Gaming is often negatively reported on, even though 72% of households report regularly playing video games. Yet recent studies show that gaming may be good for your mental health. With many individuals suffering from poor mental health during the global pandemic, gaming might provide light entertainment during difficult times.
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While gaming is no replacement for seeking help for a mental health crisis, there is evidence to suggest that gaming might provide a mood boost. Some examples of why include:
- Gaming Can Be Highly Social
Online gaming is a highly social activity, relying on collaboration with a team to win fights and solve puzzles. Gamers can chat with each other in chat boxes or over headsets, developing friendships, and connecting with people they know. While people may think that meeting people in real-time is more beneficial than gaming, for those self-isolating or in lockdown, gaming can provide some much needed socializing to boost mental health.
- Enjoyment Boosts Mood
Doing something you enjoy is linked with decreased blood pressure and reduced stress levels. Gaming provides an opportunity to do something that you find fun, which distracts you from your everyday life for a few minutes. Boosting your mood will leave you more able to conduct critical thinking, make decisions, and improve your mental health overall.
- Gaining Confidence From New Skills
If you’re new to gaming, you can develop a whole new set of skills that can boost your confidence and help you learn new skills. Driving games like madalin stunt cars 3 can help you develop real-world skills to navigate tracks, overcome obstacles, and perform impressive stunts. Studies suggest that video gamers have overall better reaction times than non-gamers. So your new gamer skills might make you a better driver.
- Better Mental Cognition
Gaming requires you to react quickly and decisively to events to progress the game. Studies show that gaming boosts attention spans, visual learning, and working memory in adults. Better memory and reaction times can improve your mental health if you feel better equipped to make decisions and take action in certain situations.
- Gaming Makes You More Adaptable
Most games require you to adapt to certain situations to win or progress. Adaptability and resourcefulness are vital skills for retaining good mental health. In times of uncertainty like the COVID-19 pandemic, these skills are essential for feeling stable even if our situations are regularly changing.
- Establishing Good Familial Bonds
Gaming doesn’t have to be a solitary affair at home. Gaming can be classed as an intergenerational activity, with gaming mums representing a new market of gamer. Playing Mario Kart as a family is the modern equivalent of sitting down with a board game. Establishing close relationships with family is essential for maintaining good mental health. If your family is divided by lockdowns or quarantines, online games also allow you to connect even if you don’t live together.
- Stress Management
Gaming can help with stress management, as even the most active games contain no real-life direct threat and allow you to make decisions in a safe environment. Games like Animal Crossing also allow you to play a game that feels like you are achieving something, which can help reduce pressure and instil a sense of calm as you complete activities.
- Sense Of Achievement
Working towards goals can improve your mental health as you focus on achieving set tasks. Even the most complex games require a set list of goals to be reached, allowing gamers to direct focus towards completing them. Accomplishing these tasks can give gamers a feeling of success, leading them to feel more positive and confident.
- Opportunity To Exercise
Ever since the birth of the Wii Fit, gamers have had the added opportunity to exercise while gaming. Now Xbox, Playstation, and the Switch have all followed suit with games designed to engage the body and mind. Mental health is proven to be improved with exercise, and gaming presents the opportunity to do this in a home environment.
- Become A Better Learner
Gaming boosts your ability to learn new skills and makes you a better learner. So when you do come to learn that new language or start a new sport, your gaming might just become an asset. Playing games enhances your brain activity in a way that can be applied to a new set of skills.
Gaming is good for your mental health, as it allows you to develop your cognition and coordination as an adult. Whether you use it for some time alone or engage in an online or family event, gaming allows you to connect with others during a time that might otherwise be very isolating.
