Top video game players are facing the same level of mental health issues as athletes, a new study has found.

Researchers at the universities of Winchester and Chichester said that improving the well-being of gamers should be made a priority as it is for other professional sports including football.

The study looked at 313 gamers, who either play Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Valorant or Rainbow Six siege.

Each Esport athlete was asked about the stressors they encountered from playing the games.

On the whole, they were found to experience similar levels of stress, sleep problems, burnout, social phobia and anxiety as those competing in physical sports.

‘Lack of an off season means there are unique stressors for esport athletes’

However, the causes of stress tended to differ.

Grand Theft Auto: Rockstar finally confirms it is working on a follow up to GTA V – nine years after its release

Joe Danger: Autistic boy, 8, inspires relaunch of game that helped him

Microsoft to buy troubled Call of Duty gaming firm Activision Blizzard for almost $70bn

Atheshaan Arumuham, one of the authors of the study, said: “Esport athletes face specific demands that vary from those faced by traditional sports athletes.

“For example, the need to use skilled fine motor coordination while facing a high cognitive workload that includes attention, information-processing and visuospatial skills and the lack of an ‘off season’ means there are unique stressors for esport athletes which are linked to mental ill-health.”

Dr Matt Smith, who is the lead author of the report, added there is a lack of research examining mental health in esports athletes.

“By identifying the risk factors which underpin mental ill health for this group of athletes we hope healthcare practitioners can deliver evidence-based health care provision for esports athletes,” he said.

“From implementing interventions to improve quality of sleep to providing esports athletes with strategies to deal with the demands of their sport to avoid burnout, there are practical steps that can be taken to address the factors which we know can predict mental ill health.”

The study is published in the MDPI journal Healthcare.

Related posts:

Another 230 die with coronavirus in UK – as 15.3 million have first vaccine dose Two coronavirus jabs needed for ‘staycation’ cruises, ferry firm demands North Korean defector hopes to make history as Tory election candidate Paramedic tells inquiry he was not prepared for large scale of Manchester Arena bombing Charges for drivers in Birmingham’s Clean Air Zone delayed by two weeks in ‘soft launch’ Woman in hospital with life-changing injuries after being attack by her own dog Why everyone in Westminster is so convinced Boris Johnson is about to reshuffle his cabinet Runaway IS bride sorry ‘from bottom of my heart’ – as she says only crime was being ‘dumb’ Katie Price avoids jail after flipping car while drink-driving People in quarantine hotels to be told today when they can leave after travel red list scrapped ‘Bring it on!’: Johnson recovers his bounce as he vows to fight off the Tory rebels Work from home advice ends and face coverings no longer mandatory in classrooms in England