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Study Shows Games Help Reduce Stress

gigaom.com — If you ’re feeling stressed, forget about “calm blue ocean” mantras and squishy toys to squeeze. Instead, a new study from East Carolina University says you should fire up a casual game.

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  • twtmc, on 04/29/2008, -1/+8I know I enjoy a nice hour or two hour long gaming session after a hard day
    • fluidfoundation, on 04/29/2008, -0/+7Masturbation also reduces stress, and doesn't cost $60 a pop.
      • bejayel, on 04/29/2008, -1/+3games are a 1 time fee of $60, not $60 a pop. You're thinking of hookers.
      • TRScheel, on 04/29/2008, -0/+7You have to factor in the cost of socks
  • killbert24, on 04/29/2008, -0/+41Running over pedestrians and shooting hookers in GTA is always great for stress relief.
    • Envark, on 04/29/2008, -7/+1Fixed it for you...
      Running over pedestrians and shooting hookers is always great for stress relief.
      • bejayel, on 04/29/2008, -1/+10People like you are the reason why parents think games ruin the minds of our youth.
    • purplehaze420, on 04/29/2008, -0/+2or if you live around Toronto... Running over pedestrians and shooting hookers in the GTA is always great for stress relief.
      • emjaymj, on 04/29/2008, -0/+1I think pedestrians get run over around Pacific Mall just about every day...
  • TheFinestShadow, on 04/29/2008, -4/+13Really?? Gaming helps stress?!
    In other news, Britney Spears' vagina is 10ft in diameter.
    • jaytea90, on 04/29/2008, -0/+4Why the hell are people funding Captain "ECU" Obvious for these studies?!
    • purplehaze420, on 04/29/2008, -0/+5If you were trying to be sarcastic... You should have used a different context, something less believable.
    • idaniel, on 04/30/2008, -0/+1I thought both of these things were true ...
  • suzywang3000, on 04/29/2008, -2/+15not Mario Cart boy, I frigging HATE getting hit with the red shells.
    • aaroninflash, on 04/29/2008, -1/+0LMAO! I agreed with you. Unless you have star "activated" and you're fine.
    • o0joshua0o, on 04/29/2008, -1/+2You're also fine if you're in the middle of a jump, or you have bananas trailing you, or if you can shoot your own shell backwards just before the red one hits you.
  • Shadowgamers, on 04/29/2008, -0/+5What next? Will studies will tell us that the Earth revolves around the sun and that water is necessary to live?
  • znicket, on 04/29/2008, -0/+3I keep telling my girlfriend that!
    • Persian5Life, on 04/29/2008, -0/+5you have a girlfriend! nice!
    • tackle, on 04/29/2008, -0/+6There is another way to reduce stress, which involves your girlfriend too. Maybe you should look into that.
  • surKaz, on 04/29/2008, -0/+14well, that is obvious..
    Captain Obvious awaaaaaaaaaay!
    • Shadowgamers, on 04/29/2008, -0/+4If that superhero came into existence (no doubt it will), what will it's superpowers be? Flying? Super strength? Or just being there at the most inconvinient of times and telling the victim of x the obvious before scampering away in a happy glee? :V
  • Blondes, on 04/29/2008, -0/+0maybe Mario, tetris... or digger
  • kingygk, on 04/29/2008, -3/+1A couple of hours with a good first person shoot always cheers me up after a stressful day at work!!. My addiction lately has been battlefield 2 but socially I play Metal Of Honor with friends and talk with them using ventrilo.
    • ilves7, on 04/29/2008, -0/+4Why do I feel like I just read an advertisement?
    • RustyJ, on 04/29/2008, -0/+4He is also currently running vista, but hasn't gotten sp1. His enjoys a nice cup of java served up in the evening via his Mr. Coffee espresso machine.
  • thedogfatherx, on 04/29/2008, -0/+2Captain obvious.
  • Persian5Life, on 04/29/2008, -3/+2dose wow fall under " a casual game" because as a student thats what i do right after exams or right before an exam.
    • cw1242, on 04/29/2008, -0/+3I would say anything you do for more than 8 hours a day is considered a JOB, casual falls into the 2 to 3 hour range.
      • noumuon, on 04/29/2008, -0/+3i'll be expecting my pay check this friday then... :P
    • vafada, on 04/29/2008, -0/+2WOW is stressful especially when you are in a hardcore raiding guild.
    • emjaymj, on 04/29/2008, -0/+1Um yeah, right before exams is the time when you should probably be staying away from the game.
  • Skooma714, on 04/29/2008, -0/+32Tomorrow's headline: Pizza is delicious and reduces hunger.
  • sindex, on 04/29/2008, -0/+6In other news, thousands of gamers say, "Duh."
    • Anonchrist, on 04/29/2008, -0/+1That was the first thought to cross my mind. The second was to bury it as lame.
  • qxrt, on 04/29/2008, -5/+0As an addicted gamer, I have to say: Duh! It's pretty obvious (at least to us gamers) that games help reduce stress. However, what would be a more problematic result is that this reduction in stress causes us to spend increasing amounts of time playing games (it's like a drug), causing shortcomings in other aspects of our lives, and, in the end, causing us more stress that makes us want to play more games. It's a vicious downward spiral.
  • henryboy, on 04/29/2008, -0/+15So does sex.....................supposedly..............at least, that's what I hear.
    • Envark, on 04/29/2008, -0/+6Combine sex and games for epic stress relief.
    • designerutah, on 04/29/2008, -1/+0We're all waiting for virtual reality, right?
      hhmmmm..ddddd.....hmmmmmm hmmmmm ....grrrrmmmm ...
      And when it gets here, women all over the world will become... much more sexy and slutty?
  • wafflesomd, on 04/29/2008, -3/+2Duh...
  • RioMo, on 04/29/2008, -3/+1Duh.
  • cadmiumpaint, on 04/29/2008, -2/+1DUH. anything where i get to blow ***** up is a real good stress and tension reliever for me. At least some science guy in a white coat proved what everyone already knew.
  • Stormwern, on 04/29/2008, -0/+1Shoot em up's in general are great. Requires 100% attention, 10% concentration, perfect for stressing down.
  • mavranos, on 04/29/2008, -0/+3ECU - a party school, doing research funded by a game company to confirm the obvious. Go Pirates!
  • FieldAnonymouse, on 04/29/2008, -1/+1There are always exceptions to the rule... I live with someone who I honestly believe is going to have a stress induced heart attack one of these days form playing video games.
  • Nhmarine, on 04/29/2008, -0/+1Anything were you can vent your anger into a bloody rage and not actually kill anybody is a great thing for stress relief. I think I will be the fifth person to say it, but I will say it anyways: duh.
  • finalcloud33, on 04/29/2008, -0/+1Depends on the game... Ever try to play Final Fantay XI as a warrior? Looking for a party was terrible!
  • TexasShiv, on 04/29/2008, -0/+2SHOCKING study. Honestly, how do these studies get funded?

  • mohsenxp, on 04/29/2008, -0/+1When revising for exams, I do 2hrs of study followed by 45mins of gaming. I ignore games like COD4 etc. but concentrate on simple games such as Super StarDust HD. The kind of games where you can lose your thoughts easily. After 45mins I can study again with ease.
  • bennison, on 04/29/2008, -0/+2It really depends on what you're playing, and with whom if its multiplayer.
  • dildoolielly, on 04/29/2008, -0/+8"We don't have a lot of time on this earth! We weren't meant to spend it this way. Human beings were not meant to sit in little cubicles staring at computer screens all day, filling out useless forms and listening to eight different bosses drone on about about mission statements."

    -Peter Gibbons
  • aaroninflash, on 04/29/2008, -0/+0Thanks to Halo 3, GTA, and Supreme Commander :)
  • msmarc, on 04/29/2008, -0/+0I always knew that games were healthy for my life
  • bigteebo, on 04/29/2008, -0/+2Team Fortress 2 is a great stress reliever. All-out WAR gets your mind off of work-related issues.
  • Nerina85, on 04/29/2008, -1/+1Really?! It only reduces my stress when I'm winning, when I'm losing - well, that's another story
    • MrESaulved, on 04/29/2008, -0/+2Then you aren't playing, you are competing...nothing wrong with healthy competition...but you need to learn the difference between the two.
  • senatorpjt, on 04/29/2008, -0/+3Whoever wrote that obviously never threw a controller through a TV after falling off the same ledge for the 10th time.
  • jameshighmore, on 04/29/2008, -0/+1Did anyone read the article? The study was paid for by PopCap, coincidentally the same company that made the three "games" used in the study.

    This is making me stressed. Time to play some Postal.
  • aerwin, on 04/29/2008, -0/+1Geometry Wars is deeply relaxing to me.
  • Jizzinyomouth, on 04/29/2008, -0/+1When stressed I like to play the Stranger game, you know the one where you sit on your hand till it goes numb and..... :o
  • digjam, on 04/29/2008, -0/+1I need to forward this to my wife.....
  • PrincssZelda143, on 04/29/2008, -0/+0We got some geniuses over here.
  • SirTheGuy, on 04/29/2008, -0/+1Just don't play Halo online when you're needing to relax. I've heard those guys "relaxing"
  • bobsocool, on 04/29/2008, -0/+0I wonder how many millions it took to conduct this study
  • trollick, on 04/29/2008, -0/+2I don't see GTA IV in the title. WTF???
  • smakusdod, on 04/29/2008, -0/+2And winner of the "NO *****" category goes too...
  • Zap2, on 04/29/2008, -0/+1now we have some ammo against anti-gamer everywhere!
  • JohnnyXmas, on 04/29/2008, -0/+2In related news: peanut butter is made form peanuts!
  • Yage2006, on 04/30/2008, -0/+1I bet if i had time to kill and some marketing agenda to fill I could come up with a study to show the exact opposite, That games can also cause stress like for example WoW?
  • meghalc, on 05/02/2008, -0/+1Now days, we need smart colleges and universities to tell us that getting our mind of problems in life will keep us stress free.
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