Depression is affecting the lives and health of millions of people across the globe. It is brought by different factors like relationships failure, unemployment, health deterioration, and many other life frustrations.
Victims of depression have experienced some difficult times, and are now trying to overcome. Many of them don’t dare to express what they are going through while others want to avoid the stigma associated with having to seek help.
Thanks to technology, by the use of video games, you can now fight depression and change the way you train emotional resilience in the next generation.
Below are five major reasons for the use of video games as intervention tools for mental health.
1. Motivation
The majority of adolescents rarely seek professional help on their own. Instead, they feel coerced by external pressures curtailing efficacy. They need motivation for change. Video games are conversely motivating since they offer a strong sense of opportunities for co-creation with like-minded peers, and besides all these, they are fun. They motivate you to develop a ‘gameful’ mindset.
2. Breaks cost and access barrier
Cost is a significant barrier since many people are unable to receive mental health care services. The cost of video games is invariably less compared to a series of therapy sessions in a mental health facility. Again, most of the people in need of care have a difficult time accessing programs due to life-style or geographical factors. On the other hand, video games are easily accessible, through stores or online, and they can be used at one’s convenient time in homes or through mobile phones.
3. Practice
Video games can be played for extensive periods without losing the players’ interest. These long periods can trigger a range of negative emotions, which in turn, motivates players to learn emotion regulation strategies that help them dampen the negative ones. For instance, in the “Minecraft download” game, you will be required to build with a variety of different blocks in a 3D procedurally generated world. According to research, this game has been described as one of the most influential video games to aid in reducing the levels of depression in people. This calls for creativity and consistency, thus engaging players for a longer time.
Again, video games have increasingly become social, preparing, and simulating users for non-digital social challenges that they will inevitably face.
4. Engagement
Engaging people, mostly youths in therapy, is one of the most challenging tasks that clinicians face. The majority often find didactic lessons annoying. On the contrary, they play video games regularly; thus, these games can be used to hijack the enthusiasm for a purpose beyond entertainment. This trains them on emotional resilience skills that will prevent and minimize the lonely times that result in depression and anxiety.
5. Stigma
Stigma is another significant barrier to the prevention and treatment of depression. The majority are reluctant to ask for help for fear of being termed as crazy. The good news is that this has been put to an end. Video games have no stigma attached and can be delivered through stealth approaches that avoid mental health messaging.
Finally,
Games are useful in managing depression for different people in different demographics. More people need to be educated on the importance of video games to the mental health of depression victims. The “Minecraft download” game can be a start to playing depression away.
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