5 Reasons Why Games are Good for Mental Health

About a year ago, I started feeling stuck on where I wanted to go next in my career. It was a unique window for me to start something new, but the anxiety of staring into the unknowing was overwhelming.  I found myself playing solitaire, a game I loved growing up, as a way to escape the stress of thinking about what comes next. After playing I felt less anxious, and even recharged. It made me realize that games are a powerful tool to address mental health. In fact, games allow people to exercise their minds, develop social skills, and in some cases, build up hand-eye coordination and physical fitness. There are many ways that games improve someone's mental health, but the following five are a good place to start! 1. Intellectual development and building self-Worth Games require you to take in information, analyze, and make decisions. In many ways, these are important life skills. While we might not realize it, games are a great way to challenge yourself and develop critical thinking skills, all of which can make you a smarter person.  Look no further than the game of bridge, as an example.  Touting the mental benefits of the game, an 89-year-old doctor from West Bloomfiled, Michigan, recently said, "It's the intellectual challenge, the problem-solving satisfaction, that makes bridge so attractive." Indeed, the mathematical nature of the game, not to mention the spatial reasoning involved, either sharpens the mind. Additionally, games lik...
Source: PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: featured internet culture psychology self-improvement focus games mental health motivation Source Type: blogs