Gaming as a form of Therapy

October 11, Michael Elias

Today, Saturday on October 10, is World Mental Health Day. To commemorate the occasion, I chose to focus on a WOW initiative related to mental health. I chose the following topic due to it also related to one of my favorite pastime hobbies, video games. Video games have a natural stigma behind them as they are seen by many parents and peers as a waste of time. Although this is of course true, there is no reason why gaming is any more of a waste of time than other forms of entertainment. Reading and watching films and being on social media also do not accomplish anything, but they are not stigmatized nearly as bad as video games. It can be argued that reading provides literary benefits to readers, films can provide creative intuition, and social media can improve social interactions, but video games typically are seen as having zero benefits. In reality, video games can have benefits as well, but they are more complicated to measure the results. Video games can increase depth perception, doordination, and overall everyday skills in a pure virtual setting - This can lead to people doing tasks that are limited by daylight or physical capabilities whenever they want! This is a big deal, but most people focus on the fact that whatever is accomplished is virtual. Instead of thinking about what isn’t gained due to it being on a screen, more people should consider what is actually gained from being able to do anything on the screen instead. Even with this fact, I think many gamers are stigmatized because of the fact that a lot of them suffer from issues related to mental health. This has the misconception of being because video games cause these mental health issues, but the reality is more that it attracts those with these issues. And the reason for this is because gaming is a passive form for them to distract themselves from these issues, or even to help them work out their issues. https://youtu.be/T_iWgBpRCPo In video games, a person can be whoever they want - separate from their own real life in the outside world. In a game, there are no real “risks” involved because at the end of the day, you can turn off your gaming device and go to sleep and return to your real life the next day. This provides a nice break from the real world to allow for time to literally breath and relax. It should be noted though, however, that if someone has severe mental health or just generally are not “self-medicating” properly through video game usage (like playing too many video games) then this behavior can be a problem. This is the same for any hobby, but in this case, it happens to be in a virtual world that a person can access at any time which makes it even more dangerous if not managed. With this in mind, there was a campaign released by The Community New York by directly addressing mental health through the unconventional method of gaming. This campaign is a collaboration between the Esports company Skillshot and the mental health organization Rise Above the Disorder (RAD) where gamers are invited to have a therapist provide them with a therapy session while they are playing a game. This game is actually a game between the therapist and the the gamer themselves where they play a match while the gamer shares their issues related to the real world while they game together. The CEO of RAD, Jason Docton, has experienced issues with mental health in the past, which made him create Anxiety Gaming which was the organization that eventually became RAD today. “Gaming has always been a home to me,” he said in a statement. “It’s where I met the greatest friends I’ve ever known, where I turned when I felt my anxiety and depression were becoming too much to endure. Teaming up on Gamer Therapy to bring healing to our community is an incredible honor and privilege. I’ve always believed in the ability of gaming to change and even save lives. Today, we’re sharing that with the world. The Skillshot CEO and Founder Todd Harris also shared his thoughts. “Some people also play games to self-medicate and better cope with anxiety, stress, and depression, especially during this pandemic. We’ve seen casual gamers, pro e-sports players and streamers all struggle with mental health.We know gaming can be a positive force for making the world a better place.”