Scientists say Dungeons & Dragons improves your brain; Here’s how

Although many have long considered tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons as just a fun pastime for groups of friends huddled together for hours dressed up in their imaginary characters’ finery, it turns out that playing actually improves your brain.

Indeed, researchers say such gaming nights are powerful tools for mental health as they help build confidence, process trauma, and more, thanks to the collaborative storytelling nature of the game, according to the Scientific American’s Science Quickly podcast video streamed on July 25.

D&D improves your brain

Specifically, according to a study by Orla Walsh, a psychology PhD candidate at the University College Cork, D&D players reported a positive impact of the game on their mental health, allowing them to explore aspects of their personal identities in real life and becoming a useful tool for practicing skills or navigating real-world problems.

For instance, one player started a new job where she was the only woman and felt her confidence decline, so she created a confident, assertive character. Whenever she was having trouble at work, she would ask herself what her character would do.

In a study by Alyssia Merrick, a psychology PhD candidate at James Cook University, players in an eight-week D&D mini-campaign experienced reduced symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress, and witnessed improvements in their own self-esteem and self-efficacy. A month later, their scores were still generally above baseline, though the best improvements occurred during the campaign itself.

Other studies have indicated that players of tabletop RPGs are “more empathetic than most, and that playing these games can help build group cohesion and improve communication skills,” said Science Quickly’s Rachel Feltman. According to the video:

“Scientists have also found that playing these games can enhance players’ critical thinking skills and help them explore aspects of their personal identity, like gender and sexuality.”

Furthermore, Brennan Lee Mulligan, a professional Dungeon Master (DM) in the popular tabletop game competition, whose job is to facilitate the collaborative playing of D&D, described his own experience of playing the game as finding “creative fuel in building a character around something that I’m struggling with or thinking about or an interesting ethical problem,” concluding that “storytelling obviously serves a profound psychological, cultural need.”

Mechanism behind D&D improving mental health

Merrick has two major theories to explain these effects. One is the self-determination theory, the idea that we need to be related to others, as well as to have autonomy and freedom in our actions, and to feel competent in what we are doing. 

The other one is the flow theory, where players are so immersed in the activity they’re performing that they simply forget everything that’s happening in the real world. Some people find it beneficial to take that time away and absorb themselves in their character’s mentality and fight their battles.

Considering the positive impact of the game, therapists are already trying to harness it in their work, leading to the rise in the so-called ‘therapeutic DMs,’ run campaigns designed to help patients build confidence and social skills, deal with symptoms of anxiety and PTSD, and more. 

According to Donny Youssef, a licensed therapist at the Live with Ease Wellness Center, it’s just another form of group therapy, and it can help people get more comfortable engaging with conflict and other unpleasant circumstances we might face in the real world.

Meanwhile, other unorthodox approaches to mental health include using virtual reality (VR) in addiction recovery therapy, where patients achieve results by seeing their future self avatars, a realistic digital representation of themselves who speaks in their own voice about having fulfilled personal goals and ambitions.