Play Video Games for Your Mental Health

If you’ve ever played video games, or swapped tiles around on Candy Crush, you know the feeling of winning. Like a light in your brain, a mental fist pump. But you probably also know that guilty feeling after realizing you've spent 30 minutes plugged in. That worry, when your kid spends hours on the console.

Jane McGonigal, game researcher and futurist, is here to take away some of that guilt. She’s a champion of gaming as a form of self-help. Because, Jane says, that light you feel when you unlock a level - that's your mind being altered. Slightly. 

Jane is optimistic about that power. Mind alteration can be a beautiful thing, and with games it is substance-free. But it also takes self-control to keep it healthy. This week, we set some ground rules. We first talked to Jane last year and we're revisiting the conversation with some added insights.