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Playing video games can help to reduce stress and anxiety, and improve mood
- ladyattis 4y agoI'm surprised the article didn't cover "life" or simulation games since these are often seem to be relaxing games compared to more frantic games like MMOs. For me, Stardew Valley is my comfort game when I just wanna to turn off thinking for a little bit and go fishing or chat with Linus by the lake. Or go on a gift giving run. It just seems like you can kind of turn off your head and go with the flow in the game rather than trying to min-max. I'm sure there's tons of videos for Stardew Valley that focus on min-maxing but I'm glad I just ignore them otherwise, I'd be restarting my game to do that, no thanks.
- bloqs 4y agoI particularly recommend satisfactory. Ahh.
- neomindryan 4y agoStudies show that patients who played the[se] games responded better to chemotherapy, and had a much better understanding of the treatment process on the whole.
- corobo 4y agoWhy does the site want my location to read a blog post? Ew lol
- brandon272 4y agoYes, kind of stops me from sharing it with people.
- erwinh 4y agoSearched to upvote this comment. More than happy to get some bad karma for shaming this kind of website behavior.
- npteljes 4y agoSame when FF tells me that the site wants to use the canvas. I just know that it's trying to fingerprint me
- bluescrn 4y agoNever expected to see a healthcare site recommending WoW raiding! If you're not careful, a game that addictive and time-consuming is a rapid route to weight gain, back pain, maybe even an unhealthy drinking habit... (To be fair though, for those who enjoyed the game in it's early years, WoW Classic was really good 'comfort gaming' during the Covid period, but it's certainly added to lockdown weight gain)
- sandworm101 4y agoFor many truly sick people, including some cancer patients, weight gain is not a bad thing. An old prof of mine, a man dying of pancreatic cancer, once said to me "A whole life of the doctor telling me to exercise more, and suddenly he is worried about me loosing weight too quickly."
- californical 4y agoThese don’t conflict with each other though, the benefits of exercising extend beyond weight loss.
- MrGilbert 4y agoSame goes for just hanging out with your friends in the evening without any sports, eh?
- deebosong 4y agoJust to take the comment seriously, when I kick it with buddies, I seem to be naturally attuned and attentive to my bodily needs way more than when I get sucked into a very addicting videogame, where after I finally snap out of the fugue state, a lot of my bodily needs are like, "WERE YOU NOT LISTENING TO US FOR THE PAST 2-3 HOURS OR SOMETHING?" It's legit made me try to find videogames that are not that addicting, but not that boring, and it's extremely hard to find lol.
- mrtweetyhack 4y ago
- hirundo 4y agoI think it would be useful to play a simulation of cancer treatment that includes realistic odds of survival. It's difficult to grok the idea that you have an X% chance of surviving for Y months by just looking at the numbers, or that Z treatment will affect those odds for some cost in extra misery. Simulating the meaning of those odds by gameplay, watching your avatars live and die, suffering more or less, could give you a better gut feeling for your prospects and adjust your decision making accordingly. My mom fought cancer and died slowly and badly. My dad, having lived through that, didn't fight it and went quickly. Some people have the opposite experience. It would be good to have a less expensive way to learn these lessons.
- sidewndr46 4y ago"Chemotherapy simulator" seems like a bit depressing game.
- knodi123 4y agoNot all games are meant to be a joyful memory. It's just an art form, as versatile as any other. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train_(board_game) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train_(board_game)
- gowld 4y agoSo does "war simulator".
- twinkletwinkle_ 4y agoIt sort of exists: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That_Dragon,_Cancer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That_Dragon,_Cancer
- VyseofArcadia 4y agoDifferent take on the headline: when I was little and scared at the doctor, my mom would distract me from shots etc. by telling me about how they work and all the science behind them. I still do this at the doctor if I'm nervous about the procedure. Try distracting yourself by attempting to work through the details of what's going on. Even if you're wrong, it's a distraction and a good exercise, and maybe you can ask the doctor to clarify later. Never works at the dentist, though. I can never tell what the heck is going on in my mouth.
- chairmanwow1 4y agoI asked my dentist a lot of questions and had them give me a tour of the shop. I was getting a crown and they showed me their CNC machine that took a 3D scan of the original tooth and scan of the nub after eroding it down and just perfectly machined a ceramic replacement. Pretty fucking sick.
- quartz 4y agoI have a dentist who loves to use the little remote camera to show me everything about my teeth and let me tell you: it doesn't make it any better! Totally agree on the "understand to remove fear" side of things though. When I was learning stick shift I had a terrible time until, frustrated after I had stalled the car for the umpteenth time, my dad stopped the lesson on "what to do" and instead spent a few minutes explaining what was actually happening inside the clutch system. Suddenly it all made sense and I understood what I was actuating and why the feedback was the way it was. I became proficient quickly after that.
- teachrdan 4y agoMy father in law was a tennis coach. When a kid kept screwing something up, he'd stop them and ask in quick succession: "What's the capital of Illinois? Texas? Vermont?" The kid would then, invariably, be able to hit the ball again. Sometimes all you need is a focused distraction to be able to perform.
- swasheck 4y agoi did this with air disasters. i'd been terrified of flying for many years so i immersed myself in every kinds of media i could find on the topic. i found it oddly comforting (though i definitely overthink things whilst in the air at times). geeking out has helped me navigate some tense moments.
- aaron695 4y ago[dead]
- qaq 4y agoBased on the title alone I thought this would be about programmers and ChatGPT
- jvanderbot 4y agoMe too. This has been precisely my coping mechanism: Lean in and _try_ it.
- qaq 4y agosame thing :)
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- xwdv 4y agoCome hang out with us in VR Chat and engage in fiery debates similar to what you find on hackernews except in real time VR and you could actually punch someone maybe.
- celdon25 4y agoToo much anxiety there from the fact that they now require you to run kernel-mode spyware (EAC). Haven’t logged in since.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- denvaar 4y agoI've noticed when I begin to feel anxious (which for me is basically "health anxiety" that spirals) I get back into RuneScape (old school version), and it really helps get me back to a good place IRL.
- andrepd 4y agoIt's the opposite for me lol. It's when I'm most depressed that I turn to osrs
- denvaar 4y agoOh, I see how what I said can be taken both ways. I think we're on the same page actually: When I feel bad, I begin to play osrs, and then after a while I feel good again and usually stop playing. Then eventually the cycle repeats.
- TheHypnotist 4y agoAs a League of Legends players, it could also do the opposite.
- Lapsa 4y agoplayed one today. had 1/16 yasuo around 20 min mark or something. total joke of a game
- TheHypnotist 4y agoClassic Yas player
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- rationalfaith 4y ago[dead]
- r3trohack3r 4y agoI thought this was going to be an article about optimism ("geeking out" as in getting excited about things). I acknowledge that I'm responding to the headline and not the meat of the article. I've recently (past ~5 years) stopped viewing the world pessimistically. I don't believe it's because I'm blindly optimistic, but because I didn't have the perspective to understand our ancestor's problems and how good of a life I had. It's pretty cool that I didn't die in 6th grade when I put that knife through my hand, that my knee doesn't lock anymore after having my meniscus removed, and pretty cool my wife survived to adulthood with unbelievably poor vision and asthma. It's pretty cool that a large portion of living is automated now by the systems around us, from food to cleaning, and that those systems are affordable enough that they're common place in most households. We've freed our societies up to focus on arts and science which has created a flywheel that keeps paying us greater and greater returns that we keep investing into arts and science. Humans have done some cool things to conquer our basic nature and environment, and we continue to do cool things. Compared to other species we are absolutely killing it. Yes we suck compared to what we are going to be in the future, but that's the point! Whenever I get a brief feeling of "this is bad," I remind myself that humans have conquered far worse than whatever "this" is and that we are likely to triumph over this thing too. Taking a second to appreciate what our species has accomplished, and "geeking out" about it, has helped improve my quality of life, thought I'd take a moment and share that with you.
- melagonster 4y agoI hope this will happen:) everyday, I read a post about AI on HN and then feel terrible... guess human still exists.
- si1entstill 4y agoI feel like I am and always have been a "day-to-day" optimist, but I struggle to apply that to larger, societal problems. Our impact on the environment is measurable and the impacts look dire. Income disparity seems to be increasing locally and globally. The military industrial complex of the largest nation-states feels eternal, as if it is a fundamental part of neoliberal capitalism. I can "half-full" almost everything day to day. Financial issues, medical issues, family problems... never easy, but doable. I can handle it, smile on my face, and tough it out. But when I'm left alone with my thoughts, its hard for me not to draw the conclusion that the world my children (or their children) grow up in will be worse-off, and they will live harder lives than we have.
- Ancalagon 4y agoCaveat being Super Smash Bros Ultimate - Online: This greatly increases stress and anxiety.
- mihaifm 4y agoStress response depends vastly on the game. A lot of games will actually increase stress levels. Take Elden Ring for example, that game will make you sweat at almost every encounter. But it’s possible that this kind of exposure might make you more resilient to stress in the long tun.
- unixgoddess 4y agothis. I tried playing a variety of retro console games as an adult; most gave me unbearable anxiety within a couple minutes, especially platformers, side-scrollers and racing games. With turn-based rpgs it came more slowly from the endless boring grinding. Only non-timed puzzles were chill enough to play as a clinically anxious person.
- smegsicle 4y agoor you could just smoke a cigarette like a normal person
- fullshark 4y agoLike all vices.
- boshalfoshal 4y agoThis should be voted higher. People really want video games (and other things like certain drugs) to be innocuous and maybe even "healthy" but its just like any other instant dopamine rush, and can - and is often designed to be - addictive to keep you hooked and engaged in their product. Imo a far better method than this is to exercise, walk outside, or play sports. These are natural dopamine boosts with little to no real downside.
- DontchaKnowit 4y agoYeah, of course, its a form of escapism escapism always relieves stress and anxiety and improves mood for as long as you are engaged in it.
- chad_strategic 4y agoI made the mistake of clicking on the headline thinking it said "Exercise can help reduce stress and anxiety, and improve mood." I got to stop multi tasking...
- rye-neat 4y agoI'm nearing 40 and in the past few years I've tried to focus more on "real world" activities (I've never lacked them, I just felt like gaming had less value). I've done well with this by spending time with my interests/pastimes; however, my work lately has been less stimulating. As a result, something has been missing. Long story short, I realized I wasn't getting into a "flow-state" often enough and guess where you can get an easy fix of that? First-person shooters.. (for me anyway). I don't have 3+ hour-long sessions or anything, maybe just a round or two and it's like that first cup of coffee in the morning.
- ladyattis 4y agoIt's funny you speak of flow state here since for me reading up on MMORPG meta or any meta changes to any game is where I mostly focus on such that even before I launch a game I've been reading up on its mechanics and trying to understand it in an abstract way (the opposite of this for me is when I just play Stardew Valley since I just wanna fish or chat with the NPCs rather than figure out how to min-max my farm). The act of figuring out how a game works mechanically is just as fun as trying to play the game itself for me.
- sacnoradhq 4y agoTry writing or coding for fun. Caffeine, while increasing focus, ups anxiety and cardio load. Exercise (HIIT) I find is better at increasing focus and decreasing anxiety.
- codespin 4y agoReplacing even a small amount of your gaming time with consistent exercise goes so far. Once you realize that you can actually achieve anything you set your mind to just by making a routine you will find yourself wanting to shift the time and effort going into games into real world success.
- galleywest200 4y agoJust remember the whole "all work and no play" thing though.
- christkv 4y agoPlaying the remake of Resident Evil is definitively not lowering my stress and anxiety lol.
- GaryNumanVevo 4y agoVideo games basically allowed me to get through college. I accidentally implemented spaced-repetition learning by studying for an hour or so, then playing a game of League of Legends, then trying to recall what I had just studied previously.
- havblue 4y agoI think one of the things that has kept me from games over the past 6 months is the progression systems that are tricking me into wanting to play more. I mean, everything in moderation, and I'd like to finish Elden Ring, but family time, chores and work don't exactly leave much for hobbies like this that require all of your attention. (Audio books and podcasts in comparison allow for partial attention) I guess I'm wondering more how high up some of these games can be on my bucket list when my time is already booked out.
- SammyNameTaken 4y agothe article mentions words with friends as if those games are something to be shunned. maybe the social aspect is what improves your mood not video games, based on this it would seem that tabletop games would have the same if not better results considering real life social interactions.
- web3-is-a-scam 4y agoAfter 2 years of lockdowns, playing Elden Ring basically saved my life. I had heard heard this a lot about the Souls series of games from other people, how the hardships and overcoming them in the game taught people how to overcome IRL hardshipand build character; never thought it would have happened to me though, I thought I had a pretty solid grasp of "adulting" and "real life" but being in lockdown nearly broke me.
- imchillyb 4y agoStress requires release. Sometimes the release for stress is actually more stress but of a different type.
- nfw2 4y agoHeroin can also reduce stress and anxiety and improve mood (at least in the short term). It's great to be exploring ways to help cancer patients cope, but the overall thesis of this article is hardly surprising.
- agumonkey 4y agoI enjoyed playing chess on my phone during gaps (train commute, or else). It was a good blend of distraction and strategy.
- calibas 4y agoIn my experience, it depends on which game I'm playing. Some games reduce stress but others, like League of Legends, greatly increase my stress levels. There's a number of games that I either play very briefly or avoid entirely because I feel more anxious and stressed after playing them.
- mayormcmatt 4y agoNot Tarkov, that's for sure.
- eigenvalue 4y agoI think the issue here is one of timescale and trading off short-term versus long-term joy/fulfillment. Playing games is often fun in the moment, and can certainly have a positive social component and can be challenging and build skills and in general be a way to blow off steam and decompress after a long day of work, similar to how many people watch TV. But I have basically stopped playing games totally for the past decade, and I am so glad to have gotten all that time back to do other things which build up over time and then ultimately provide me with a lot more happiness, like learning new skills, reading scientific papers on ML/AI, learning how to use tools like Blender, reading biographies/history, etc. There is only so much time in a day, and when I look back on how many hours I spent during my mental prime playing stuff like Starcraft and Quake, I really wish I could have that time back and instead done other things. Obviously this is just my take on it, and I'm not trying to shame anyone about playing games or saying they are bad. But I think it's wrong to focus on the upsides without at least being aware of what you might be trading off for that short term dopamine hit and fun.
- e_i_pi_2 4y agoI think this is mostly based on different needs at different times - most people play more games when they're younger and have more uncertainty in their life. As you get older there's less uncertainty and less need for things with semi-predictable outcomes. Doesn't mean you underestimated the benefit at the time - just that it's not as useful to you in this stage of your life There's periods where I want to learn a bunch of new technologies, and other times when I can't. It's all time well spent just in different areas
- otikik 4y agoPerhaps that time spent playing Starcraft in the past was part of what enabled you to do other things now. Transition from mid-game to late-game.
- coffeebeqn 4y agoI dont play a ton anymore- I used to be a 99th percentile gaming addict in my youth. But still sometimes it’s fine to not read scientific papers for recreation. Your brain needs rest too
- Forestessential 4y agoSo can heroin, the bible and television.
- notfed 4y agoThe dose makes the poison.
- HEmanZ 4y agoThe game probably matters a lot. “This definitely improves my mood” - said no League player ever
- hakube 4y agoNow try playing competitive games/eSport titles