What is Stress and How can Gaming Reduce it?
With the current state of technology, we need to find ways to reduce the amount of stress we feel. Gaming is one option for reducing stress and is particularly popular with those who are prone to anxiety, depression and social phobias such as Autism.
The main benefit of gaming as a stress reliever is that it provides distraction from whatever causes us anxiety or causes us stress. We can also choose whatever form of gaming we like, be it mobile games on our phone or console games in front of a TV. All forms of gaming can provide hours worth of distraction from a stressful situation without any additional cost other than time. There are plenty of free gaming sites online you do not need a console just a tablet or desktop/ laptop pc. My Son loves Minecraft .
Gaming also has a secondary effect on our brains where it stimulates the brain’s reward system, which makes us feel good about ourselves and allows us to feel less stressed about
As a parent of teenagers many love technology and specifically gaming. We worry about screen time, we set rules and make them have screen downtime. However have you ever considered gaming might actually be a good thing sometimes.
My Son is autistic learn more here he has always preferred screens to people. It does not have to be a problem. Yes being autistic means he is not always socialising . We encourage him to be social as much as possible. However this can sometimes become too much if you have ever been around a child/teenager in full meltdown mode . I am telling you now it is not fun its stressfull and challenging. An autistic child can suffer sensory overload being in busy social situations. Gaming can help reduce that anxiety and calm you down. Some of my sons favourite games are Tetra Blocks and Pac Rat. He really loves retro gaming he still has and uses a PS1. In Pac Rat your Rat eats cheese but need to avoid the cats.
Gaming is a way to relieve stress.
It’s not just about playing video games. Playing any game can be good for your health, whether it be an app on your phone or a board game with friends. There are many ways to enjoy gaming and all of them could be considered as leisure activities. We love some of the games here. We also love that you get a little history about gaming. There are educational games too which my older teenage daughter liked.
One common misconception about gaming is that it’s all about violence and gore. That isn’t true at all; there are plenty of games out there that focus on the lighter side of life and even world peace.
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The potential for gaming to promote mental health is a notion that is increasingly being explored. The video game industry has been trying to tackle the stereotypes of gamers being unhealthy and isolated. Even if you are over 40 you can still play games.
While no conclusive evidence can establish a direct link between gaming and mental health, there are certain aspects of gaming that have been shown to be beneficial to human psychology. So next time your child is displaying challengiing behaviour gaming might not be such a negative option.