Will I be able to pay the mortgage? Will I lose my job? These are questions that possibly many Spaniards have asked themselves in recent years, considering the results of the Global Workforce study carried out in 2012 by the consulting firm Towers Watson. In their report they conclude that 74 percent of Spaniards are concerned about their long-term economy. And it is that when one sees the news about the world economic situation it is easy to feel how our heart beats rapidly, we sweat, we are unable to sleep peacefully and it is difficult for us to concentrate . And we can’t help but feel anxious and somewhat depressed at the outlook for the country and bleak prospects.
All of these responses are associated with what we commonly call ‘stress’. Stress is a natural response of the body, vital to cope with situations in the environment that may pose a danger or the need to adapt. The stress response involves intense changes in our body . Between them, chemicals such as adrenaline and cortisol are released, the sympathetic nervous system manages an increased heart and respiratory rate, and blood glucose levels rise. We even know that stress can modify brain anatomy by destroying brain connections. But, this essential phenomenon becomes a health risk when it becomes chronic, giving rise to harmful effects that we know as immunodeficiency, insomnia, memory problems, anxiety and depression, among others. Currently the economic situation is favorable to this type of demand to the body, we feel threatened, frustrated, our life goals are often paralyzed by the worsening of working conditions, the loss of work or the situation of prolonged unemployment.
How to manage stress? Beyond the pharmacological treatments used to mitigate symptoms, there are other types of interventions with fewer side effects. Stress incoculation techniques in psychological therapy have been used successfully to train people to cope with actual and potential stressful situations. Learning to relax, generate self-instructions and perform exposure exercises are fundamental aspects of this training.
However, beyond the consultations of specialists, new technologies and among them the practice of video games of various kinds are making their way as an economical and playful form of anti-stress technique. In 2009, the Journal of Cybertherapy and Rehabilitation published a study on the positive health effects of playing popular video games. The researchers recorded the EEG activity and heart rate variability of a group of people while they played different video games. When comparing the results with those of other participants who did not play, they found two fundamental findings. On the one hand, changes in the alpha activity of the frontal areas of the brain that were associated with a better state of mind and mental relaxation. On the other, a lower heart rate that was interpreted as a lower response of the autonomic nervous system and less physical stress.
Classically, there have been many more studies on the harmful effects of video games on health than on the beneficial ones, but it seems that recent publications predict a positive change in this regard .
Marisa Fernández, Senior Neuropsychologist, Unobrain
