"Older people who continue to play are happier and healthier."

BarcelonaWho wouldn't want to return to those endless afternoons of games, where imagination was the main ingredient and nothing was more important than having fun and improvising? When we're young, playing is a primal instinct that comes naturally to us and becomes a key tool for our development. It happens that, as we get older, we forget the pleasure that play brings us and all the associated benefits.

This is what molecular medicine doctor and psychologist Julio Rodríguez, author of the book, talks about. Playing for the sake of playing (Plataforma Editorial, 2025). It is based on the premise that play is an innate behavior in all mammals. "No one has taught them how to do it," he emphasizes. Play comes naturally to us and is a tool for learning social and psychomotor skills, as well as a way of getting to know ourselves and learning to live and understand how the world works.

"Thousands of years ago, the brain incorporated play as a way of learning and surviving, and it has continued to this day," notes Rodríguez, who emphasizes that even in complex situations, such as refugee camps, children continue to play. In fact, play is so important that it is even used as a method of therapy. "Just by watching a child play, you can learn a lot about them and their life situation," he affirms.

However, as we grow up, we also lose the skills to play. "People start to believe it's a waste of time, and it's replaced by productivity, performance, and competitive games with rules, like sports," he laments. And it's at this point that a distinction begins to be made between "creators" and "competitors": "Children are creators, and adults are competitors." "When you play, your imagination and cognitive performance are enhanced. The moment this is suppressed, competitors are created," he adds. Therefore, when you reach adulthood, according to the author, true creators are not competitors, because they have an inner drive to create. "Those who create by competing are competitors," he clarifies.

Relearn to play

Everyone knows someone with whom it's impossible to play a board game. Luckily, people with young children can try it out, but the reality is that they're often so tired that it's hard to fully enjoy themselves. "The brain becomes stiff and ends up losing a good part of its creativity and imagination," laments Rodriguez. "Forcing yourself to go to the gym or read is difficult at first, but it eventually comes out." If you succeed, according to Rodríguez, "it will be resistance." And in this resistance, you will once again immerse yourself in a more open, fluid, and sincere state of mind. "Play eliminates social and psychological barriers, it eliminates stench and shame, and embarrassment.

Playing allows us to have more contact with others, to laugh together, make mistakes, act, jump, or sing. A deeper and more satisfying connection. When we play, our brain is in flow, open to feelings and emotions, much more plastic, malleable and ductile," he explains.

"Older people who continue to play with their friends are happier and have better health. Grandparents who play with their grandchildren report more well-being and psychological satisfaction when they are with them than when they do any other activity." It is a way of approaching, interacting and connecting between brains and with the real world; a way of getting to know it, participating in it, experimenting and enjoying developing. "Playing always teaches you something new and this is always positive because, after all, always learning is what really keeps us alive," he concludes.