As I recommend some games to you, I decided to title them and make them into a blog post. The games here are not games you don't know. Let's just try to look at them from a different perspective.
Gaming Can Help
There are many reasons why video games could be a good treatment option for us. I know it's not the only way and I'm not a therapist, I just want to share with you my views and my research.
Gaming helps people relax.
When we play games, we feel more relaxed because we release our stress. We are doing a more enjoyable activity, doing what we want to do without any responsibility and without any real destructive consequences. The stress of real-life work doesn't exist in a game, whether it's tabletop games or video games.
A good game helps us to relax. For example ABZU, Tetris, Hunter Call of The Wild, Gris... I am sure you can give many more examples. Is it hard not to say that our stress levels are reduced both during and after playing these relaxing games?
Gaming can help improve mood.
When we are bored, I think whatever game we turn on will raise our mood a little bit. Of course, instead of playing FPS (first-person shooter) games, we can choose more fun, simple and funny games. I myself have cracked up many times while playing Overcooked
Another game I can recommend is Cards Against Humanity. It is one of the games I laugh at the most. Yes, I will recommend this instead of UNO because I have witnessed that some UNO games stress me out instead of relaxing me, sometimes it can even lead to a fight :D
Gaming allows people to practice mindfulness.
If you want to silence the crowded voices in your mind and just chill out while listening to some lo-fi music in the background, I can recommend a few games. Among these games that make you feel as if you are doing yoga, my favorite is "No Man's Sky"
Especially when my friends were away and I was alone, thinking out loud, I would open this game. The effect it has on me is that when I talk to myself it shows how small some of my problems are. It's a game I use to collect my thoughts.
Gaming offers an escape from real life.
The best games to escape from real life and become someone else are RPGs, or role-playing games, and the best of them is Dungeons and Dragons, a tabletop game.
But this game can take some time to learn, to understand, and to find friends.
I think one of the best investments you can make in yourself is to go and find someone you get along with. You can find these people in Dnd cafes, and you can find them in Dnd clubs of universities. You can also play online but learning online is hard for Dnd.
And you can be sure that all of them will be eager to teach you the game, because, in this game, every new imagination brings more and more color to the table. One game is never the same as another.
Have you ever even sat with your soul mate and played a game? Dnd can be more than a game, you can create memories in that world.
Among other real-life escape games, I think you can consider The Witcher series. Skyrim might be a good one.
Gaming allows for a safe place to explore fears.
Actually, I don't play a lot of horror games, but a close girlfriend of mine is very good at horror games and horror movies.
What I want to talk about here is not Alan Wake or Resident Evil. What I want to talk about here is this.
For example, if you have a fear of loneliness and your character in the game is alone for a long time, for example, the Metro Series, you can slowly start to overcome this fear.
If you have a fear of socializing and you play games like LoL, DayZ, Among Us, you can overcome this fear over time. In fact, let me give you an example from a friend in my own life, I have a friend who has developed how to treat people younger than him thanks to LoL. In the past years, he was very aggressive and did not like children. Now he goes on picnics with all of his cousins in the family. Yes, unfortunately, after a certain age, the average age in online games decreases. But it is possible to learn a lesson even from this.
Gaming can reduce stress and anxiety.
Video games are not just for kids or fun, so think about how you can use them to help yourself or other people who are dealing with loneliness, and/or mental health disorders.
Thank you very much for reading. Please write in the comments if there is a game you recommend to me.
Tomorrow, I will share a painting post about the 3d mini condition rings I printed and painted for my own tabletop and game.