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Text/All Things Knowledge Bureau
Editor/Everything Knowledge Bureau
Mahjong is a very important traditional entertainment in Chinese culture, with a long history and rich cultural connotations. Since its birth, mahjong has become one of the favorite entertainment activities of Chinese people, especially for middle-aged and elderly people, and in recent years, mahjong has been widely popularized around the world.
Although mahjong is widely popular in Chinese social circles, there are more and more critics of mahjong, in recent years, because of the news of illness and sudden death of playing mahjong, mahjong addiction, taking family money to gamble, and finally family breakdown incidents are also increasing, resulting in many mahjong people suffering from serious mental illness.
But there is a news that says: Playing hemp is beneficial to the physical and mental health of middle-aged and elderly people over 45 years old? Is this true?
1. "Playing mahjah will make me live long!" ”
In Daguanshan Village, Yuhang Bottle Kiln, Hangzhou, there is a silver-haired old man galloping in front of the mahjong table, this old man named Yu Ahua, this year is 101 years old, despite her age, but she still maintains a good state of physical and mental health, walking like a fly, quick thinking, can cook and wash by herself, in her opinion, this is due to her daily mahjong habit.
According to Mrs. Yu's recollection, since she came into contact with mahjong at the age of 73, she fell deeply in love with this entertainment method, and now she has been "mahjong" for more than 20 years, and she is still unable to extricate herself from this activity, often active in the mahjong field, and has become a well-known figure in a hundred miles.
Mrs. Yu has five children, and after she retired, the five children also took good care of her, knowing that she fell in love with playing mahjong, so she hired a driver to take Mrs. Yu to the mahjong restaurant every day.
Mrs. Yu said that she had to catch two mahjong games a day, and when she woke up in the morning, she could sit at the mahjong table until eleven o'clock, and after eating at noon, she continued to play for a few hours at 2:30 p.m. Many old friends in the mahjong hall said that Mrs. Yu was getting younger and younger.
Because she often plays mahjong, Mrs. Yu feels that her hands, feet and eyes are always moving, her legs and feet are much sharper than before, and her eyesight has not deteriorated, obviously she is an old lady who is more than a hundred years old, her teeth have not lost a few, and her speech is also articulate, even her family said that she became more cheerful after playing mahjong.
In 2019, Huazhong University of Science and Technology and the University of Georgia collaborated to study the physical and psychological effects of mahjong on middle-aged and elderly people, and they recruited 10,988 middle-aged and older people aged 45 and above from 28 provinces across the country to conduct a survey, with an average age of 58 years old.
Through questionnaires and psychological assessments of these middle-aged and elderly people, the research team found that those who regularly played mahjong, poker and other social activities had relatively low levels of depression. This shows that these activities have certain benefits for the body of middle-aged and elderly people, and also help to alleviate the negative emotions of middle-aged and elderly people.
Mahjong rules can exercise player intelligence
The basic rules of mahjong games are more complex, requiring players to gradually master through continuous practice, in addition to the need to remember the cards and various card types of judgment methods, but also need to be good at analysis, strategic thinking, calculation probability and other skills, these skills can not only improve the player's intelligence level, but also train people's psychological quality and self-control ability.
Prevention of hand diseases
Playing mahjong also has requirements for the flexibility of fingers, playing mahjong will need to pick up cards frequently, and to make decisions and play cards in a short time, so there are high requirements for finger flexibility and reaction speed, long-term adherence to playing mahjong can effectively enhance the flexibility of fingers, improve the control of hand tiny muscles, thereby preventing hand diseases.
Improves physical coordination
Mahjong games require players to perform multiple tasks at the same time, such as analyzing cards, calculating scores, communicating with other players, etc., which requires players to have good coordination skills, while quickly processing information, while maintaining a clear mind and a stable emotional state. Long-term playing mahjong can promote brain coordination and collaborative work, and improve the overall coordination ability of the individual.
Reduce psychological stress and reduce loneliness
After retirement, middle-aged and elderly people have more and more psychological problems because they do not have proper use of time and recreational activities. Through playing mahjong as a social and recreational way, middle-aged and elderly people can relax their minds, reduce stress and anxiety, relieve loneliness and depression, and have a positive effect on mental health.
Playing mahjah will require a high degree of concentration and reaction, requiring players to analyze and judge in a short period of time, make decisions to play cards, etc., this process can divert players' attention, let players temporarily free from the troubles of daily life, relieve stress and anxiety.
During the game, players can also interact and communicate with other players, sharing joys and challenges, this social and recreational method helps promote emotional communication and friendship development, and improves personal well-being and quality of life.
Playing mahjong can also reduce work stress and loneliness after retirement. For some middle-aged and elderly people, the social circle after retirement gradually shrinks, loneliness and depression are more likely to occur, playing mahjong can provide middle-aged and elderly people with an opportunity to relax themselves, let them temporarily stay away from post-retirement stress and troubles.
By playing mahjong, middle-aged and elderly people can also meet many like-minded friends, relieve loneliness and depression after retirement, feel the fun of socialization and entertainment, and promote the development of emotional communication and friendship in the process of playing with them.
Positive and cheerful approach to life
After playing mahjong, many middle-aged and elderly people have become cheerful and active, and love life. Mahjong game allows middle-aged and elderly people to feel the thrill of competing with others, in the game, every player hopes to win, this continuous competition and competition can make middle-aged and elderly people enhance self-confidence and perseverance, and better face the challenges and difficulties in life.
With the improvement of skills, the player's game level and win rate will also increase, this progress and sense of achievement will bring great satisfaction to middle-aged and elderly people, and these positive psychological feedback can promote middle-aged and elderly people to maintain a more positive attitude towards their lives.
Second, the "disadvantages" of playing mahjong
In the middle-aged and elderly population, many people benefit from mahjong, but the impact of mahjong on people has both positive sides, naturally but also has potential dangers and problems, although middle-aged and elderly people can freely use time after retirement, but it is such "leisure" that has long become one tragedy after another.
Because of playing mahjong addiction, forget time, sit in front of the mahjong table for a long time, and finally fall the root of the disease of countless people, not to eat or drink a few all-night and finally die suddenly on the mahjong table, mahjong has a difference between winning and losing, many people are easily swayed by winning and losing, the cases of playing mahjong families are increasing day by day, and the voice of questioning mahjong is getting louder and louder.
Wael Jaber, an expert at the Cleveland Clinic in the United States, said in his research that prolonged sitting can lead to poor blood circulation and increase the risk of heart disease, which is no less harmful than symptoms such as diabetes and smoking addiction.
In addition, in the process of playing mahjong, people need to maintain a static state for a long time, often bending the neck and waist, such a sitting posture is easy to lead to cervical spondylosis and other diseases.
Playing mahjong is a static activity that requires prolonged sitting, and usually does not involve much physical activity. Lack of exercise in middle-aged and elderly groups is more likely to lead to physical problems such as obesity.
Playing mahjong for a long time not only requires a high degree of concentration, but also requires muscles to maintain tension for a long time, which is easy to cause physical fatigue, and if there is a lack of rest, the immune system function is more likely to be harmed.
In 2020, in a mahjong hall in Yuanzhou District, Yichun City, Jiangxi Province, there was still a lively sound of rubbing mahjong, but it was already early in the morning, Ms. Zhang was ready to fight with Ma You all night, who knew that three hours later, she suddenly felt unwell and fainted in front of the mahjong table, and the people around her immediately dialed 120, and when the emergency personnel arrived, Ms. Zhang had no vital signs, and the hospital judged that she was overworked.
Coincidentally, at the Sanxing Leisure Club in Sichuan Province, Ms. Deng and her friends were invited by friends to play mahjong. After sitting in the mahjong hall for an afternoon, she felt more and more tired, but she still fought until the early hours of the morning, when suddenly her eyes were scattered and she lay down in front of the mahjong table.
The friends who came with her thought that she was too tired and told her to go back to rest, but they never woke up this person who was "sleeping". Seeing this, the boss immediately sent Ms. Deng to the nearest health center, and after several hours of rescue, there was no miracle, cerebral hemorrhage and high blood pressure occurred at the same time, and the hospital could not save the lady.
The same is true for young people, and there are even more cases of sudden death of diseases and diseases in middle-aged and elderly people due to mahjong addiction.
"Mahjong" is a double-edged sword, which has a calming effect on the psyche and can also damage the psyche.
Usually, playing mahjong is regarded as a social activity, but if you are too addicted to the game of mahjong, you may lose contact with the surrounding society and gradually become isolated, and this isolation may further affect the individual's psychological state, making them feel depressed, helpless and hopeless, thus triggering mental illness such as depression.
Long-term addiction to playing mahjong is also easy to make people become more dependent, a strong sense of dependence on mahjong games, and difficult to get rid of, when they can not meet their needs, there will be anxiety, irritability and other negative emotions, and even loss of control.
Long-term anxiety may affect the quality of personal sleep, insomnia, drowsiness and other sleep problems will appear one after another, affecting physical health and quality of life.
For those with a tendency to become addicted to mahjong, the win-lose relationship in the game often makes them emotionally volatile and can trigger a physical stress response. In some extreme cases, this stress can also lead to cardiovascular disease and other health problems.
In addition, playing mahjong may lead to reduced communication and communication between middle-aged and elderly people and their families. When a person is addicted to playing mahjong for a long time, he tends to devote more time and energy to the game and neglects to communicate and communicate with his family. This situation is easy to create a sense of estrangement and alienation between family members, which affects the family atmosphere and intimacy.
In addition, playing mahjong also needs to spend a certain amount of time and money investment, if a person is too addicted to playing mahjong, it is possible to ignore other needs of family and individuals, and even spend a lot of financial resources and time resources in order to meet their entertainment needs, which may increase the financial burden of the family and cause conflicts and differences between family members.
Mr. Zhang, from Anhui Province, who sells pork for a living, bought a house and a car in Changsha a few years later, and originally had a happy family, but did not expect that his wife was addicted to leprosy, and this afternoon, Mr. Zhang received a phone call saying that her wife owed 2 million yuan and asked him to pay it back as soon as possible.
At first, Mr. Zhang did not believe it, returned home and asked his wife, only to learn that his wife lost a lot of money because of playing mahjong, and borrowed usury in order to repay the money, and family quarrels continued from this day, Mr. Zhang was also forced to sell his car and house, and a family was finally torn apart.
Although mahjong is good, moderate amount is appropriate, excessive addiction can damage the body
It is undeniable that mahjong does enrich the time of middle-aged and elderly people and enhance people's physical and mental health, but at the same time, long-term addiction to playing mahjong may also bring a series of negative effects.
When playing mahjong, middle-aged and elderly people should maintain moderation and sanity, control the investment of game time and money, and pay attention to physical and mental health, and equally important, they should also pay attention to family and social activities, maintain contact and communication with the surrounding society, so as to enrich their own life and enrich their spiritual world.
Only by participating in playing mahjong sensibly can you truly enjoy the fun and benefits it brings.