’s mental or physical game. In other words, this arousal is the stress and too much or little can impact your performance negatively.

Picture this, you are an amateur gamer wanting to make the transition to pro. You are in the midst of the final of an in-house Dota 2 league, a game away from possible victory. Yet, you are not only in this competition to win it, you are looking to get noticed by the current world number 1 Dota team, who are scouting for talented players. Suddenly in the blink of a moment everything starts to go downhill, one hero after another defeated. In the heat of the moment you start to make basic mistakes. Your fingers are quivering and you are hurling abuse at your teammates. Endless hours of practice and sacrifices won’t matter in the face of over arousal, i.e. too much stress.

Now picture this, you are walking into the same game, completely unfazed by the situation. The game starts and you are neither focused or stimulated enough to execute fast reflexes or effective decisions. Hero by hero you are once again defeated, this time in the face of under arousal, i.e. too little stress.

Well if over arousal and under arousal are both no good for my performance then what should I do?

According to research, you need to explore where your ideal energy balance is, or in sport psychology terms, your optimal zone of functioning. Whilst a medium amount of arousal is suggested as ideal it largely depends on the game and you. Some people may need to be highly aroused to perform well and others may need to be completely relaxed, it’s very specific to each individual. The way in which you handle stress is the difference in you performing at and developing towards your optimal level as a gamer.

We can divide performance into two main parts, your mental game and your physical game, and don’t be fooled, stress affects both. When you are stressed, your focus, reaction time, decision making skills, speed, and hand-eye coordination are all affected greatly no matter how highly ranked you are. Stress inevitably results in things like tilting, anxiousness, decreased motivation and confidence, feelings of frustration, sadness, and irritability. From a physical point of view, by recognising the effects that stress brings on your body you will be able to understand and become more aware of the triggers that bring about stress in your game. A trigger is anything that initiates a physical reaction for example; sweating, blushing, and increased heart rate or rash.

Get in touch if you want to find out more about how you can recognise your triggers and want help exploring how to regain control over your performance.