These Types of Video Games Might Improve Your Sleep, Research Shows
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Key TakeawaysCertain non-arousing video games, like word games, can improve sleep quality, while horror, shooter, and MMORPG games may interfere with sleep.Playing up to seven hours of video games per week does not impact sleep negatively, but excessive gaming can delay sleep and disrupt its structure, research shows.Experts say playing games that can help you relax before bedtime could improve sleep.
Good news for gamers: video games might help you sleep better.A new systematic review suggests that certain non-arousing, cognitively stimulating games, such as the word game Ruzzle, may enhance sleep quality. A small study also found that playing a sport-racing fitness game for 30 minutes three times per week helped improve sleep in undergraduate college students.“Video games may be a useful source of recreation and refreshment from daily routine. When appropriately used, they can bring numerous benefits to psychological health, cognitive functioning, and sleep,” said Oreste De Rosa, PhD, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher in psychology at the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli in Italy.However, not all video games promote sleep. Playing horror and shooter video games before bed can make it hard to drift off and stay asleep. Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), like World of Warcraft, tend to keep players highly engaged, often resulting in extended playtime and poorer sleep.De Rosa added that casual gaming—up to seven hours per week—doesn’t seem to affect sleep in adults, but excessive gaming “may delay sleep timing and disrupt sleep architecture.”About one in three U.S. adults don’t meet recommendations for uninterrupted sleep. How do video games fit into a healthy sleep routine?
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What Kind of Games Should You Avoid Before Bed?Nearly one in four U.S. adults spend at least an hour each week playing video games. According to the Pew Research Center, 42% of adult gamers play shooter games, but the new review found that playing this type of game before bed can make it difficult to fall asleep.Video games can also cause sleep problems when they engage the planning parts of our brain, especially as we navigate spaces and try to anticipate things in the game, said Rebecca Robbins, PhD, a sleep scientist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.“Before sleep, we want to be powering down, switching into a fundamentally different mindset than our daytime, which is full of planning, thinking, solving problems, and finding solutions,” Robbins added.Cozy games—a genre that gained popularity during the pandemic—encourage players to unwind. Games like Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing could help players wind down before bed, especially if the gameplay is different from their daily activities.“If I’m a gardener, playing a gardening game is going to get me thinking about what I’m going to do at my work tomorrow,” Sudha Tallavajhula, MD, a neurologist and sleep medicine physician with UTHealth Houston, told Verywell.It’s important to assess whether a video game helps you detach and mindlessly drift off to sleep or if it’s arousing you to the point that you won’t be able to sleep, she added.“Just like everything else, not everything is all good or all bad. You can use and leverage technology in the right way, provided you use it for your benefit,” Tallavajhula said.
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How Much Gaming Is Too Much?Playing video games for more than seven hours per week can harm sleep, according to the new review. Esports athletes and people who have a video game addiction are the most at risk for having poorer sleep.If you find yourself getting sucked into immersive video games, setting a gentle alarm to remind you when to stop gaming can help, according to Robbins.Some gaming platforms, like the Nintendo Wii FIT and Xbox 360 Kinect, have tried to combine video games with exercise. Although physical activity generally benefits sleep, exercising too close to bedtime can raise stress hormone levels and negatively impact sleep, Tallavajhula explained.Playing video games before bed can also expose you to bright or blue light, which can make it harder to fall asleep. Many sleep experts recommend putting bright screens away at least two hours before bed.However, Tallavajhula said some people can play non-engaging video games before bed as long as they monitor its impact on their sleep and stop if it becomes disruptive.“If a certain game helps you, it’s OK to do it 20 minutes on a small screen before bedtime, not on a super bright TV screen,” Tallavajhula said.
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What This Means For YouIf you enjoy playing video games, choosing relaxing, low-stress games before bedtime may help you sleep better. Avoid horror or action-packed games that can stimulate the brain and make it harder to wind down. Moderation is key—keeping gaming under seven hours per week is generally beneficial for sleep health.
Read the original article on Verywell Health.
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