Mental problem after gaming too long?

[Querjek]

I may have a serious problem here, but it's worth asking... after a long session of computer use or game playing (Especially handhelds--it takes longer with TV games), does anyone here have a sleep problem? I'll feel really tired, and try to go to sleep, but my mind is still "turned on" (Not in that way, pervs ;) ) and I can't get comfortable. It takes me a while to fall asleep, and, well, I just want to know if I have a serious problem or if this is normal. Input is appreciated.

[Kejoriv]

I cant play any games right before I go to sleep either. It makes it so hard to sleep. Its because my brain is still thinking about what the next move in the game should be. I like to read before going to bed. It helps me sleep.

[CitizenWhite]

I have never had that problem. I play games a lot before going to sleep and havn't had that problem. I have gotten eye strain before... a lot. That and games like Ikaruga, with the scrolling background. After playing that, looking at the computer screen, I could swear it was scrolling downwards.

[Ze_ro]

I don't think gameplaying has ever affected my sleep... but I have gotten what I refer to as "Video Game Hangover" many times. It's usually just a combination of slight headache, eyestrain, and sore thumbs though.

--Zero

[davidbrit2]

The overstimulation from video games has a tendency to kick your brain into high gear, making it difficult to fall asleep. You're not any more messed up than the rest of us. Heh.

Protip: Never try to sleep immediately after playing DDR. OH GOD, MAKE THE ARROWS GO AWAY.

[Querjek]

The overstimulation from video games has a tendency to kick your brain into high gear, making it difficult to fall asleep. You're not any more messed up than the rest of us. Heh.

Protip: Never try to sleep immediately after playing DDR. OH GOD, MAKE THE ARROWS GO AWAY.
Ah, good. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't going crazy or anything. BTW, never play any older racing games before sleep either--I can just see the same background continuously with the track moving @_@

[hydr0x]

nah i don't have any problems to sleep but i do indeed think about the moves i did / what i should try next / and so on before i fall asleep, and i guess i'm also dreaming about games a lot (in fact i know that i do sometimes) but i doesn't affect my sleep at all

[Ed Oscuro]

Think about it for a second...would you want to go right to sleep right after fending off a pack of wolves? I think this response has some usefulness from a biological standpoint, really...

[richmond]

wow, think you just solved one of my life long mysteries..

[whoisKeel]

i'm usually too drunk to play games anymore by the time i'm ready for bed :o

here's one: whenever i play a game for say 8 hours or so, i will wake up the next day 'playing' the game in my head. this holds true especially for rpgs and zelda, etc. (of course those are the only games i can play for more than an hour or two at a time)

[Achika]

I have had this problem for as long as I've been gaming. My parents used to drag me away from my Nintendo an hour before bed and tell me to watch TV or play with a toy after I complained that I couldn't sleep right away (stupid, stupid kid!) But now, I'm on my own and I suffer through the night because I don't bother stopping. LOL

[rbudrick]

I've never had trouble sleeping, but sometimes I figure out problems in games while I sleep, and then wake up and do what I figured out.

As for seeing shapes everywhere, I used to play Gameboy Tetris so much that I saw Tetris shapes everywhere, all LSD style, heh heh. It got to the point where I could close my eyes and play a game of tetris in my head...I would see all the shapes and they would be random...no shit. I would regularly lose these games (or get really far sometimes) because I couldn't find a place for the block. I even kept a mental image of the whole screen, and where all the bricks fell....creepy stuff.
It's like I saw it on the back of my eye lids.
-Rob

[Rolland]

I know what that is like. I remember two games in particular that both did that to me; shining force two to a lesser extent, and solar jetmen really messed with me after playing one night it felt like my brain was using the solar jetman gui as an operating system or somethiung as I was wanting to sleep. Maybe it's trippy I don't know. But I'ts been a handfull of years since I felt that way after playing.

The last thing weird I remember was playing mario three for the first time in like ten years and thinking about the first time I uncovered the the flying coin ship.

Then while still sort of daydreaming and not really fully paying attention as I played through the levels, I started getting the gold coin ship and white toad's house to appear in succession. Then again a few months later the same thing happened to me and I had forgot a long time ago that there was a method for getting those.

I think the second time playing, I fell asleep while in the first world and I could hear the mario 3 swaying bushes music which made me think I was dreaming... I was, hehe.

[GamecubeFreek]

I always think have images of games stuck in my head as I try to get to sleep, no matter what type of game it is, but it generally doesnt keep me up....it just gives me something to do.

[Rolland]

SInce no one posted a remedy yet, here!

Staying up all night untill you are really really tired may be a way to counter that as you can drop right to sleep for a nice relaxing and deep sleep without irritation.

[sniperCCJVQ]

Go out and take a walk.

[davidbrit2]

SInce no one posted a remedy yet, here!

Staying up all night untill you are really really tired may be a way to counter that as you can drop right to sleep for a nice relaxing and deep sleep without irritation.

Hmm, I guess I didn't have too much trouble sleeping after I stayed up until 7:00 AM playing Guitar Freaks...

[Rolland]

Since he says it takes longer with tv games , then it might be depending on how close to screens you sit, being the closer to the screen the more frequent it occurs.

[wberdan]

ive had that problem many times.... but then again, when my brain gets wired to something in particular, i find it very hard to go to sleep that night.

willie

[DotCom]

Oh man I have bad "hangovers" from computers in particular(I don't game for long periods of time, very rarely), and my eyes hurt for days because I spend 7 hours online somtimes.

[jonjandran]

Not to get all Brainy, but .

It's just like memorizing something . You say the word over and over with the definition and spelling. What you are doing is sending the electrical impulse across the same synapses in your brain over and over again.
Then effectively what you get is brain "burn-in" like an old projection TV.

It's the same with video-games. You're "memorizing the game " by playing it over and over. Then you get brain burn-in and your brain keeps sending the same impulses across the synapses even after you're asleep.

Also the eye is involved also. You are "burning in " the image in your retina also. That is why you still see the images when you close your eyes.

Well it's more involved than my simple explanation , but that gives you an idea. :)

[GaijinPunch]

Anyone ever tried to sleep just after working out? It doesn't work (unless you're REALLY tired). Increased bloodflow doesn't allow you to crash. That's what happens excercise (mental and physical) and is similar to what happens when you take stimulants and amphetimines.

Of course, there is a threshold. Some people are so tired they can crash on any and all of the above. You can take tons of hard drugs, and still crash if you're tired enough.

The best remedy for the video game thing, is to make sure you're laying on your back, eyes closed, thinking of nothing, and don't clench your palms... I have a tendency to do that. You'll eventually crash,.