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Yestereday i had a very interesting conversation with my father who works as a shrink. He came into my room while i was just loosing a game to a 6pool and he heard me cursing and knocking my desk.
What Game is it that can unleash such strong emotions, son? he asked me.
I told him about starcraft 2 and a little about the ESPORTS scene. Then i asked him if he thought that it was bad for me to play this game, as it can cause so much anger. but then he said something wich would give me a new perspective on gaming:
"No son, i think that it is very good that you have found an outlet for your repressed anger
Now, after thinking about it, i think he is very right, and that gaming/starcraft IS a very good form of therapy. Just think about it :
1. It occupies your mind and makes you focus on a particular task, clearing your mind from other stressful thoughts.
2. It can be an outlet for repressed anger, wich most of us carry around.
What do you guys think of this? do you agree that Starcraft 2 and gaming in general can be a valid form of therapy that can ease your mind from stress and repressed anger?
I think this could also explain the whole ragequit phenomenom and why people get so upset about losing. its not the game that creates this anger, we already carry around these feelings of repressed anger, and the game is just a trigger that opens the vault of repressed emotions. So dont feel guilty or weak for getting upset when you lose to a stupid cheese, be happy that you have found an outlet for those emotions 
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If you hate losing to banshee its because you have an Oedipus complex.
No, seriouly i dont believe in psychoanalytic theory.
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I find it useful to shut down my mind from something thats been bothering me emotionally and just play a game, but yeh sometimes i'd prefer that it was a meaningless shooter like TF2 or something as then i dont get annoyed by stupid cheese, but even then i do like how SC2 can completely occupy my mind where other games can't. Just my 2cents
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On November 08 2011 02:14 Gyro_SC2 wrote:
If you hate losing to banshee its because you have an Oedipus complex.
No, seriouly i dont believe in psychoanalytic theory.
This is not about psychoanalytic theory. i think you somehow misunderstood the topic.
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On November 08 2011 02:14 Gyro_SC2 wrote:
If you hate losing to banshee its because you have an Oedipus complex.
No, seriouly i dont believe in psychoanalytic theory.
Reasons?
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On November 08 2011 02:18 scur2d2 wrote:Show nested quote +On November 08 2011 02:14 Gyro_SC2 wrote:
If you hate losing to banshee its because you have an Oedipus complex.
No, seriouly i dont believe in psychoanalytic theory. Reasons?
because most of it is based on vague theory and in the end it will always be something related to sexuality
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I think it is the opposite: It creates additional anger.
At least for me it really doesn't feel like an outlet.
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On November 08 2011 02:19 Sansai wrote:Show nested quote +On November 08 2011 02:18 scur2d2 wrote:On November 08 2011 02:14 Gyro_SC2 wrote:
If you hate losing to banshee its because you have an Oedipus complex.
No, seriouly i dont believe in psychoanalytic theory. Reasons? because most of it is based on vague theory and in the end it will always be something related to sexuality
PLEASE dont bring freud into this topic.
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Man must be so strange to have a shrink dad, your conversation really went that way?
Son, are you ready to come sit with us and eat? It is of my opinion that you will enjoy it.
Father, could you change the channel?
Is there something in this scene depicting copulation between man and wife that you find uncomfortable to watch with me? Son, you can always talk to me
OT: I've no idea about 2. But yeah it clears my mind. I sometimes load up an audibook and play sc2 without ingame sound while listening, shuts me off completely.
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On November 08 2011 02:08 sc2holar wrote:I think this could also explain the whole ragequit phenomenom and why people get so upset about losing. its not the game that creates this anger, we already carry around these feelings of repressed anger, and the game is just a trigger that opens the vault of repressed emotions. So dont feel guilty or weak for getting upset when you lose to a stupid cheese, be happy that you have found an outlet for those emotions
Nah. I dont think that it does not create those emotions. SC2/BW makes me really angry sometimes, I dont think those feelings are coming from something else.
Ans why should I feel "guilty or weak for getting upset when you lose to a stupid cheese"? Those are normal feelings, but acting like a prick because of it does not excuse your behavior.
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On November 08 2011 02:19 Hardigan wrote:
I think it is the opposite: It creates additional anger.
At least for me it really doesn't feel like an outlet.
i fully agree, it is not like you let out your frustration from your day job or whatever.
not angry - play game - get cheesed - get angry
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I don't think so. Must of those angry nerd is angry because they are bad at starcraft2 thins is not repressed anger. This is my opinion at least. Maybe I'm wrong :\
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a) your father b) a shrink (and you actually call him that?) [edit: not american] approve of you doing something that makes you almost lose control of yourself?
As to your question; I don't believe most people have repressed anger... If they did, perhaps sc2 (if it did actually make those individuals angry) could be an outlet.
IMO, most people use video games as escapes (occupies their mind fully so they don't have to think about/focus on the hardships of life - avoidance iirc). Also, I think if you're getting to the point of breaking stuff (not you, but there's a thread about that) you probably should reevaluate your priorities and learn more self control (and/or how to stop cheese).
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Just about any game can be an outlet for aggression, SC2 is no different from CoD in that regard.
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after 16 years of pc gaming, what I can say is:
1- Yes it occupies your mind, that's true but the result is the numbing. When you come back to real world and your problems, you will have a big rush of bad feelings when you face them. So from my experience, yes it clears your mind from stressful thoughts but you will have to eventually face that thoughts, this is just a way to delay, make it easier, like alcohol or sports.
2- I agree 100%, so true. The people, choosing to play PC games or sth else, to stay away from stressful thoughts, have generally have repressed anger, most of the time, it can be about family, other unfortunate things in life etc. But I think it doesn't generate additional anger, it's just pushing your repressed anger to surface. If you observe, most of the time people with happy life, don't rage over SC2, they say "ah whatever". If you have repressed anger, for anything else, it surfaces here. Getting cheesed is just an excuse. Note: I am exluding professional sc2 players from the last sentence who are earning their bread by playing starcraft 2.
That's my thought...
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On November 08 2011 02:27 eccokk wrote:Show nested quote +On November 08 2011 02:19 Hardigan wrote:
I think it is the opposite: It creates additional anger.
At least for me it really doesn't feel like an outlet. i fully agree, it is not like you let out your frustration from your day job or whatever. not angry - play game - get cheesed - get angry
the idea is that you, during your childhood/life build up an amount of repressed anger that constantly affects your life and personality, but because it is REPRESSED you will not feel angry. It is impossible to feel this anger, since it has been stuffed away deep inside of your subconscious. It can, however, act out in other ways and cause personality disorders, obsessions and other forms of destructive behaviour.
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Point 2 is in fact related to psychoanalysis. What you talk about is called catharsis ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharsis ), but it is only a theory and not sufficiently proven yet. So as good as an idea it sounds, it's merely a theory and that's why I don't agree with you.
(Even more so because you can only let steam off if you win, as losing only creates more anger, and battlenet makes sure you have about 50:50 win ratio...)
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It doesn't really take away any stress since it at least in my case can often generate stress (not lasting after I've stopped playing), laddering 1v1 isn't a very peaceful experience. I'm not to sure of it being a good outlet for anger either.
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I think the flaw here is assuming that you have a finite amount of anger you carry around and raging at your opponents in SC2 removes this anger. It might be the case that SC2 creates anger that wouldn't otherwise exist. Perhaps the expression of anger in a safe environment could be therapeutic in some situations, but if you already have anger issues playing SC2 may just exacerbate the problem.
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Actually, every game let's you think about something else than reality for a little while. And it's helpful if you're dealing with a lot of problems in your life. I am suffering from depression now and it helps A LOT to be interested in something, so I can focus on playing, watching tournaments, replays, analyzing my games, making up builds etc.
About the anger part - it really depends... SC2 can generate stress in more doses than actually taking it away, but if you manage to win a match after a losing streak or after a really long, tiring game, the satisfaction and 'in your face' feeling you get is pretty amazing. You do feel like you've accomplished something no matter how many times you've lost.
That's how I see it, anyways.
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EPT
