Mental health is a delicate subject. Many people suffer in silence, while others are unaware that they are in danger. Medical professionals advise that you keep your mind active by engaging in activities such as mental games.
Chess has to be near the top of the list of mind-testing games. Chess is a board game that is played all over the world, despite the fact that some people think it is out of date.
Besides this, no one can deny its capacity to capture the human mind. In this section, we address some difficult questions about the game’s ability to relieve stress. Does chess help you relax? Does it make things worse? Discover more by reading on.
Does Chess Help You Relax?
Yes, playing chess can help you relax. It keeps your mind engaged throughout the game. A typical game takes about 90 minutes (or less) to complete. You will be thinking about your opponent’s next move and where you will move your pieces throughout the game.
Nobody enjoys feeling pain or stress while doing anything. Nobody would have willingly participated in chess if it was stressful.
Chess as a Stress Reliever
Stress is typically caused by your mind not settling or overthinking. Most of the time, the things that stress us out are beyond our control. Chess can help you deal with stress in the following ways:
1. It stimulates your mind.
According to Albert Einstein College research, playing chess can help you relieve stress and anxiety. When you are completely absorbed in chess, you think about nothing but the game. You plan the next move and try to stay one step ahead of your opponent. You forget about everything that is going on in your life, and your brain relaxes. You are stress-free and mentally healthy throughout the entire game.
2. Winning a chess game makes you happy.
Imagine playing against your greatest rival and winning! Isn’t that a wonderful feeling? If you are an expert at chess, you can find joy in defeating your opponents. Actually, chess can be your go-to game whenever you need to unwind.
3. Chess May Help Treat Certain Diseases.
Both those with the disease and those who are infected can experience a great deal of stress. According to medical professionals, playing chess can help treat conditions like schizophrenia, ADHD, Alzheimer’s, and panic attacks. Chess is a game that challenges and places you in situations where your brain must relax and think of solutions.
4. The Game Educates Players on Patience
Chess is a waiting game. You must wait for your error before you attack. Chess teaches the virtue of patience, according to numerous studies that have been done on the subject. In the grandmasters, having the patience and composure to wait and remain calm is half the battle.
When you are composed, you can formulate a plan and decide on your next move after researching the opposition. In the same way, patience can assist you in identifying solutions to problems that might be causing you stress in other areas of your life.
Additionally, the capacity to maintain composure under pressure controls the flow of adrenaline into your body. It is very difficult to feel stressed out about anything when you have control over your actions.
Chess has been used in real-world situations to calm down overly aggressive students. Mentors have been able to raise more composed members of society by teaching people how to focus and remain stationary.
5. Chess Is Energizing Chess stimulates up to six cognitive areas of the brain. According to the Key Parts of the Brain Study. These components include the language, calculation, visual-spatial, critical thinking, and short- and long-term memory. This implies that you can effectively eliminate any of these cognitive components that are causing your stress by playing chess.
Chess can help fight depression. Chess can help you focus, stimulate some cognitive areas of your brain, and make you feel more “alive” if you are anxious about something.
The Negative Aspect of Chess: How It Makes You Feel Worse.
The coin consists of two parts. It’s possible that playing chess will make things worse. Examine the following situations:
1. The Game’s Loss Makes Things Worse.
Imagine playing chess with a friend while under stress from another situation, only to lose! Stress would increase by twofold. The situation is made worse if you enter the game knowing that your opponent took advantage of a slip-up that, on a better day, you wouldn’t have made. It is incorrect to claim that playing chess can only reduce your stress if you at least continue the game and win it.
2. Not knowing what to do next can be stressful.
Engaged life is enjoyable. Chess can be difficult if you can’t predict your next move, though. Chess is a move-based game.
That implies that your adversary will constantly be watching for your next move before making his. Sometimes the pressure can get to you, especially when it appears that your opponent knows what he’s going to do next while you don’t. In the end, you feel twice as stressed when you leave the table.
Conclusion
The game of chess is played by millions of people worldwide. The game has been around for centuries and still keeps players interested in various ways. The question of whether playing chess can reduce stress is still up for debate. Stress can actually be good for your mental health, as we discovered.
Playing keeps you fully focused and allows you to block out everything else going on in your life. Additionally, the game can help you broaden your thinking and see things from various angles.
Most of the time, you get to calmly resolve the issues that stress you out. Chess can reduce your stress, but only if you succeed in the game. Otherwise, if you are having trouble, you risk leaving the table feeling more stressed than when you arrived.