It always fries my bacon when I see stupidly extrapolated psudo statistics that attempt to prove that video games are the cause of violence. Or fake study results are made up to say that video games indoctrinate children. Many times people who make claims about games they have not played.  Those who are not gamers lack  knowledge and lump all video games together.  In my experience as a gamer for 30 years different video games have provided both relief from insomnia, and a way to stay up on the third shift. Video games provide not only a relaxing entertainment, but challenge the mind too. Sure there are violent games if you need to blow off steam. Better to unwind into an alternate universe, rather than letting your rage spill out into real life. There are as many kinds of video games as there are types of people. Surprisingly the most popular ones aren’t the ones that you may have heard about the most. Believe it or not free puzzle games and kiddie games still bring the highest numbers.  The top video game demographics might surprise you too. I may resent being called an “older gamer” but as a 48 year old female I am the target market for the breadth of consumer products from adventure vacations to casual games and MMO’s. It isn’t 18 – 34 year old males that make all the significant disposable income purchases. That’s why my opinion holds water.  I have both the age and   gamer experience to back it up.

The biofeedback clinic at the East Carolina University in Greenville N.C. is conducting a controlled study for PopCap games into the effect of games on the nervous system. Bejeweled is a game which started a wave of churn on the social networks and made Facebook’s numbers finally jump ahead of Myspace earlier this year. It’s now being studied as an aide for depression. Of all the games you might think of, you wouldn’t expect a very simple, online board game for being not only popular but also so studied. Preliminary findings among volunteers have shown that a rhythmic state of mindlessness while playing Bejeweled triggers a relaxed state in the heart. For people who have trouble sleeping or who have post traumatic stress disorder games act on the parasympathetic nervous system and step down the heightened alertness that causes insomnia and anxiety.

Smoother heart beats and rhythmic breathing? It’s ironic that it has taken video games to bring serious research to ideas that have been around for centuries. Breathing techniques have been used in disciplines like yoga and meditation to bring the heart rate into the desired “Zen-like” state. Wiccans use the technique of bringing the mind and body into focus by inducing the same alpha brain waves in trance.

Don’t guilt yourselves out of the fun and benefits of video games. Games like Bejeweled with soothing lights and vivid colors stimulate the brain and make it happy. No matter how you slice it feeling good is feeling good. Video games play tricks on the eyes and the mind. The body doesn’t know the difference. If you play a fast paced game, your body reacts to it the same way that it would react to activity stimulus in reality.Gaming can be a way to allow yourself to unwind in whatever way you need to. There are many alternatives out there to fit every walk of life. Weather it is exercise you need to get you up off your couch and onto a Wii Fit board, or if you need to decompress from a long day by smashing stuff with Trash Panic there’s a video game out there for you.