{"id":39777,"date":"2025-10-26T16:55:03","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T16:55:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=39777"},"modified":"2025-10-26T16:55:03","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T16:55:03","slug":"dungeons-dragons-brings-purpose-and-fulfillment-and-maybe-structure-and-connection-for-retireesutm_sourcerss1-0mainlinkanonutm_mediumfeed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2025\/10\/26\/dungeons-dragons-brings-purpose-and-fulfillment-and-maybe-structure-and-connection-for-retireesutm_sourcerss1-0mainlinkanonutm_mediumfeed\/","title":{"rendered":"Dungeons &#038; Dragons Brings Purpose and Fulfillment &#8211; and Maybe Structure and Connection for Retirees?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"fhbody-179874336\">\n<div id=\"text-179874336\" class=\"p\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t&#8220;Around tables cluttered with dice, maps and character sheets, players are doing far more than playing,&#8221; writes Phys.org. It&#8217;s what sociologists call <em>serious leisure<\/em> \u2014<br \/>\n&#8220;a hobby that demands skill, commitment and personal fulfillment,&#8221; according to an associate professor\/program director for Florida International University&#8217;s Rehabilitation and Recreational Therapy Program:<\/p>\n<p><i><br \/>\nTo understand what makes D&amp;D more than just a pastime, [associate professor Emily Messina] studies how games like this promote identity-building and connection&#8230;  Beyond personal expression, Messina says the social and emotional benefits of D&amp;D reflect the very traits that make serious leisure valuable: the sense of identity, the relationships built through shared experiences and the continued connection with the same group of people over time&#8230;  The game can also provide structure and purpose for people managing mental illness who might not be able to hold a full-time job because of their symptoms. The game gives them structure versus filling their day with binge streaming&#8230; <\/i><\/p>\n<p>Activities such as D&amp;D can be used by young children as a reward structure or with older adults, such as retirees, to help provide a sense of purpose and daily rhythm.  &#8220;Post retirement is one of the most dangerous points in an adult&#8217;s life,&#8221; she said. &#8220;They lose that sense of structure and possibly their social connection.&#8221;  Building structure through leisure pursuits after retirement has been shown to help maintain physical fitness, social interaction, cognitive processing and attention span and decrease depression.  &#8220;The idea of structure and reward with desired pursuit can work for all ages,&#8221; Messina said.<\/p>\n<p>The research was published in <em>Leisure Studies<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Dungeons #Dragons #Brings #Purpose #Fulfillment #Structure #Connection #Retirees<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Around tables cluttered with dice, maps and character sheets, players are doing far more than playing,&#8221; writes Phys.org. It&#8217;s what&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39778,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39777"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39779,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39777\/revisions\/39779"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}