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How Multiplayer Games Affect the Body

As a person makes rapid movements to compete, the stress levels rise. Cortisol and adrenaline levels also increase. The person breathes rapidly. His pulse increases, and suddenly, he's in a panic of fight or flight syndrome, a full-fledged fear, anger, and flight stage. But he or she can't run away.

The individual is glued to the game, competing ever faster. Blood pressue rises, vascular systems contract and restrict. If there's a bit of ischemia in the restriction, the pipe system of the body closes up even more. Perhaps a clot breaks off or a weakness or aneurysm in an artery or blood vessel gives out.

Perhaps only the person with an underaroused central nervous system, a person who needs this stimulation to reach normal levels of electrical brain activity will remain "understimulated." Perhaps only that person with a slower than normal pulse, a calmer, risk-taking disposition will survive as the fittest. The figures are not in yet, the studies remain not yet finished. But if you run a machine faster than it's supposed to run, it will run down sooner. You learn that by running a farm tractor.

If multiplayer games stress an individual out that much, it's survival of the fittest, the most understimulated electrical brain waves, the slowest pulse, or the pulse that slows in the face of aggression, fear, or anger. But who really knows? Unless you're measuring your cortisol levels as you stress out over a game, you'll not really know. Unless you take your blood pressure while playing the game faster and faster to compete, will you really be able to keep score of how fast your body is wearing and tearing out?

It's time for some scientific tests. Perhaps someone should invent a game that gives you bio-feedback on how stressed out your body is, how fast it's wearing out when you play a specific game.

Is it different when you play alone and compete against only yourself instead of performing on stage with another present? It's all about performance anxiety in front of someone else who will be judging you. It's all about stage fright. And the only way you'll know is to take your physiological measurements, blood pressure, pulse, artery restriction, cortisol and other stress levels, insulin release, adrenaline, and how fast or slow these hormone releases are rapidly aging or weakening your body.

It's always about survival of the fittest. But even the most fit can wear out if run too fast for too long just to compete, perform, and be judged.

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