One day I was looking at my phone and realized that I had so many puzzle and word solving games on there. I thought to myself that’s a bit weird since I never really liked those a few years ago. That's when I connected the dots a realized when I'm having an episode or a terrible panic attack, I tend to go straight to my phone to play these games to calm me down - or at least take my mind off of the darkness in my mind for a few minutes. As someone with PTSD among a whole truckload of other things, it’s sometimes hard to find things that can help during a bad time without going to drinking and drugs. Because of my realization, I wanted to see if there was anything that could back up my thought of games being able to help.
In my search, I discovered a study in Molecular Psychiatry, where researchers found 71 patients at a hospital in Oxford, UK, who had either experienced or witnessed a motor vehicle accident. These hospitalized patients were asked to write down any intrusive—that is, unwanted, uncontrollable, and typically frightening—thoughts, whenever they occurred. Of those patients, 37 of them were also asked to play Tetris on a Nintendo DS. A week later, Tetris players logged flashbacks 8.7 times during the week. The activity-logging group reported an average of 23.3 upsetting flashbacks. A cognitive bait may disrupt the forming of memories from short term to long term (memory consolidation) and switch These insights suggest that engaging in cognitive tasks with high visuospatial demands during the time window of trauma memory consolidation may reduce the occurrence of subsequent intrusive visual memories of trauma. Another study showed that puzzle games could diminish the intensity of cravings and help players fight off real-life dependencies. A university study revealed a 24 percent reduction in desire for their vice of choice after playing a puzzle game.
Gamers are sometimes stigmatized as being too insulated, but the opposite is actually true. The rise of multi-player experiences online has given way to a new form of socializing in which players work together to solve problems. But studies have shown games can also be the catalyst for friends to gather in person: roughly 70 percent of all players play with friends at least some of the time.
Another study called, “the mediating effect of gaming motivation between psychiatric symptoms and problematic online gaming: an online survey,” set out to explore the link between trauma, distress, and problematic online gaming – a term that has been used to describe gaming addiction. They also investigated whether there were any factors about the player that could be protective against gaming addiction or make gaming addiction worse. These factors included the type of game played, gender, and the motivation for playing the games. They surveyed over 3000 people – 90% of them identified as male. They almost exclusively investigated MMORPGs. They found that in players who had high levels of distress, playing for escape and playing for the competition was more likely to be associated with gaming addiction. These players were able to use games to reduce levels of stress and anxiety without it becoming problematic.
Even though video games had helped me get through rough times (especially when I discovered Call of Duty and the joy I get from shooting zombie and hackers), it's imperative to take care of yourself in other ways. Like cooking a meal or making a fantastic snack. Get some sleep and don't push yourself to do things if the time isn't right because all its going to do is put you back further than where you stand now.
Commentaires