Shrink Says Hard Times Require Play Time, Seriously

Geezer has long held that work is necessary, but play is good. Now comes a psychiatrist, and the author of a new book about the rewards of play, who argues that when it comes to avoiding depression, play is every bit as necessary as work. In this interview in USA Today, Stuart Brown, author of Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination and Invigorates the Soul (Penguin, $24.95), asserts that play is particularly important during periods that are stressful, like this very moment in history. What exactly is play? Brown warns readers that real play is not what many people believe it is. It is not, for example, the special round of golf at a fancy club. Neither is it a determined effort to achieve some impressive fitness goal. Play, says Brown, is that relaxing thing you did as a kid when you wanted to have fun .The psychiatrist tells USA Today that it is no coincidence that people who
stay sharp as they age are those who keep working and playing. And
couples who stay together also play together, he says, especially when
they have different play personalities that might lead them in
different directions. He tells readers who want to hear it  that sex counts big time in the world of play. “When partners try to draw each other out,” he says. “they are in effect
freeing themselves and relaxing.” Read more in USA Today and free yourself.