Fighting Everyday Life Issues with Gaming

I would consider myself a “gamer.” Therefore, the article “How Video Games Can Teach Your Brain to Fight Depression,” written by Jane McGonigal, is very relatable. Not only did I enjoy this article, but I found it very helpful for myself, and close ones. Specifically, my 15-year-old, little brother. He has always struggled with anxiety, and being a freshman in high school, his anxiety has been at all-time high. This anxiety, is due to all the things he has to balance in everyday life, being his two hockey teams, school work, social life, family, and much more.

I love the idea that video games can help depression. I agree, it can be a very powerful tool if used the right way. Jane McGonigal describes how “play is the opposite of depression.” Further stating, “most people tend to experience stronger self-confidence, increase physical energy, and power positive emotions, like curiosity and excitement, during play,” being the perfect contrast to depression. Studies show that two regions of the brain are consistently stimulated when playing video games: “the region most associated with motivation and goal-orientation, and the region most associated with learning and memory.” Personally, I can attest, while playing video games, I am focused on certain goals, that motivate me the same way I am motivated to score goals in a hockey game or practice. I relate those two activities because hockey is where I can, healthily escape my everyday issues. I can go to a hockey practice for two hours, forget about everything else, and work on getting better at something I love. It is the perfect, regulated break for me, before I go back to the school work grind. This leads me to the next part of the article and the reason I mentioned my brother earlier in the blog.

Excessively playing video games to ignore issues causing stress, is very unhealthy. My dad has always been so against my brother playing video games, because he has the tendency to go on binges for hours and hours at a time. I understand where he is coming from, but as it explains in the article, playing video games can be regulated, in that sense, just like practicing hockey has been regulated. One must want to do other things, other than playing video games, to make it a healthy activity. The reason I worry about my brother playing, was explained to a tee in the article, “many depressed players are actually attempting to self-medicate with games.” McGonigal goes on to explain, “they experience a dramatic sense of relief from their symptoms while playing, and therefore, the more depressed they feel, the more they play.” My dad, being the smart man he is, realizes why my brother goes on these binges. If my brother’s grades are slacking, or he is disrespectful after playing, my dad simply grounds him from the Xbox. After reading McGonigal’s ideas about how to handle this situation better, I emailed my dad the link of this article, and told him to read with an open mind.

My dad was explained perfectly in the article. “Well- meaning parents, spouses and educators make the situation worse by admonishing gamers to ‘put down the game and do something real,’ or to ‘stop wasting so much time.’” I have heard those exact words come out of his mouth. While, I know he means well, this actually makes my brother even more depressed and anxious, making him want to game even more, and escape those everyday life issues. Instead of just grounding my brother from playing, I hope my dad can see how taking a different approach may be helpful. I want him to follow the script mentioned at the end of the article, give or take a few of the questions, that I know, would set my brother off. My dad could ask, “what makes this game hard?” “What skills or abilities do you need to be good at this game?” Lastly, I would love to see my brother and dad play Call of Duty together, and I truly believe this would be beneficial in helping their relationship. I want my dad to ask him if he can play with him. That way, even if it doesn’t help my brother’s grades, they can become closer through this experience, and we could have a good time laughing at my dad’s attempt to play Xbox. Now, that would be a sight to see.

McGonigal, J. (2015, November 09). How Video Games Can Teach Your Brain to Fight Depression. Retrieved November 14, 2017, from http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2015/11/how_video_games_can_teach_your_brain_to_fight_depression.html