90% of primary care physician visits in the U.S. are stress-related, this is probably the same all over the world. The renowned stress expert (although I have never heard of her) Dr. Kathleen Hall recommends taking short mental breaks to play computer games as a good way to clear your brain and reduce stress. This confirms something that I have believed for a long time and that I have experienced first hand. At previous workplaces all of the developers would spend part of their lunch playing Counter-Strike or Halo. I always felt less stressed and in a better mood those days that we played and I often feel like I need to clear my thoughts in the evenings when I get home, watching TV just doesn’t clear your mind the same way that computer or console games do. The only problem is that most games require longer than 10 or 20 minutes to play but some of the games on MSN are quite good, I found the game Zuma earlier today and it really is very good… I found the original link over at Dag Königs blog (in Swedish), he also has a link to a Melitta coffee maker connected MSN!
