Gaming used to have a bad rep. When I was a kid, saying someone was a gamer was akin to saying they were a social outcast; that they were uncool, unfashionable and out of touch. Media portrayals and stereotypes were often similarly negative. However, in the last couple of decades, this has changed massively. Gaming has become a big business, videos games have gone mainstream, and it has become socially acceptable for people from every demographic to play video games, from the suburban housewife to the 30-something male. However, something of the bad reputation has stuck: the idea that gaming is somehow unhealthy. People assume that playing video games is the antithesis of good health, and that gamers must thus be unhealthy. This is not necessarily the case.
I am obviously not recommending gaming as your only form of physical exercise. Possibly keep on going to the gym or whatever you do in the way of exercise. Or not. As you wish. However, gaming can actually be healthy. Gaming can actually be good for you in a multitude of ways: it can improve your memory and problem solving skills (as anyone who has ever played an RPG will surely attest!), it can allow you to develop and hone your spatial awareness, it can reduce the subjective feeling of pain, and it can also (as has been shown by studies) reduce the feeling of trauma of those who have been in accidents.
So, gamers need no longer be tarred with the brush that they were even a decade and a half ago. Likewise, as a gamer you can confidently declare that your gaming can actually be good for you, and scoff in the face of those health freaks with their protein shakes and supplements! Everything in moderation, mind!
To find out more about the benefits of gaming, see this infographic from the experts at Computer Planet.
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