For a long time, there has indeed been a belief that video games were bad for your health. It was usually attributed to the fact that if children (and also adults) spent their free time locked in a room in front of a screen and this was considered bad for their health.
While some of these arguments are true if we take them to the extreme, many people still don't know that there are also health benefits of video games.
We show you some of the benefits of playing the best video games of all time, in various areas of both the body and the mind and emotions.
1. Benefits of video games for the mind
As gamers and fans well know, playing certain titles can be quite a mental strain. Solving puzzles, applying thinking, and responding to problems makes the brain ready and skilled.
Being creative also requires a special concentration to let your imagination fly, and it seems that those who play games have it more than the rest.
2. Video games against mental aging
Using a game designed to test our mind for between 2 and 10 hours a week prevents the brain from aging. The research was conducted on 681 participants. The brain after all has a function similar to a muscle that when trained, wears out less.
3. Improved memory performance
As we have seen, video games help to establish complex neural connections. Memory is also something very dynamic and that we can train.
The activity consisted of remembering the location of a series, although more and more locations were being shown to them, so the degree of difficulty increased. It improves memory.
Video games promote the development of the area of the brain that is related to vision, memory, strategic thinking, and hand-eye coordination.
This has many applications in people with problems like Alzheimer's or schizophrenia, in which parts of the brain are less active. Games can activate those areas of the brain.
4. Video games increase intelligence
Until not long ago, it was thought that if a boy playing video games, he would have less study time and would focus his attention on consoles instead of books.
Dependence on technology in children and adolescents blocked their psychosocial development. But it seems that we were very wrong.
A study conducted has shown that some popular games and role-playing titles serve as an indicator of intelligence. There is a correlation between players with high scores in these games and players with good results in intelligence tests.
This suggests that by combining strategy with instantaneous reactions, a type of thinking is developed that contributes to greater intelligence. So if you are a frequent player of these titles, do not stop there and work your skills to get the most out of your mind.
5. Emotional advantages of video games
Many people have always considered video games as a parallel reality to escape. However, the truth is that what we do in virtual worlds has positive consequences in the real world.
We are talking in this case about the benefits that video games provide to our emotional well-being, and how it can also negatively affect us.
Science demonstrated the ability of video games to reduce both depression and anxiety. These seniors with symptoms of depression improved their mood and mental health by playing video games several times a week.
6. Improved social skills
For a long time, it has been thought that gamers preferred to play with their consoles due to being socially isolated, not having friends, or avoiding contact with other people.
However, this has been revealed as a false belief. With a sense of humor and friendship, you can play healthy in the same way that we do sports together.
There are also online video games that share players from all over the world and allow them to get to know each other and thus eliminate prejudices about different types of people and stereotypes.
However, it is important to control the game times, since if you spend too much time on the console, you can risk missing good plans with your family and friends.
However, both young people and adults must be cautious to avoid falling into an addiction to video games, which eliminates any benefits mentioned above.
