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Games are constantly denounced in the news for the rise of obesity or psychotic behaviour in youth. Across all media we’ve been trained to see gamers as lazy, unloved gross creatures usually hiding in their parents’ basements until their next LARP. But have you ever stopped to consider how your life has benefited from your growing game library? That perhaps those 200+ hours logged into Fallout 3 have made you a happier person? Although it’s unlikely to see this kind of article as a Fox News headline, there is research which supports the idea that video games can help with physical and mental illnesses including cancer, diabetes, depression, and autism. From personal experience I can vouch for video games as being crucial in helping my own anxiety and depression, and I wanted to share some reasons why.
The Heroism
This is no time to sulk, Dovahkiin. The dragonblood running through your veins urges you to defeat Alduin and has no time for another pint of peanut butter ice cream to cope with daily pressures. The allure of modern day RPGs is that regardless of whether the decisions you make on your quests are morally sound, you’ll always be the hero of the world you create around you and this is ideal for the emotionally drained gamer. While your real life world feels like it’s falling apart, the pixelated world depends on you to keep moving forward and ceases to exist when you put the controllers down. Even the casual gamers who enjoy Wii Fit games have their own cheerleading squad and sidekicks to boost confidence during workouts that is hard to find in a gym filled with judging eyes or intimidating advanced athletes. My depression go-to is The Ocarina of Time. Not only did I grow up with it, but I really feel for Link as he struggles to be the Hero of Time while still remaining an innocent, almost naïve spirit. The sound design is soothing and the combat at this point is second nature, combining both relaxing tunes and familiar environments to calm me down.
The Feels
After heartbreak, panic attacks and pity parties sometimes the best medicine is more misery. Invite it over for a cup of tea and bourbon while you drag your soul further down the depressing path of Limbo, A Cart Life, and The Walking Dead. The overwhelming senses in response could be a deep catharsis while you pour over every character you meet and step you take in the games. You really begin to care for each aspect of these games, and you may even need to pause your progress just to think in silence for a few minutes. For a big case of “the feels,” I prefer Silent Hill 2. It’s more scary than depressing, but depending on the decisions you make throughout the story you can transform James Sunderland from becoming a psychological Pyramid Head to free him from his personal (and physical) demons. Hell, you may even have an adopted daughter by the end of the game if you play your cards right. It’s a kind of renewal of the self, if you will, and in a way you are your own personal saviour in the game.
The Absurdity
Philosopher Albert Camus defines the human condition as absurd. On the one hand we want to be significant and know the meaning of life, and yet we are confronted with the cold facts of the universe that often don’t synch up with these desires. Camus suggests there are ways for humans to deal with the absurd: to commit suicide, to seek divine intervention, or to simply embrace it. When I embrace the absurdity of my own dwindling mental condition(s), I look to the Noby Noby Boy’s and the Don't Shit Your Pants's of the gaming world. I play hours of Borderlands 2 to indulge in the mind-numbing fun of dubstep and flutter my butterfly to the theme song of LocoRoco Cocoreccho until I can't get the tune out of my head (or nightmares). This is where the XBLA comes in handy and hundreds of indie games can help you escape your reality without thinking too much about the game you’re playing at the same time.
What do you think about video games as a means to help improve physical and mental conditions? Do you have your own personal games to help you through the rough times?
Comments
11 years, 2 months ago
I certainly would have gone insane a long time ago if I didn't have video games. I don't think I have a particular game I fall back on, but anything with a more cheery or upbeat mood helps when I need it.
11 years, 2 months ago
SPOILERS BELOW
Vibrancy: DMC3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6YMXXutxI8
Finality: MGS4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_lIdiMM0Tc
Resolution: Bastion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TSpJkkm1vg
Humanity: WC3: Reigns of Chaos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC_SZToF82U
There are many more, but those were on the top of my head that literally left a mark that I think only gaming could leave.
11 years, 2 months ago
I feel like since video games are just like any other form of entertainment that it is a given that they will be used as a way for people to loosen up and get over their anxieties for a little while. I have minor anxiety and have found that the only times that I have actually had panic attacks has been when I did not have at least some access to video games for long periods of time though. Also might I add that video games have never locked me into my lockers or called me names. That is nice too.
11 years, 2 months ago
I remember getting away from the stress of my university dissertation by playing an hour or two of Crackdown. Worked every time. More recently, Fez helped me escape from the problems I was having with an incredibly stressful job I had last year. Even though it was a short game, it was so engaging that I turned it on as soon as I got home and lost myself in it for hours at a time.
11 years, 2 months ago
Video Games have always helped me out at so many rough points in my life. Whether it be forming some sort of emotional attachment to a character, needing to feel the sense of heroism, or just playing because I sadly have nothing better to do in my life, it is always there for me.
11 years, 2 months ago
Never thought I'd see Camus mentioned on this site.
11 years, 2 months ago
I mostly play video games as a hobby, music was more of my way coping with stress back in high school. I really want to make video games since its something I love to do and there really isn't any other occupation I want to be in. 99% of the people I know play video games, in some more than others, and I feel having conversations about video games has helped me in making those social links.
11 years, 2 months ago
Games seem to exacerbate my anxiety. I feel guilty when I play them stressed-out; I feel like I should be doing something more constructive. So I sleep away my problems instead :P
11 years, 2 months ago
As a small white girl who is nothing but ordinary, I love the sense of power playing games gives me. Maybe I have some fucked up complex, but having the ability to wield magic, save worlds, talk to dragons, etc, makes me feel good. It makes me feel like I'm making a difference, even if it's fictional. I try to avoid that "gamer" stereotype; I have friends, I got out, I go to the gym, I work, I go to school. Video games aren't my entire life, but they certainly make it better.
11 years, 2 months ago
I honestly deal with moral dilemmas more often than not with branching internal monologue in the voice of Max Payne. His admittance of personal sins along with the bone-breaking cynical sarcasm makes you feel, for one, like a badass, and two, like the problem can be solved if you figure out where the shady, corrupt, slimy exit is.
11 years, 2 months ago
I really go for the games I can play for hours on end, typically RPGs. But as life goes on, I have less time to sit back and play games so I have to go for shorter rounds or the occasional set-aside time to log a few consecutive hours or so. Really, it's a way to relax. If they make me happier, it's because I'm having fun doing some dumb funny thing or whatever.
11 years, 2 months ago
Videogames (specifically FFXI) helped me develop organizational skills which transferred to what I'm doing now with music. I started looking at my life like an RPG.
Shows are boss battles, each day of practice I put mental points into drumming. Everytime I can do something new on drums/guitar/vocals I level up. In FFXI I had to put together parties, find camping locations and manage the group. In life I have to put together shows, find places to play and help manage the group.
I look at the career path, set goals accordingly and see them as quests.
I also play games to enjoy, escape and zone out but there are defintely some real world skills that can be taken from certain videogames.
11 years, 2 months ago
"..while still remaining an innocent, almost naïve spirit." Got me right there in the feels. I felt that in majoras mask so much, it helped me to get through a rough time (played it 2 years ago for the first time, best timing ever). We all have to be "grown up" nowadays, be adult, do this and do that. I really felt that message in the game even if its very metaphorical.
At the end of the day (majoras mask pun) we're all just wearing masks, because deep inside we're still a child exploring and learning from the world.
Still vulnerable but full of curiosity and seeking the interpersonal connections.
It's easy to show your "fun" side and "happy" moments nowadays with facebook and the internet where everyone can hide and be someone else, but in video games you will be confronted with your feelings and problems in a subconscious way.
The decisions you make are the descisions you are. If virtual or real.
11 years, 2 months ago
God only knows where I would be without my gamez. I've always used them as an escape. I'm going through a lot these days and video games still help me out a lot. Not only do they make me feel less depressed, but also relaxed.
Oh and that Don't Shit Your Pants game made my day.
11 years, 2 months ago
I think it's safe to say that any community member of this site has had their lives effected by video games in some way. It's so unfortunate that video games and gamers are targets of the media who report on a subject they clearly know nothing about. Some people still see gamers in a negative light which is unfortunate but I know with time that will change for the better. Video games allow us to do those things we dreamed of doing as a child. Fighting dragons, exploring caves, commanding an army, befriending a magical creature, and whatever you can imagine is out there in some video game. There are several games I could go back and play for hours on end because they have been tied to great memories of the past, usually involving being with friends. I have a couple of vivid memories from the past involving video games that I doubt I'll ever forget. I got a leather jacket for Christmas one year and I also got Kingdom Hearts; I cannot put on that jacket, smelling the leather, and not think about playing Kingdom Hearts for the first time. I can still remember light up an incense stick, turning off the lights, sitting in my papasan chair, and playing Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow like it was yesterday. Man, I really wanna play some video games now...
11 years, 2 months ago
I feel like some games have helped me in every way in life. Like just recently I actually used a few lines from Mass Effect to kind of help me out of a situation with a friend of mine. And having the mindset of what would a badass hero might say when i'm in that kind of a situation right now, what would he say to keep the people calm and rally them to keep their spirits up. Or to read the person and maybe try and use a recent piece of knowledge or a observation and try using that with my line of argument more commonly than I did before playing the Mass Effect series. And sometimes I go to my older brother and ask him something and he commonly replies he still needs to check the calibrations.
10 years, 9 months ago
I always had problems identifying myself with my peers. I had friends but we didn't share many hobbies, certainly no one liked gaming as much or as deeply as I did or do. So, also a fan of literature, gaming became the gateway to new, rich worlds, far away from my unsatisfactory reality. Games helped me have a clear purpose, even if it was only for a couple of days, for a week, or a few hours.
To this day, it's a hobby I enjoy by myself. Playing mostly single player games gives me that escapist fix. It gives me the chance to travel to another reality and see a new world, through different eyes and with a different goal. It makes me appreciate the different aspects and perspectives of life.
As for what game helps to cope with rough times, I'd say the intense frenzy of Killing Floor always helps to forget any pain or sadness in the face of inevitable death. Nothing like hearing the growl of a Flesh Pound to forget everything and focus your every thought on how to kill the bastard as soon as possible. And if you hear more than one, how to avoid making a mess after you soil your pants.