Mental health benefits of playing digital games

Computer games are good for your brain.

Gaming is considered one of the most enjoyable activities by the children.

Children aren't the only ones who play games. 33% of online gamers are around 33 years of age.

Does that sound weird? It’s the truth. Games aren't only for children.

Billions of people play online games worldwide

There are approximately 2.2 billion gamers around the world. The population of the world is around 7.6 billion. 

This means that a third of all the people in the world are gamers. This number is quite huge, isn’t it?

Out of those 2.2 billion gamers, 1.2 billion are those who play games on a desktop computer.

Playing online games is good for your mental health

You need to be physically active in order to stimulate your body on a regular basis. Lack of physical activity is a killer. Just like how regular exercise keeps your body healthy by proving a physical challenge, games keep your brain healthy by challenging it to think and respond.

Playing games for the sake of mental health

Do you really think that playing games could be very beneficial for your brain and your mental well-being? Well, it can be.

People often consider gaming as a waste of time. This isn't the case when it is done is proportion with other healthy activities like exercise, social interaction and earning an income.

Gaming has many positive mental benefits. It can even turn into a lucrative career for many people.

Here are the great mental advantages of playing games.

Mental benefits of gaming

1. Improves vocabulary

2. Increases IQ and thinking power

3. Stimulates decision making with immediate and long-term consequences

4. Raises reflexes with eye-to-body coordination

5. Good practice for multitasking

Games are good for you.

1. Games improve vocabulary

Many people practice learning a new language in a fun and interactive way by playing a game with other people in a language that they want to learn.

Think about how playing video games can improve our vocabulary skills.

Games force you to master key words quickly

When we play digital games; we use key words like resume, reload, pause, go, stop, reverse, redo and many more.

Children learn these key words, along with their immediate meanings, at a very young age. This is a very good thing.

Gaming gives you the opportunity to implement words and use them with immediate feedback. You will learn the value of each word very quickly.

The youngest person in our household improved his reading skill very quickly after we introduced him to video games. The games forced him to read new phrases and sentences if he wanted to further his progress in the game.

There are many more words that each game requires the player to learn.

The eye-damaging effects of playing video games are in direct proportion to the amount of games that you play

Some people think that screen-based games are not good because of the light from the computer or laptop. It can affect our eyes.

This effect is harmless if you do it within moderation. You should balance out computer light with natural light, time spent with other people in a physical setting and time spent outside.

Stimulate your eyes by looking at a variety of differences to keep them healthy.

Gaming is like a form of exercise for your eyes because you need to focus on different parts of the screen at different times.

Just like how your body can take too much strain if you exercise too much, your eyes need variety to stay healthy.

Too much of anything is unhealthy. Even too much water can harm your health.

While screen-based games can positively stimulate your eyes, too much will cause ocular imbalances.

Don’t sit idly and play games for too long for the sake of these benefits. Variety is the key to optimum health.

Half an hour playing games is okay to refresh the brain and enjoy for some time. Limit yourself to a set, maximum of amount of time each day. This will allow you to reap the benefits without negatively affecting any other part of a healthy life.

Games are a fun way to learn a language.

2. Games improve your IQ and thinking capacity

There is a direct relationship between your thinking power and playing games.

You will notice that your mental skills improve dramatically from the time that you first start playing a game. Thinking time decreases and mental reflexes (mental output) improves very quickly.

When you play any game like Ninja Fruit, Call of Duty, or the famous PUBG, these games require a lot of thinking power. This results in a form of exercise for the brain. 

Before doing any particular task in a game the player must think. This is a very good way to increase your IQ.

This will benefit you in your daily life.

You will have a greater ability to think on a particular topic and make a decision with regards of the consequences to that decision.

Games are exercise for the brain.

3. Games improves decision making skills

Decision making skills are very important. They will ultimately determine the long-term outlay of your life.

Games are a great way to introduce you to the consequences of every decision that you make. They also improve the amount of time that it takes for you to make each decision.

There are many rules and regulations about what any gamer should have an eye on in a game. These little things can help you to have a greater mindset. In many games, you have to think about the bigger picture with every decision that you make.

Games help you become a problem solver.

Actual life decisions are not the same as in the game, but the developed thinking capability of any gamer will easily help them to make better and more effective decisions.

Use games to improve your decisions.

4. Games improve eye coordination

Almost everyone knows that eye-hand coordination increases as you play games.

Benefits of better eye coordination:

1. Improves reaction time

2. Increases productivity

3. Enhances life skills

Child psychologists explain that children who have better hand-eye coordination develop better and more strategic thinking.

Reaction time will improve at almost any kind activity. For example, if you are looking for something in a room; the person with better eye-coordination has the highest chance of spotting the item first.

Games improve brain function.

5. Computer games improve your multi-taking skills

Gamers are better at multitasking.

Games teach us how to handle many things at a single time.

If you playing an action game you need to be concentrated, focused, and managed to see what’s happening around you in the fame. You need to look at your enemies and deal with them along with many other things like your personal status, items on hand, etc.

These skills will not only help us in the games themselves. They can even help us to manage multiple projects at a time.

Our brain can become so developed at multitasking that it feels like you’re playing a game in your personal reality too. This is a common phenomenon among many avid gamers.

Games improve coping skills.

Games are a great way to relax, break away from the stresses of life and improve our mental capacity.

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Brisk walks during work can increase productivity

Movement gets the blood flowing.

Sitting in front of the computer for long periods of time can wreak havoc on your health.

Extended time at your desk can damage your eyes if you’re focusing them at the same distance for too long.

Sitting can decrease your energy levels if your body does not get the chance to move around and regulate blood flow.

Reduced physical movement may raise cortisol (stress) levels as we constantly feel the urgency to get one thing done after the other. Elevated cortisol can harm more than just your mental state. Prolonged, elevated cortisol levels can damage muscle tissue.

Our posture can also suffer the negative effects of being in one place for too long. Thankfully, a few brisk walks every hour or so can negate these negative effects, while increasing our productivity at the same time.

How will taking a brisk walk increase my productivity?

If you feel like your energy levels start to drop during the second half of your working day, it is because your body (and mind) is not made to do the same activity for too long. We can only focus on a specific task for a set period of time before our attention starts to dwindle.

By taking a mental break, you give your mind a chance to recollect itself before the next bout of mental output.

The increased blood flow from standing up and stretching your legs will also give your brain a healthy dose of oxygen-rich blood.

You don’t need to run a marathon every 5 minutes to get the productivity-boosting benefits of exercise. A simple lap around the office every hour or so will do.

Incorporating this simple yet effective change can be done in a few ways to make sure that you make it a habit (and don’t get fired in the process).

Move the body to energize the brain.

How to walk more during working hours

The water detox

This is one of my favorite methods to make sure that I walk more often.

Simply keep a bottle of water at your desk and sip on it regularly. 

Dehydration on its own can cause a decline in mental performance. You will empower your body to detoxify itself just the way that nature intended. Additionally, dehydration has been linked to unhealthy cravings for sugar and salt. 

Regular water consumption will increase your need for bathroom breaks. This is very beneficial for your body because it now has the raw ingredient that it needs to clean house and get rid of nasty toxins.

By going to the bathroom, you naturally force yourself to take a break and catch a mental breather. A short walk to the lady’s (or men’s) and back is more than enough to change up your posture, reduce eye strain and give you a mental breather.

Break up your daily workload into mini tasks

If your job is as monotonous as most people’s, you can break up your daily routine into smaller tasks that allow you to walk to the end of the office and back after completing every few sets.

You can take a small walk for every 50 emails that you answer, or like me, for every 300 words that you write.

Make your job more manageable.

Say in person what you would in an email

You’re not the only one in the office that gets frustrated by the amount of emails that you get from the person two steps away from you.

Before sending an email to a co-worker, think about whether it would be more constructive to get up and tell them in person. You get the chance to increase blood circulation and change eye focus, while possibly getting an answer or feedback immediately.

As a bonus, healthy social interaction can reduce cortisol levels and lower blood pressure.

To quote Sarah Ban Breathnach, “Little changes and little choices add up to be revolutionary changes in your life”.

Here’s to having a better work day while improving your health! Stay Strong!

How to get rid of visible veins around your eyes

Some people suffer from unsightly veins in their eyelids. Although this can be from a variety of causes like a medical condition or medication, the three most common reasons why you might be suffering from this include pale skin, thin skin around the eyes or darker-than-usual vein coloration. Below, we look into the causes and possible solutions to each of these three issues.

1. Pale eyelid skin

Skin produces a pigment called melanin. This coloration is made to protect the skin from the harmful effects of the sun’s rays. Some people have more melanin than others. Uneven or low levels of melanin can increase the skin’s transparency and increase the visibility of veins and blood vessels.

Sitting in the sun to increase melanin production

Sun exposure increases melanin production in the skin so that your skin becomes better able to protect itself from the sun. You can achieve this effect by sitting in the sun for a few minutes every day. If your skin is pale, it will be more sensitive to sunlight and a few minutes (5-10 minutes) in the sun every day will be enough to increase pigmentation. This will tan the skin by increasing the amount of natural color that the skin has. You can achieve this effect by sitting in the natural light, even if it is cloudy or overcast, because the sun’s rays are still penetrating the atmosphere throughout the day.

Regular exposure to natural light is good for you. Sun exposure increases vitamin D production, fights against depression, helps us to avoid the overuse of screens indoors, boosts the immune system and helps to regulate our sleeping patterns by regulating our internal body clock.

Sun safety

Don’t sit in the sun for too long

Sun exposure stimulates the skin in the same way that exercise stimulates the muscles. Too much sun exposure can damage the skin more than what it can repair from and this can lead to sun burn, freckling, skin damage, peeling and cancer in the long run. To avoid the damaging effects of prolonged sun exposure, do not sit in the sun for longer than what your skin can handle. If your skin begins to change color (i.e. turn pink or red) then you have been in the sun for too long and your skin is damaged. Get out of the sun before this happens.

A few minutes a day is more than enough to have a positive effect on your skin’s coloration. It is healthier for your skin to have a little exposure more regularly than to have too much exposure in one go. As your skin begins to produce melanin and your skin color starts to darken, you can sit in the sun for a little longer. Increase sun exposure in small increments over a long period of time to give your skin enough time to adapt without getting damaged.

If you are going to end up spending more time in the sun, take steps to make sure that you limit your overall exposure. Use sun screen to block the harmful effects of the sun’s rays, wear clothing that will protect your skin and sit in the shade whenever possible.

Avoid tan accelerators

Tan accelerators may seem like a good idea because they promise to give you a boosted effect in a shorter period of time, but a few minutes every day in natural light is all that you need. Tan accelerators may increase the effects of the sun more than what your skin can handle. This will lead to skin damage – especially if your skin is not accustomed to protecting itself from the sun. A few minutes every day is all that you need to stimulate melanin production.

Keep hydrated

Sitting in the sun can dehydrate you. This can have many negative effects on your health, and your skin will suffer too. Your skin needs water to moisturize itself. 99% of sweat, for example, is made up of water. Make sure that you drink enough liquids to replenish any water that your body might lose from sitting in the heat. My personal favorite is to sip on a glass of water with squeezed lemon juice for an added relaxing effect. It is also important to note that not all drinks will hydrate you. Stay away from drinks that are full of sugar or contain alcohol.

If you are losing a lot of sweat due to physical activity or heat, you may need to replenish your electrolytes as well - since electrolytes are minerals that are lost through sweat. You can get an electrolyte replacement drink from the store (try to avoid products that have too much sugar or artificial ingredients), eating a banana or adding a pinch of salt to every third glass of water that you drink.

Eat food with enough vitamins and minerals

Micro nutrients support every organ of the body, including the skin. Vitamin C, for example, helps the body to produce collagen which is needed to keep the skin supple. Vitamin E, on the other hand, helps the skin to get rid of cellular damage. Eat a varied diet that has different food sources with a variety of vitamins and minerals. You can do this by making sure that you eat enough raw fruit and vegetables every day.

Bleaching and using products that are acidic on the skin

Bleaching products, along with those that are acidic, can lighten the skin. This will have two negative effects on vein visibility. Firstly, it can decrease the amount of pigmentation on the skin and increase its transparency, making veins more visible. Secondly, overuse of bleaching or acidic products can thin out the skin, further increasing transparency and vein visibility.

To see if the overuse of certain skin products is causing increased vein visibility, try avoiding these products for a week. If the symptoms improve then you can adjust your regular skin care routine accordingly.

If you have pale skin because of low melanin production, speak to your doctor about the best ways to increase melanin production and improve your skin’s complexion.

2. Thin skin

If low melanin levels or pale skin regions are not the cause of visible veins; it may be because of thinner-than-usual skin.

Dry skin

This is often the case for people with dry skin because the skin will flake away faster than what it can regenerate. Adding a skin moisturizing routine to your daily regime will help to reduce skin loss. Find a good moisturizer and apply it to the parts of your skin that are particularly dry. You should notice an improvement in your appearance immediately and the skin should start to repair itself within a few days. You may also want to look into training your skin to produce more oil.

Over-exfoliation

Exfoliation is good for you. It helps to get rid of old skin that may block new skin formation. It does this by encouraging the skin to produce new skin cells. Too much exfoliation, though, may remove more skin than what the skin can generate. This will lead to thinner-than-usual skin. If you are potentially exfoliating more than what you should, try stopping all exfoliation efforts for two weeks. If your skin gets thicker and visible veins around the eye areas disappear, you know that over-exfoliation was the cause.

Naturally thin skin

Many people have naturally thin skin. This can lead to increased allergic reactions and possible infections because the skin is your body’s first line of defense against the germs, bacteria, viruses and other pathogens outside of the body.

Exfoliation to increase skin density

A good exfoliation routine will help your skin to increase its thickness - if done right. By removing the outermost, dead layer of skin; you encourage blood flow to the skin and stimulate the formation of new skin cells.

If you haven’t exfoliated before, try adding a light exfoliation routine to your shower or bath. You can do this in two ways:

Mechanical exfoliation

Mechanical exfoliation involves using a hard surface or scrub to slough away dead skin. You can do this by mixing salt and olive oil and using this as a scrub or by purchasing scrubs for exfoliation. I like using exfoliation gloves and using them to apply soap to my skin every second week to encourage newer, younger looking skin.

Chemical exfoliation

Chemical exfoliates use an acidic element to break apart old skin cells. You can make your own chemical exfoliates by mixing lemon juice or vinegar with water or adding them to your bath. You can also purchase chemical exfoliates from the store.

Exfoliation tips

Do not over-exfoliate

Do not exfoliate more than what your skin can handle. You only want to remove the outermost layer of dead skin cells. Your skin is very sensitive and can get damaged very easily. Skin damage from over-exfoliation can lead to permanent damage. You should feel a slight tingle during exfoliation. Never exfoliate to the point where you feel discomfort or pain. You should see a glow in your complexion after exfoliation. If your skin is pink or red after exfoliation, you have removed too much of your skin and it is damaged.

Light exfoliation done semi-regularly over a long period of time is beneficial; while over-exfoliating in a single session can lead to damage and hampered skin health.

Avoid too much exfoliation

Give your skin a few days in between exfoliations to recover and generate new skin cells. If you exfoliate too regularly, you will cause the skin to thin out instead of thicken. For the first few times, give your skin at least two weeks in between light exfoliation sessions. Once your skin has adapted by increasing new skin formation, you may exfoliate once a week. Never exfoliate more than twice a week because this will cause more removal than what the skin can regenerate.

If you are interested in using exfoliation to decrease vein visibility because your skin is too thin, speak to a professional first to make sure that you help your skin to function better instead of causing any damage.

3. Darker-than-usual veins

Everybody’s blood is not the same color. Some people have darker blood than others. There can be a variety of reasons for this. For example, the blood of smokers is typically a darker red in color, while the blood of non-smokers is typically a brighter red in color. Darker veins might also indicate poor blood circulation. Increasing blood circulation through exercise and keeping the blood clean by following a healthy lifestyle might be exactly what you need to reduce the appearance of veins. Detoxification methods include:

• Drinking more water to help the body eliminate water-soluble toxins and other impurities through urination
• Engaging in exercise or using the sauna or steam room regularly to help the body eliminate fat-soluble toxins through sweat
• Eat foods that are high in fiber (fruit and vegetables) to help the body cleanse itself of non-soluble toxins

Darker veins caused by other factors

There may be other medical reasons why your veins are darker than they should be. These factors need to be diagnosed and treated by a medical professional. If you feel that your vein visibility is of a health concern or that it may be caused by an underlying factor, discuss this with your doctor so that you can treat the issue at its root cause.

Remember to do everything in moderation and to always follow a healthy lifestyle.

This article in no way intends to substitute or replace sound medical advice. If you suffer from any physical or medical condition, always consult your medical practitioner immediately. Always speak to your medical practitioner before starting a new self-care or lifestyle routine.

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5 Ways to Reduce Eye Strain - And the Method that Actually Worked for Me

For the past few weeks, I have been struggling with eye strain. This led me to do a lot of research about what causes eye strain and how to solve it. I found 5 prominent ideas and tried them all - until I found the one that worked for me. I don't think that the one that worked for me will work for everybody, because the causes of your specific eye strain will be different to mine. If you can find out the reason why your eyes feel strained, you can take steps to deal with the problem at the cause and help your eyes to work at their best.

Here are the 5 best methods that I tried, the reasons why each one would work and the causes that they address, and the one that actually helped me (spoiler alert, the one that solved my issue is the last one: Method number 5).

How to help your eyes recover from eye strain

1) Use tea bags to help relax and restore your eyes

This method is quite simple. Simply brew two tea bags in hot water. Then put them on a plate so that they cool down. You want them to be warm enough to warm the eyes without burning them. You need to make sure that they are cool enough because your eyelids are very sensitive. Burning them will add pain to your eye area and make your problems even worse. Once they are at the right temperature, place them on your closed eyes while you lie down. Let them sit there for a few minutes until they cool down. After a while, they will become cold. The initial warmth will increase blood flow to your eyes, while the later cooling effect will ease inflammation. After a few minutes, place them back in the hot water to heat them up again and repeat the process. Do this for a few times until you feel like your eyes are completely relaxed.

I must admit that my eyes felt totally relaxed after doing this. I listened to music to keep myself busy during those few minute intervals and I placed a towel under my pillow so that the tea did not leak onto my bed.

How the teabag method will help with eye strain

This method will help with eye strain in a variety of ways. The heat and cold will bring fresh blood flow to your eyes while helping them to get rid of old blood that carries waste products. Your eyes have muscles that are used to focus and move the eyeball in different directions. The opposing temperatures help to heal these muscles. There are also nutrients in tea like vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that will nourish the eyes. This will help to reduce any swelling and inflammation, ease pain and discomfort, hydrate the eyes, and totally relax them.

If you have eye strain because your eyes do a lot of work like focusing or if your eyes have a lot of built up tension, this method will help them to relax and recover.

2) Focus on different distances

A lot of eye strain occurs because we tend to spend too much time focusing on a single length of distance. I have noticed that people who have a computer-related job often struggle to see long distance. I have also noticed that people who focus on more long-distance views (like drivers and people who work in the construction industry) tend to struggle to read papers or screens that are very close to their eyes.

Our eyes were made to focus on varying distances. By focusing too much on any particular distance, we lose our ability to focus well on other lengths. This happens due to homeostasis. In this case, homeostasis refers to your body's tendency to adapt to what it does regularly and reduce its ability to do what it doesn't need to do very often.

If you focus too much on one particular distance, your eyes will adapt by reducing their ability to focus on other lengths of distance. This will cause them to strain whenever you look at distances that are not the same as the distance you spend most of your time looking at. Your eyes, just like the rest of your body, need regular exercise to stay in good shape.

The 20/20/20 method and how it works

Every 20 minutes, look up from your computer screen and focus on something at least 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds. This will help to maintain your eye's ability to focus on more than one particular distance. If you can, take a regular walk away from your desk and try to focus on longer distances so that your eyes stay fit and strong. This will also give them a break from too much of the same line of focus.

This method is great for people who spend too much time in focusing on one type of distance and need to vary their lines of sight.

3) Give your eyes time to rest and recover

Your eyes might simply be overworked. Given the demanding nature of our daily jobs and the fact that we spend most of our waking life doing work-related activities, eye strain from too much stimulus is an extremely likely possibility.

Taking time off from work might not be plausible every time that you experience eye strain, but there are certainly things that you can do to give your eyes a break. If you focus on a computer screen for the majority of your working life, give your eyes a break by reducing your screen time when you are not at work. Try finding other relaxing activities that you can do like interacting with friends and family, spending more time doing sports, exercise and hobbies, or enjoying life beyond your house.

This will help with your eye strain if it is caused by being overloaded with too much stimulation of the same, repetitive nature.

4) Blinking

This method is just as important as the others. All About Vision explains that we naturally blink between 10 and 15 times a minute. When we focus on the computer, our phones or a TV screen; we can blink less than half of that amount. We also tend to blink less completely. This reduces the eye's ability to lubricate itself. Reduced blinking rates can lead to dry eyes and manifest in the form of eye degeneration and eye strain.

I struggled to remember to blink more whenever I was using a screen. Some sites recommend placing a bright sticky note on the side of your screen to remind yourself to blink. This wouldn't work for me because the sticky note will be too distracting. As a health and fitness writer, I need to constantly focus on my existing train of thought and write it down before it stops making sense. The slightest distraction could throw me off.

I was able to remind myself to blink more by making it into a little game. Depending on what I was doing, I had to blink in smaller intervals of whatever the task was. For example, when I edit my sites I need to blink with every click that I make on the mouse. When I am using my phone, I blink whenever I tap the screen. When I am writing content, I need to blink whenever I hit the space bar. 

This, along with drinking more water, will help to alleviate dry eyes that can hurt the normal functioning of your eyes.

5) Get the right lighting

It was through trial and error that I finally came to the cause (and solution) for why my eyes were strained. I typically work in a dark room. In this room, I spend a lot of time in front to the computer. My eyes adjusted to the overall dark lighting by increasing my sensitivity to light. This helped me to see throughout the entire room. My increased light sensitivity, met with the fact that I spend the majority of my time staring into the direct light of my computer screen, overloaded my eyes with a contradiction of low light and direct light. I spent a day brightening the room where I work. I also reduced the brightness of my screen to its lowest level. That same day, I did not experience any eye strain. I have not struggled with eye strain since.

We know how damaging it is to look into the sun. We can tell because it painful when we try and it takes a few seconds for our vision to return to normal afterwards. Although less severe, we also know not to look directly at welding sticks when they are being used because they can damage your eyes. Looking into a flash light will also cause discomfort for your eyes. Screens that emit light are the least severe of these comparisons, but affect the eyes in a similar way. By the way, have you ever noticed that it is easier to look into a flash light when you do it in the bright of the day? It is easier because the contraction between light and dark is not so heavy on your eyes. Your eyes will re-adjust its 'lighting settings' according to the overall lighting of your surroundings. This is why it takes your eyes a few seconds to re-adjust if you switch on a bright light in the middle of the night. 

Staring at a bright light in a dark room can hurt your eyes because they have adjusted to their overall surroundings, but need to function at a different light frequency. If lighting is the reason why your eyes are strained, try adjusting the lighting of your environment and the brightness settings of your screens until it is easier for your eyes.

I hope that this article will help you on your mission to conquer eye strain in the same way that it helped me. Stay Strong!

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