Master Your Life with Dungeons & Dragons

I was delighted to read a Psychology Today piece by Ethan Gilsdorf yesterday titled “Dungeons & Dragons, 40 Years Old, Makes You A Better Person“:

“D&D has always appealed to contradictory minds. On the one hand, the ‘left-brained’ folk –those logical, number-crunching, outcomes and probability-obsessed –love D&D’s charts and dice. But the ‘right-brained’ creative types love the game’s open-ended dreaminess and escapism. The game really hit the sweet spot between these two styles of nerdery.” Read More

My very first Psychology Today post was on Dungeons & Dragons. After watching the role the adventures played in our son’s life, I was interested to learn that the benefits of D&D and similar games extend well beyond a few hours of fun and can even help with anxiety:

“The powerful intensity of some adolescents’ emotions, intellect, and imagination can be disconcerting if not frightening to parents and teachers. However, rather than shy from what they may not understand, adults can engage adolescents in conversations about game mechanics and storytelling. Harrison and Van Haneghan suggest that young people be encouraged to use rather than curb their strong imaginations as one way to build valuable emotional skills and resources for facing real life fears.” Read More

When I wrote that article, little did I know of the even greater rewards that role-playing games would bring to our lives: Our son met the enchanting young woman who is now his wife at a college D&D group (he’s not alone). Need I say more?

See also

Everything I need to know about management I learned from playing Dungeons and Dragons

D&D: Helping Celebrate 40 Years” (from Wizards of the Coast)

D&D Yoga (video below)

 

Photo credit: Guillaume Riesen