Video Games and My Mental Health
A new post has been long overdue and I have been dabbling with a lot of new ideas for this blog as well as my life. Before getting into this actual post I want to provide a couple updates as to what has been going on in my life. I’m still working as a social worker for a hospital and loving it. Some minor issues but that is par for the course in any job that you have, whether you working for yourself or an entity. Outside of that, I’m still working with a couple of friends to get our business, The Waterboyz, into a more public platform. For anyone in the NYC area, hit us up for all your drink needs (shameless plug). I’ve also been writing a book as well about a therapist for ethereal creatures. That’s going to take some time because I’m trying to make sure it reads like actual therapy sessions as well as the process a therapist may go through when providing an accurate diagnosis and treatment. Trying not to make it purely caselike, I’m working on a plot that I can tie into the sessions the creatures may have with the therapist and hopefully create a series out of it. And lastly, the reason for this post. I’ve been getting back to playing video games regularly because I began to notice a lack of general fun in my life. I work evenings and this makes it difficult to see friends and family regularly as I would ideally like.
Anyone who knows me and has asked my advice for stress I would almost always recommend playing video games. I have a belief that a regular schedule of gaming time could help with managing the day-to-day stressors that we all encounter in our day-to-day lives. What I like about gaming the most is that there are a plethora of game types for anyone to enjoy. Whether you like conventional games such as console gaming (i.e. NBA 2K, Call of Duty, etc.) or the mobile types (i.e. Monopoly Go! or Clash of Clans), you have the opportunity to explore what games suit your needs and use it as a way to destress on a day to day basis. Lately, I’ve been getting into PC gaming (even though I use a Mac, please don’t judge me) as well as buying an Xbox to re-live my youth and play on a console like I used to when I was a kid. Even though this could be an outlet to deal with stress I do have a warning for anyone that does play games regularly or if you want to get into it for the first time (or again).
Like anything that provides you with an adequate level of dopamine, there is an addictive nature to gaming. Everyone knows those people that no matter when you reach out to them they are playing something. I, myself, will go through extended play time longer than I intended and end up disregarding my responsibilities in the process. As we get older and responsibilities get more pertinent in our lives, it is important to make sure that we schedule time for gaming and make sure we are addressing our responsibilities at the same time. Unless you are a content creator and video games are paying your bills, there is no reason that you should be gaming for 10 hours a day. The only benefit is a dopamine boost and problems once you decide to address your issues.
Nowadays what I do to ensure that I have time for everything that I have going on in my life I started utilizing the calendar app on my phone to schedule everything that I would like to do, outside of my set work schedule. This allows me to see exactly when I should be writing for the blog, working on my book, going to the gym, or having some downtime to read or play some games. I say this to say, life doesn’t have to be just going to work and then going home. The best way to live your life, you have to put some effort into creating a routine and then sticking to it. I’m not going to act like that there are times when I work outside of my schedule but if I allocate the time for all the things that I need to do, more often than not I can handle all my responsibilities while having my time to enjoy myself. I hope that this post reaches you in the way that it needs to and you schedule some time to enjoy yourself moving forward.