For many countries all over the world, it has been a long and difficult winter. In fact, it has been a long and difficult year, with the ongoing Coronavirus crisis taking center stage and turning the world as we know it entirely on its head.
With many places in and out of lockdowns in an attempt to contain the virus, we are all spending more time at home than ever before, and with that is a rise in mental health issues. After all, humans are not designed to stay indoors and not socialize! Although we recognize the importance of doing so, we all need to make sure that we have strategies in place to help us cope and enable us to deal with the lockdown blues.
Gaming often has a bit of a bad reputation when it comes to mental health, often being blamed for having a negative impact on people. Sure, if someone is glued in front of a game every hour of every day and are not doing anything else, they are going to be at risk of damaging their mental health, but is it really all that bad?
How can gaming help your mental health?
Cognitive skills development
You need to concentrate and figure out your gaming strategy when you play all forms of games, such as video games, board games, poker, or any other online games. When you are made to consider your next step and strive to increase your chances of winning, this level of focus improves your mental agility and problem-solving skills. For some of the best online games, take a look at the PlayPhone reviews.
By playing video games and other games that need a quick response, you will also boost your dexterity and reaction times. For instance, you need to listen to the bingo caller when playing bingo and quickly mark off the numbers on your card, ready for the next call. In order to know when you have won the game, you need to be mentally alert. Similarly, you need quick answers to deal with new scenarios while playing video games.
Playing also strengthens the memory because we have to keep several chunks of information in our minds at once as we play games. For instance, we will always have to remember places in the game while playing a video game, objects to pick up, where we need to go, and various other useful things about the game.
Socialization
Besides the cognitive benefits, other aspects of mental health can also be strengthened by gaming. Online gaming can be an incredibly social practice and it has been shown that social interaction increases self-esteem and emotional contentment.
Players can communicate with other gamers in chat boxes when playing online, cooperate on gaming missions, and generally socialize. Players can talk with others in the game while playing multiplayer video games helps you to connect with others and complete levels together.
Socializing online can seem less effective than in real life, but chatting with friends about games or using an online messenger to connect can still be very useful in combating social isolation which at the moment, is vital.