Educational

How Do Video Gaming Help Release Stress for Millennials? 

Gaming Help Release Stress
Written by Shusree Mukherjee

You must have gone through articles and blogs discussing a lot about the trending games on the Android and iOS platform. Have you ever thought about the fact that the games you play on your smartphones and console affect your body and your mind? Well, it is true that gaming has an effect on your body and your mind, but is it good or bad? Most of it is good until you get addicted to a particular game. Here we are going to discuss how gaming help release stress.

You might be stunned to know but gaming is a great way to release stress and get rid of depression. It helps you divert your mind to an imaginary world. Gaming has a variety of categories or genre. All these genres help you divert your mind in different ways. A series of researches conducted on the pros and cons of gaming gave a couple of mixed results. These results were, firstly, gaming is highly addictive and secondly, gaming does help in releasing the stress.

Theoretical Approach to Gaming Help Release Stress

As there are so many possibilities of gaming affecting your health and mind, innumerable researches have been conducted on gaming. Through these researches and studies, scientists have developed some theories which are brief here.

A study conducted on normal people who go through a lot of stress throughout a day experience a vast release of anger when they indulge in violent games. For instance, PUBG is a violent game where you get to kill people. This game has a good as well as bad effect. For regular gamers, it is an addiction, but for people who are heavily stressed finds it to be a medium of stress release. Similarly, playing games like Call of Duty, Counter-Strike, Modern Combat, etc help release stress.

The violent games are not the only option to release stress though. You can play other games such as Hill Rider, Chess, Mini Militia, Carrom, Farmville, etc. These games also help release stress as they divert your mind to the gameplay and you tend to calm down your senses.

Types of Games For Releasing Stress

Here we have listed some of the types of games which you can choose to release the stress. It isn’t at all necessary to play selective games which will help you release stress. Stress can be released by playing any type of game. The important part out here is to enjoy the game. It is common psychology which you should accept and follow. Whenever you are stressed, do what makes you feel good. To change the mood, you can rely on games which help you divert your mind from stressful activities to peace. For instance, very aggressive people, they can play violent games to cool down the aggression.

1. Casual Games

Casual games are the ones where you don’t have to use your brain or get violent or develop some skill. These games are pretty simple and fun. You have to understand that gaming is a medium of releasing stress so no point thinking about the side effects of gaming. The earlier you understand that gaming help release stress, you won’t hesitate to download some amazing games on your smartphone. Pokemon Go, Subway Surfer, Alto’s Adventure, etc are some of the simple and enjoyable stress releasing games. Further, there are simple story-building games, simple ball shooting games, etc. it is very important to enjoy the games you play and you won’t feel stressed anymore.

2. Cooperative Games

These are the games where you can play with other players. Such games will help you interact with the players as well as play the game. You get to chat with other players through voice notes and messages. The most important part of such games is that you get to create a network of new friends. Friends who will play with you and you get to chat with them as well. They won’t question you about your day or how life is. It’s kind of fun when there are people who don’t judge you or ask you questions which you might not like to answer. Besides, gaming itself is a fun activity and when you have so much happening around, do you still feel stressed?

3. Stress-Managing Games

It is true that gaming help release stress and that you will understand if you play any of the stress-managing games. The main purpose of these games is to manage stress levels. Such games train players to manage stress efficiently through developing skills to deal with stressful situations. Even though there are a few games that will help you learn more about stress management but you can get them in the Google Playstore. Biofeedback games are a great example of stress-managing games.

4. Skill Building Games

Why play games to release stress only when you can build some amazing skills as well. Such games not only divert your mind but also help you develop certain skills. For example, playing quiz games or playing chess on your smartphones can help you develop certain skills. It also makes you feel better and happy. A very popular game called 2048 is a mathematical puzzle game that enhances your puzzle-solving ability and engages your mind. There are some other games as well, which are Brain It On, Word Cross, etc. All these games are available in the Google Playstore and you can access them from your android smartphone for free.

5. Enjoyable Games

Any game which you can enjoy is a stress reliever for you. Opt for the games which give virtual happiness. Anything which has lots of colors and can make you feel better, uplift your mood and help you release stress. Such games break the daily routine and the pattern of your lifestyle. It’s like adapting something new for a change.

Conclusion

You must enjoy when you play games. If you are not enjoying the gameplay then it is not worth playing. Also, you might feel more stressed. The sense of winning a game or a level in the game helps you to change your mood. It is good to play games. Browse through the Google Playstore to play some amazing and stress releasing games.