This pandemic has hit many of us hard. The spread of Coronavirus and COVID-19 around the world has resulted in many of us having to stay home a lot more than we usually would. We’re being encouraged to avoid socialising with others and are being asked to spend all of our time in our own homes. For a while, this was okay. But now that we are nearly a year deep into the pandemic, many of us are beginning to struggle with managing this new lifestyle that has become the new norm. Social isolation comes hand in hand with all sorts of challenges and difficulties. Many of us are becoming lonely. Many of us are becoming bored. But there are various things you can do to tackle this. From video calls to picking up new hobbies. For now, let’s focus on how gaming could actually help you through this pandemic. Here are a few suggestions that you might want to keep in mind.
The Benefits of Gaming
There are plenty of benefits that gaming can offer to you right now. Here are just a few.
- Distraction – many of us are bored right now. We have little to do and may not be able to carry out the usual activities we enjoy from home. But gaming offers an at-home source of entertainment that many of us could find really enjoyable. Find the games that work for you. This could be combat games, strategic games, fantasy games, driving games or anything else.
- Socializing – we can’t socialize on a face to face basis right now and many of us are beginning to experience loneliness. Gaming is now highly interactive and can see you speak virtually to people from all over the world – or friends you already have. Gaming can add a great sense of social life to your day to day routine right now in a safe manner.
Make Sure to Practice Moderation
Of course, if you have little else to do at home during the pandemic, you may find that you start playing games for most of your day. This really isn’t ideal. At the end of the day, games are something that you should play here and there – maybe for an hour or two a day at the most. You do need to practice moderation, as gaming can be deemed addictive and can start to potentially harm your mental health and emotional wellbeing if you spend all of your time behind the console. Those who have experienced excessive levels of gaming have reported that they have noticed a negative impact and consider gaming to have contributed to symptoms of their anxiety, depression and other conditions. Since 2018, the World Health Organization has even officially listed gaming addiction amongst its list of recognized mental illnesses. Of course, this shouldn’t put you off gaming. But it should encourage you to practice moderation. Allocate a set amount of time per day to gaming and don’t exceed it – even if you do just want to finish one more level, quest or duel. Gaming can be a great distraction, but it shouldn’t be a coping mechanism to deal with these hard times.
As you can see, gaming could be great for you right now. Hopefully, some of the above information has helped you along the way.