Do you think gaming can help mental well-being?

A bit more serious of a topic here and kind of a personal question, but what are some of the ways you handle stress-management, anxiety, or depression? There’s so much talk lately (and always) about how much video-games can harm well-being or “cause violence” and etc, but do you believe that games have the power to help? Has there been a time in your life where it has helped?

This issue has hit me and many of my gaming friends hard in various times in our lives, and I wanted to know, what are some of the ways you have tried to handle it?

Gaming is the best excercise for the brain. According to recent searches games could help improve the quality of life for the disabled and mentally ill. In fact, doing so might even turn out to be a great way to improve your mental health.

I think it's a great distraction and can be very helpful and useful for brain activity. Especially games that have puzzles and make you think outside the box to progress.

Good topic. Yeah, I think games can be good for our well-being, too. I think fun in general can be good for us, but games can be great for challenging yourself or giving you a relaxing space away from everyday life.

Yes, strategy games can be particularly useful.

Myself I am schizophrenic for years, in fact 20+year's and I have found that gaming is a great stress reliever. I think if you are competitive gamer and get upset to the point of almost rage gaming, then I think you should be looking for a different hobby. Other than people getting childishness temper fits, gaming is a great way to relax and enjoyment to clear and to refresh your mind.

yes some games can make you feel good and some can make you feel like a good and so on so why would it not be good but not if you play 24/7

I think there are a lot of titles which could be good experience for live. Of course there are learning games where you can directly learn specific content for a special matter. Those learning games are a good way to learn new stuff in a playful way. And of course there are a lot of memo games that help you to gain concentration.

But also the mainstream games you may learn things that are good:

- You are forced a lot to read in games, so the average gamer may be a good reader, especially when you play some RPG games or other story-heavy games

- In management games you can learn to understand how much money you need for different items and objects and how important it is to keep savings, how you do investments, etc..

Games are often a representation of things actually existing in life, so yes gaming can be also practice.

yes,i thought

Play some Animal Crossing.

Puzzle games and some lighthearted games should do the trick.

I think like most things in life, as long as it’s in healthy moderation it has a positive effect, I know some people who missed out on a lot of their best years of their life just playing video games instead of living their real life with friends and family and having real experiences. Games can be addicting for some people and they spend too much time with them.

Absolutely

It does and it has. It is the perfect escapism IMO. It focuses mind and it allows thoughts to be processed more steadily.