Imagine playing video games all day, not having school or work, and getting payed for it! It’s every child’s dream and there seems there is no downside. Unfortunately, all is not fun and video games. The athletes live a strenuous lifestyle and now, more than ever, it is clear to see the toll it is taking on them. These athletes spend around 10 to 12 hours everyday sitting in front of their screens practicing to hone their skills. They experience severe mental and physical stress daily, causing severe burnout.
This has come to the fore this year as top players from the largest Esports communities are taking breaks from competing to escape the stress of the top order competition. Lukas ‘Gla1ve’ Rossander and Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Højsleth are a part of ‘Astralis’, one of the best Counterstrike: Global Offensive teams the world has ever seen. Recently, the two major title winning champions have both taken breaks from professional competition, arributing mental stress and burnout as the reason. Olof Kajbjer Gustaffsen or ‘Olofmeister’, one of the greatest CSGO players of all time, has done the same to recuperate from fatigue. The mental health of Esports players is severely compromised by the cutthroat nature of the competition they face every day, and as a result, some teams such as Astralis have hired psychologists to aid the players’ mental health and manage their stress. This helped the team go on one of the greatest runs in the game's history. Recently, they became the first CSGO team to increase its roster to more than just five starting players to allow players to take breaks when needed.
The physical challenges faced by the players shouldn’t be underestimated either. Sitting in front of a screen for 12 hours a day, 7 days a week isn’t healthy and unfortunately the world of Esports has lost several players to health issues because of this. One of the greatest ‘League of Legend’ players of all time, Jian Zihao, better known as ‘Uzi’, recently announced his retirement stating health issues as the primary cause. Uzi took regular breaks from the game due to problems with his back and shoulders and reveals that a doctor once told him that his hands resembled those of a 50-year-old. He is just 23 years old.
If these problems are taken lightly, they may force several other generational talents like Uzi to give up on their careers. However, the world of Esports is gradually responding to these problems with more teams hiring psychologists and fitness trainers and it seems like the Esports world is heading in the right direction.
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