CS:GO is one of the most competitive esports and gaming titles out there; as such, CS:GO and mental health do come hand-in-hand. After all, it’s so easy to be tilted and lose track of your target especially when someone knifes you, times out when they are one round away from winning, and kills you as a Terrorist after the time was up.
PREPARE WITH THE END IN ONE‘S SIGHTS
While it is true that CS:GO can be an unpredictable game with an extremely high skill ceiling that seems to be an insurmountable wall at times, there are always ways in order to overcome this obstacle. There are a ton of guides out there on Reddit, on YouTube, and on other websites – find the one which suits you the most!
Study the maps. Study your weapons. Study your smokes and nades. Learn the call-outs and communicate with your friends Observe better players as they navigate through different plays and setups. Think of situations beforehand, and apply your best shots accordingly – you’ll see that your future games make up for a more enjoyable CS:GO experience!
BE ON FAMILIAR GROUND
Familiarity, routine, comfort, and relaxation helps in making one’s mind ready for the battles ahead. Think of Flash from Starcraft 2 as he does it!
Meditation can mean many ways: keeping silence, eating chocolate, closing one’s eyes…as long as these stuff help you gain that “calm” state before a game, go ahead and do it!
Feel free to do so. You will thank yourself for it.
TALK ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS AND MENTAL HEALTH IN CS:GO
Cry. Vent it out. Talk with your friends. Communicate with your clanmates. It is okay not to be okay.
Just make sure not to be toxic about it.
EAT PROPERLY, DRINK RESPONSIBLY, STAY ACTIVE
Do not miss your meals, eat something nice, and make sure to keep your body healthy. Try to drink from 6-12 glasses of liquids a day (minus ones that have caffeine). Also try to exercise, stand up, take a walk – all of these will improve your overall game.
Eating, drinking, and staying well do pay wonders for your game – you use your brain, heart, and fingers to wreck people in CS:GO, right?
After all, if you are not healthy, how will you rise to the top of the CS:GO food chain? How will you come to Global Elite if you are not prepared?
TAKE A BREAK: TAKE CARE OF YOUR MENTAL HEALTH IN CS:GO!
Let’s be real, players need to have a break – both literally and also figuratively from the game. Stay away from your device for a few seconds every 20 minutes (I think the buy round gives you enough time to do that more or less; at the very least, look somewhere else), and make sure that you take a 10-minute timeout every two hours. This will help rest your eyes, brain, and allow you to focus for further fights ahead.
In addition, toxicity in the game is always a reality. After all, we are talking about thousands of players fighting for their places in the highest leagues of the game, as well as teams who are joining multiple tournament scenes and people trying to maintain their rankings all at the same time. There will be hot heads.
In this case, just don’t play CS:GO for a day, or whenever you need it. Find something else that is not related to the game: Your body, mind, and soul will thank you for it.
STEP BACK WHEN TILTED
It is also unavoidable for us players to have bad days – even the ones . It is also hard to keep our emotions in control when we have a losing streak; after all, we face insurmountable odds a lot of times.
Instead of raging and becoming toxic and smashing it on social media – being an iyakin in the process, just take a step back and avoid the game for a while.
Playing with a cooler head usually leads to a better gaming experience overall.
MENTAL HEALTH IN CS:GO IS IMPORTANT! JUST ENJOY IT!
There’s another reality that we should consider: Unless you plan to become the number one player or team in the game, relax and enjoy the show! It’s going to be inevitable that we will have a lot of bad days in the game, due to its identity as a free-to-play, competitive online game.
Just enjoy the game. If you don’t, it’s okay; it’s not the end of the world!
About the Iyakin
Earl Carlo Guevarra, 27 and a proud Zamboangueño, is a teacher of English based in the heart of Manila. When he’s not teaching children the fundamentals of grammar, he writes essays and poems, many of which have been published locally and internationally. He also loves fruit shakes and video games.
