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Did you all know that the world is fucked up? Like… super fucked up? Things are weird and upsetting and vile. All the time. It can make people go a little crazy. And why not? The economy is shit. People are dying of plague, famine, and war. Drugs and alcohol are ruining people’s lives on a day-to-day basis. In a crazy world, sometimes the best response is to go mad. Or sad.
Not everyone is lucky enough to live free of disease or debilitation. Accidents, genetic mishaps, and simple old age cause people to lose control of the faculties or just lack them altogether. Hospitals fill up. People hurt and struggle.
Downer? Too upsetting? Reality is shitty, but it is reality. Yet humans, thank goodness, are remarkably resilient. We manage to be productive members of society (sometimes), and it’s not like everyone is always moping around or trying to kill themselves. People have methods of coping with all the weird and bad shit that happens in their lives. And if they can’t do that themselves, they can go to a therapist or psychiatrist for alternative help, from medication to other forms of treatment. Neither is disability the end-all-be-all of life; “Oops I’m broken, can’t do anything now.” No. People enable themselves, and, with the help of doctors, become as healthy as modern science allows.
To combat the nastiness of existence or incapacitating conditions, we seek recovery, treatment, and therapy. Why should nerds care, in particular? Because games can be used for all three.
It’s a strange thought, I realize. Games? Used as medicine? Surely you jest. They are what they are: games. Frivolity and giggles. Well, if you’re reading this, I hope you don’t think that because you’d be wrong. Still though, it’s weird to think of them actually helping people. But it turns out they can. Video games are now being employed both as methods to rehabilitate the injured and treat the depressed or disturbed. Many more use them to calm, control, and cheer themselves, to feel a serenity that little else brings them.
Mental immersion is an important quality in video games, and this inherent demand of concentration and critical thinking can be leveraged to treat anxiety, depression, and other mental disorders. Any gamer knows that their mind is particularly focused while playing (though, admittedly, some games require more focus than others). The player is constantly contemplating how to overcome the next obstacle, achieve a higher score, or progress towards the next plot point. And while the player is focused on these goals, the brain utilizes logic and strategic planning to help reach them. As explained by experts at the Jumpstart Therapy Centre in Mumbai, such skills are invaluable when treating conditions like autism, ADHD, and dyslexia. In each case, mental exercise and development is crucial to alleviating detrimental symptoms. Narrative content and gameplay can also be employed to combat mental disorders. New Zealand researchers recently made a game to combat depression in which the player progresses through various fantasy worlds while destroying enemies that represent negative thoughts and emotions. The player’s avatar restores balance to the game universe, which improves the player’s own disposition. As cheesy as this obvious metaphor sounds, it is extremely effective, boasting comparatively high success rates with normal treatment. Similar types of game therapy allow players suffering from anxiety and stress to manifest those qualities in a game, then use the game’s mechanics to monitor, study, and react to them. Sometimes video games just provide a diversion to occupy the mind. In Mike Schiller’s recent article for Polygon, he describes how video games are the “…activities that require focused attention and fine motor control” which help to subdue his daughter’s Tourette’s-induced tics. Whether used as a primary method of treatment or a supplement to a prescribed regimen, video games can truly help heal the mind.
The goal-oriented nature of video games can also deliver additional incentive and alternative methods for physical therapy. “Okay Sam, now I know you’re full of shit. Mental health is one thing, but games to improve physical health? No fucking way.” Well, once again you’d be wrong and also not paying attention to the recent trends in gaming. The movement sensors utilized by consoles such as the Wii, the XBox Kinect, and even the Playstation Move bring never-before-seen activity to gaming. And where there is regimented, purposeful movement, so can there be physical therapy. Parkinson’s patients recently partook in a study at University of California: San Fransisco where game therapy replaced their normal physical therapy. Not only did the game-centered exercises provide the therapeutic relief that the standard physical therapy did, the video game format motivated patients to do the exercise and allowed it to be completed in the patient’s own home. The doctors at the Jumpstart Therapy Centre similarly tout the benefits of movement-based video game hardware, explaining that consoles such as the Wii can help to develop balance, posture, and coordination in addition to mental acuity. Certain reported stories of the rehabilitory efficacy of video games could hardly be called less than miracles. With the technology for unencumbered motion capture still being perfected, continuing research can only open more doors to game-enabled physical recovery. And, as a minor aside, while not all games can be used as physical therapy, that makes it all the more impressive when those who are unable to play the game as is intended or optimal strive for and achieve victory therein.
Sometimes people need help on a more personal, less clinical level, and video games help in this way more than any other. While doing research for this post, I came across the Games Saved My Life Tumblr. That this site boasts such impressive and moving content demonstrates that video games do far more than entertain; they cure, inspire, and unite. A few heart-stirring gems:
- Minecraft preventing a young man from falling into a post-rehab drug relapse
- A man whose interest in video games was his primary motivation to surmount depression and apathy
- The courage of FFX’s Yuna inspiring a woman to escape an abusive marriage
- A gaming community that kept a desperate and tormented man from attempting suicide
- Avatar customization as way to come out of the closet and seek solace from the ensuing confusion
- How renaming FFVIII’s female lead helped a young man find closure after the death of his first love
Some of these stories seem trite. Even a little ridiculous. Fine. But they’re true and they helped people. There is an encouraging beauty in the testimonies of those men and women for whom dark and scary times were ameliorated by video games. Changing yourself is hard. Especially so if you’re trying to wrest yourself out of grief, anger, or doubt. Yet gaming has pulled so many from the depths of pain and despair that it’s impossible to ignore the effect they can have. Proven coping mechanisms are few and far between, but video games are one of them. Frivolity and giggles? Not anymore.
And me? Video games are my calm in the storm. When I am distressed or out of sorts, games are one thing I can turn to for happiness or simple distraction. They help me smile when I’m sad, focus when I’m unbalanced, feel mended when I feel broken. It’s a consolation to know that at the end of a hard day that I can always get lost in play.
What about you? What do games do for you?
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