You’re either completely obsessed with or sick of hearing about Pokémon GO by now. Nintendo’s second mobile foray allows you to collect Pokémon using your real-world location, battle other players, and pick a team with which to take over your local area.
In addition to encouraging players to actually leave the house and wander around outside, the game is already responsible for a few good deeds and feel-good news stories. Despite a simple premise, early server problems, and some ill-founded scaremongering from the mainstream press, the game has received a good amount of praise from players.
So if you were wondering what Pokémon GO can do for you, here’s a few positive ways the game can affect your life.
Getting Out & Improving Mental Health
According to a 2014 study conducted by Frontiers in Psychology, “there is growing evidence to suggest that exposure to natural environments can be associated with mental health benefits.” The same scientific journal later published a paper that claimed “emotional and intellectual connections that people can make in videogames can have therapeutic implications.”
Pokemon Go is the best thing to happen to my mental health in the last four years
— Robin Rush (@RamenRush) July 10, 2016
While such findings should always be taken with a pinch of salt, Pokémon GO mixes both of these concepts. While much of the game is spent wandering around urban environments, if you want to catch ’em all then you’re encouraged to seek out a variety of locations. I’ve personally found that parks, waterways, and green spaces are especially good for catching rarer Pokémon, and nearly every park or patch of grass in my neighborhood doubles as a PokéStop.
#PokemonGO is going to do wonders for my mental health, providing me with purpose and reason to go outside at last.
— Drew Dale (@drwdal) July 6, 2016
Shortly after the game’s launch, there were a flurry of reports from players who suffer from depression and anxiety claiming that Pokémon GO has had a positive effect on their mental health. Merely leaving the house to get some exercise is proven to have a positive effect on mood and outlook, and for some users the game has provided some much-needed motivation to actually leave the house.
#PokemonGo helps plenty of people with anxiety and depression, but it isn't a cure. Use it as a stepping stone.
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