Relive your childhood to distress!

The pressures of work, family and life in general have become too much on you. You wish to detox but you have no idea how. Research has shown that doing something childish can relieve you of stress. Mwereti Kanjo asks the experts on the benefits of tuning into your inner child and how to do so.

Wanangwa Kalima refuses to let age and life take their toll and rid him of his passion for video games. He is a career man with a family but every day after work, for an hour or so, Kalima plays on his Play Station 3 (PS3).

This might sound childish to some but to Kalima, it is a time to relax, detox after a long day’s work and probably bond with his son.

“I don’t think it’s childish and it also depends on how one looks at it. If they are thinking in Malawian context, then yes but everyone is playing games these days.

“And what is the harm in enjoying something that you used to love as a child. It is good for you. Apart from that, the games that I play are R18 and the PS3 itself is expensive. No child can afford that.

“Over the weekend, the boys (his friends) come over and we play, make noise and just have fun. It is relaxing and stress free because the mind is busy. Research has also shown that the brains of those that play games function faster and that they are able to think. So the benefits are many”.

As people get older, they tend to leave out certain things that they used to do and love as a child, trying to fit in the profile of their age expectations. However, reliving childhood once in a while has proven to be healthy and has a lot of benefits in your life.

A child life is always fun, energetic, full of laughter and free of the misery that comes with daily responsibilities. Each day is taken as it comes with no expectations whatsoever. Imagine what this would do to you in your stressful life routine.

Psychologist Eric Umar says the first thing that comes to mind when talking about reliving childhood is that all human beings need to rest sometimes. What is most significant about childhood is that it was the most peaceful period in one’s life. Therefore, taking time off to play games or mess around with a bunch of children has a therapeutic effect. It relieves you of stress, helps you forget your problems and takes you back to a peaceful place.

“We go through a lot of problems in adulthood. Instead of looking for solutions; which is stressful on its own, sometimes we just need to find that peace and this can be found by living childhood where you find yourself watching cartoons.

“College students, for example, have social weekends where they play childhood games. This is very helpful and needs to be done once in a while. It doesn’t have to be everyday,” advises Umar.

Sociologist Pierson Ntata says playing with toys, games, watching cartoons or anything as an adult is symbolic of the life that we used to live as children. This then brings back memories that are peaceful, fun, joyous and special. As a result, people tend to feel stress free when they are playing because they are overwhelmed with good memories.