Cliff Notes – Video games are great for my mental and physical wellbeing
- Video games, particularly Nintendo titles, provide a sense of familiarity and connection that can enhance emotional stability and mental health.
- Engaging in gaming activities, such as Mario Kart World and fitness games like Ring Fit Adventure, promotes cognitive engagement and physical wellbeing.
- The social aspect of gaming, including features like GameChat, fosters friendships and laughter, contributing positively to mental health.
Video games are great for my mental and physical wellbeing – Reader’s Feature
Mario Kart World – a positive experience (Nintendo)
A reader breaks down the Switch 2 launch line-up and lists the mistakes he feels Nintendo has made, from the marketing to the prices.
Video gaming has often been criticised in the media, with some attributing it to the escalation of violence and gun-related crimes. Whilst it is an easy target, I want to talk about how gaming’s mental health effects are positive in many more ways than they are negative.
In 2014, I was diagnosed as having bipolar disorder. Basically, I have severe mood swings – from deep depression, where just getting out of bed is impossible, to extreme highs where I think I can be Super Mario and take on anything! One hobby that makes a positive difference to me is video games.
Gaming has been a huge part of my life and I have just picked up the Switch 2. I also play Xbox, Apple Arcade and retro games that take me back in time to my formative and happy gaming journey.
My love of Nintendo, in particular, is one that has really helped me to remain stable. Just booting up my original Nintendo Switch, and now its successor, I get a feeling of happiness and contentment as I see the Nintendo logo once more. Familiarity is important to human beings. It is about a connection. It helps us to feel safe when we recognise something that we have grown to trust.
Keeping my mind active is important to my wellbeing. Games such as Brain Training, for example, have kept my mind focused with memory games being a positive force in keeping cognitive skills strong.
Mario Kart World delights and excites me and makes my brain release serotonin that is important for a healthy mind. The colours, the music, the ease of play are all conducive to positive mental health.
Expert, exclusive gaming analysis
The introduction of GameChat has allowed me to catch up with old friends and laugh out loud together, as we battle it out in knockout games for hours on end. Laughter is such a positive release for us all, and it always makes me feel so much better.
Then there are fitness games such as Ring Fit Adventure, where you can game and keep fit at the same time! Exercise is vital for physical and mental wellbeing and added to a hobby such as video gaming you can only benefit from the best of all worlds.
First person shooters such as Doom Eternal help me because I can let off steam. I don’t play Doom and suddenly think I must go out shooting things. It is a safe way to release tension and frustrations.
I do not see the connection between that escapism and wanting to make it a reality. If I did, then if I ever reach the day where I start wanting to be a plumber and jump on squirrels in the park, I know it’s the day my gaming has gone too far, and I stop playing Super Mario Bros.!
Video games help educate, instruct, develop, and entertain. All of these things are vital for our mental and physical wellbeing and that applies to all ages. I am 47 years old and feel the same emotions as I did when I was just eight years old.
From the moment I started gaming I can only say that it has been good for my mental health and I remain, and always will remain, grateful for that. I absolutely recommend gaming as an important tool for mental health wellbeing and recovery.
Whilst it may still receive unwanted and often unwarranted attention, gaming isn’t the force for bad that some would have us believe and I can only hope, that by sharing my experiences, that others will also come out and support gaming as a real force for good, now and in the future.
By reader BaldB3lper
Doom: The Dark Ages – harmless fun (Bethesda)
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