5 ways Word Search games boost brain health

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Brain teasers like word searches are great ways to keep your mind active and improve your mental health. Puzzles of this kind are much more than just a great source of entertainment. The benefits are in fact much broader than you might expect—from preventing cognitive disorders like dementia, to improving your vocabulary, a word search can help you find so much more.  

Word searches can be played either in a group or individually. They are made up of a grid that consists of different letters in each box. The main objective of the game is to correctly locate the letters that together form words that are listed alongside the grid. Typically, the words can be spotted running horizontally, vertically or diagonally, whether forwards or backwards. The widespread adoption of this game can be attributed to the combination of entertainment and cognitive gains it provides to players.

If you enjoy playing Word searches, it may interest you to know that the game has some additional mental health benefits that can improve your brain development and keep your mind young.

1. Word searches improve your concentration

The ability to effectively concentrate on a task is something that requires daily training. At the same time, it is one of the most important attributes everyone needs since it’s necessary for completing both simple and complex tasks.

Solving puzzles is one of the most effective brain exercises to enhance your level of concentration. While playing this game, you’re required to focus your attention and fully concentrate on finding the right word in the shortest possible time. To do this effectively, players need to learn how to mentally isolate themselves from their surroundings and reduce any distractions. Even the tiniest interruption is more than enough to distort your mind and miss a word, making you start your board analysis all over again.

With regular practice, you’ll start to notice an increase in your concentration level and your ability to ignore distractions, allowing you to finish games faster.

2. Word searches keep your brain active

Keeping your mind active has numerous health benefits, and by playing word searches, you’re relaxing your mind and engaging it simultaneously. During gameplay, your brain is compelled to conduct regular systemic analysis while searching for the right pattern or letter in words.

As you’re constantly analysing the orientation of the words, whether horizontally, vertically or diagonally, you're also reaching into your working memory bank to recall all the words you’re searching for.

While all this complex analysis is being conducted, your brain is still assessing which strategy may achieve the fastest path to victory. It’s easy to notice just how active your brain is while playing this game.

3. Word searches are therapeutic and relaxing

Playing this game engages your mind and prevents it from thinking about and dwelling on negative thoughts. In turn, this can help you to reduce feelings of anxiety, stress, and even depression as your mind is focussed on a more precise and finite task. This has the additional effect of giving you the space and the reorientation in your thoughts to make other problems appear less difficult.  In effect, training your mind on one problem allows you to think differently about others.

Playing this kind of puzzle can be a source of daily motivation and happiness for players, especially since solving them reinforces feelings of accomplishment. These feelings can leave a huge mark on your mental health, leading to greater motivation and optimism—not only during the game, but in your day-to-day life as well.

4. Word searches encourage patience and persistence

To win at this game, being focused isn’t the only requirement. You must also be patient and persistent in analysing the word grid carefully.

Typically, even the easiest puzzle may contain words that aren’t so easy to find. And so, if you’re a little thin on patience, you might end up becoming frustrated. Playing this game often can help to train your mind to be patient and more coordinated when executing tasks.

5. Word searches enhance problem-solving skills

While playing word searches, your brain needs to process multiple tasks simultaneously while constantly evaluating which strategy will be most effective in winning the game.

In practice, this activity is training your mind to become more coordinated, allowing you to learn to create effective strategies to solve even the most difficult problems. In fact, research suggests that playing puzzles regularly can significantly boost your IQ score.

The mental health benefits of playing word searches only enhance the entertainment value of this game. Word searches are a perfect way to improve your logical reasoning, visual memory, retention ability, and many other cognitive functions.