Ashland, Ore. — The wildly popular Pokémon Go app is inspiring millions of Americans to get off the couch and get outdoors in search of Pikachu’s, Charmander’s and Squirtle’s galore. But could the new app be detrimental to your mental health?
Psychologists say while it’s been proven that excessive gaming has negative effects on the brain, this newer concept of pairing virtual reality with the real world, is a whole other ball game.
“This isn’t gaming on steroids,” Licensed Clinical Psychologist Douglas Col says, “this a different game altogether and we just don’t know what’s gonna come out of that.”
Dr. Col says this is just the tip of the iceberg, and companies all across the globe will start trying to capitalize on the concept of virtual reality at our fingertips though it’s unclear at this point what impact it will have on people’s health.
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