How Can Videogames Help You Release Stress?

Stress Management

Is stress making you feel more strained than usual? You’re not alone. According to scientific studies, more than half of Americans experience cognitive fatigue due to stress and anxiety. It can lead to reduced performance at work or school, and even cause long-term physical harm as your body works out your emotions. While living with controlled amounts of stress may help you grow mentally and emotionally, it’s important to learn how to manage it. Surprisingly, a great way that you can do this is by playing video games.

Long seen as mindless entertainment, video games are now being seen as an effective form of stress relief. Let’s explore what the experts say below.

Video Games And Stress Management

In a recent UK study that interviewed 1,000 video game players, 55% claimed that video games helped them to “unwind and relieve stress.” Another 47% said video games helped them gain a more positive outlook in life.

In another study conducted by the University of Central Florida, people who play video games as a form of relaxation after work are more likely to feel better at home and complete tasks more efficiently. Taking short breaks during the workday for engaging tasks, such as video games, also helps people become less prone to distressing emotions.

So, how do video games relieve stress? As the research indicates, it serves as an effective form of distraction.

Stress management - video games

As simulations, video games carry no real risk: if you fail a task, you restart the level or reload the game to a saved entry point. Facing challenges of varying difficulty, recognizing the source of negative feelings, and learning how to cope with stressful situations are also natural components of progression in video games.

In a 2010 Texas A&M study, violent video games were even seen as a highly effective way for people to work through their frustrations from real life safely.

Video Games And Mental Health

In addition to relieving stress, video games help improve mental health.

In a four-week study conducted in Israel and the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, MD, veterans who have PTSD experienced a noticeable reduction in the symptoms after playing a video game.

In another study, researchers from the National Institute on Aging discovered that Nintendo Wii games had such a positive effect on the cognitive function of senior citizens that they lobbied for a $1.2 million project to use the Wii for improving the daily functioning of older adults.

Casual video games that have easy-to-learn rules and short completion times have the most beneficial effects on people in terms of mental health.

In a 2009 study published in the Journal of Cybertherapy & Rehabilitation, casual games have significant long-term mood-lifting effects. Researchers from McGill University also published a report from 2009, citing “social-intelligence” video games as cutting stress hormones by up to 17%.

If you are currently stressed, playing video games may just help you find some much-needed relief.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s a fantasy role-playing or online sports betting game like sbobet, you will find it enjoyable and relaxing as you let go of the anxious tension and achieve a ren peace of mind.

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