Play Time

Stuart Brown is a psychiatrist who keeps his office in a treehouse and has some advice for you — it’s time to play, reports Janice Lloyd in USA Today (3/24/09). Stuart makes his point about play in his new book, "Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination and Invigorates the Soul." His point is that adults tend to forget to play, and suggests that the "opposite of play isn’t work. It’s depression." He also thinks that adults are more at risk because of the recession.

"Play is particularly important during periods that are sustainedly stressful, like now where we don’t see an end to this economic downturn," says Stuart. "If we’re going to adapt to changing economic and personal circumstances the way that nature armed us to do, then we have to find ourselves having some play time virtually every day." But he also warns that "play is a state of mind" more than it is a particular kind of activity. He says, for instance, that it’s not play if you get ticked off while playing golf.

If you go running it should be for the pure joy of it, and not to reach any specific fitness goal. Play with your dog instead of just taking it for a walk. Joke around with people, just for the heck of it. Michael Otto, an anxiety expert has another suggestion — "keep a diary of … moments that make you feel good, and it’s a diary of what to pursue next week." Penny Donnefeld also points out that the benefits of having fun are physical as well as psychological, that having fun "reduces stress hormones in the bloodstream," and helps keep your arteries clear. ~ Tim Manners, editor.