Play is a wonderful thing and something that everyone should do whether they’re a young teenager or a fifty-year-old adult. We all need to play in various different formats but one of the most popular for play is through games.
Games play a pivotal role in the mental health and well-being of all, which is why they’re so actively played. Whether you enjoy online games or you’re more used to playing board games with friends and family members, here are some ways that games can benefit your health and well-being.
Self-esteem
Improving your self-esteem is an important and beneficial perk that comes from playing games. By playing games regularly, you’ll be able to find advantages in your computer skills, intelligence as well as mechanical ability.
Your self-esteem is something worth building upon where you can, especially as some people’s self-esteem and feelings of self-worth can be less prominent than others might be.
There are lots of games that provide that opportunity to build your self-esteem in the many ways mentioned above. Depending on the type of games you play will depend on how much self-esteem is built.
Cognitive function
As we get older, it is all too common that our brains and memory in general are not what they used to be. That means you need something to keep your mind sharp and youthful. The more you play games, the better your brain health becomes as a result of keeping it active.
Games that require strategic thinking and planning are crucial to maintaining cognitive abilities, especially for those who are older.
Cognitive function is benefited by gameplay in so many ways so if you’re looking to sharpen your mind, then games can certainly be helpful to embrace more often. Whether it’s sudoku to Phoodle answer, there are plenty of games to help benefit cognitive function in general.
Emotional resilience
Games are a great way for people in general to build emotional resilience. These games will often provide a mirror to those real-life struggles that many of us often face.
This emotional resilience is definitely important to build, especially when you’re finding that a lot is knocking you down and making you feel more mentally out of control. Those who build up a strong emotional resilience are often the toughest of cookies.
Games can help players build emotional resilience by providing experiences that mirror real-life struggles. For example, narrative-driven games can help players understand mental health issues.
Creative expression
We’d all like to be a bit more expressive where possible and that can often come from the games we play.
When you have an outlet that provides creative expression, you’ll often find that you’re more content in life. We all have a little creativity in our bodies, regardless of who we are or what we do in life.
Creativity makes up part of the human DNA and therefore it’s imperative to play games and allow that creative expression to flourish.
Social connection
Social connections can be helpful to everyone, even when it comes to those who are very insular or introverted as it’s often referred to.
With games, players get that social connection whether it’s through a screen or in-person. Social connections are built on the popularity and fandom of certain games, so it’s certainly worth playing the games that bring you joy and perhaps allows for a little competitiveness too.
Social connections are something that can be helpful to a person in more ways than one. With that being said, try to find games that enable that social connection further.
Stress relievers
Stress is an emotion that can be sometimes hard to shift. You can also find stress everywhere you go, which is why you want to be in control of it, rather than for it to be in control of you.
Stress relievers are a great way to minimize and shift the stress that you might be feeling. F course, there are certain situations where stress can’t be avoided. However, how you tackle that feeling of stress through outlets is beneficial.
Online games and board games are great for stress relief whether that’s de-stressing, relaxing or managing worry or anxiety. By relieving stress, you’re relieving the burden it has both on your mind and body.
The science of play is certainly important to understand. There’s a lot to be gained by playing games, so it’s good to look at playing them more often where you can. Hopefully, you’ll find you benefit a lot both in health and wellbeing by playing a game or two every so often.