When did you last REALLY play? [English Listening]

Hi there once again from a very hot UK. Imagine a war zone. There are some really awful places to be in the world at the moment.

We see them on the news. And yet, if you look closely, you will see children playing, even in these war zones. Children find a way.

Playing is instinct, and it's the way that they develop. But here's a difficult question perhaps. When was the last time that you as an adult played? Truly played? I don't mean spending time looking at social media, and I don't mean watching TV. I mean actually playing in a way that means you lose track of

time. You feel joy. You feel engrossed, which means you forget you're a grown-up and you have lots of responsibilities and jobs to do. If you're struggling to answer when was the last time you played or what sort of play do you enjoy, then you're not alone. Play gets squeezed out of our busy adult lives. And many

adults have forgotten how to play and what they enjoy. So today I'm going to talk about eight different types of play for adults. I love this topic.

It helps us get back to what we enjoy, to playing as adults and how we do it. It's very much missing in lots of people's lives. And as ever, you'll be learning some brilliant English language as we go. Real vocabulary, really useful words for mental health, wellbeing and just enjoying yourself. Before we

get to 'Eight ways that adults play', let's talk about what happens when you don't play. And it's quite serious. Dr Stuart Brown is a psychiatrist and an expert in play. He's studied it for years and founded the National Institute for Play in California. Early in his career, Dr Stuart Brown was a member of a team

who investigated the 1966 University of Texas Tower shooting. A man called Charles Whitman was the shooter. And the conclusion of Stuart Brown's team - Charles Whitman had suffered years and years of play being suppressed by his controlling father.

He didn't get to play enough as a child. Now Charles Whitman is an extreme case, but it shows that play is important. It isn't trivial.

And this shaped Dr Stuart Brown's thinking and ideas throughout his career. He's collected over 6,000 play histories from people.

That's the best sort of research to me. He did detailed interviews with people looking at how play or the lack of it shaped people's lives. He says when adults experience a serious lack of play in their lives, they often have a kind of smouldering depression. That word 'smouldering', S-M-O-U-L-D-E-R-I-N-G. 'To

smoulder' literally means 'to burn slowly without any flames', like a fire that hasn't properly gone out. So he's saying that if people don't play enough, their mood is like a low-level, persistent depression.