caseyy
6 hours ago
Video games are an excellent distraction to break up invasive thought patterns, too. There are several methods to use distractions that therapists tailor to their clients.
This is part of why I work in the games industry, grandstanding as it may sound. Games have helped me deal with complex PTSD at a point in my life. It is important to do the other work and not just rely on distraction as forever.
But distractions give you breathing room and some space away from invasive thoughts. The trauma can then begin to heal.
bigfatfrock
4 hours ago
That's a highly compassionate reason to get into an industry, bravo.
Is there a specific type of game you found healing, or especially one that you prefer to create for such a purpose?
I personally strangely find a mix of 'brain turn off' games such as ARPGs healing but then can also find great peace in crushing my brain through another Factorio run.
lnxg33k1
3 hours ago
I have no PTSD, but I recently lost my job, and while I am looking for another one I decided to use the time off in order to stop smoking, so far it's been a bit more than 3 weeks, and I think it's been the period I've been playing the most videogames since high school, it is really useful to overcome temporary cravings by doing something that doesn't require much mental efforts but still keeps the mind busy to don't think about smoking, every day I am suffering less and less, and I think without videogames it would have been much harder.
Keep in mind, I'm 37 years old and have smoked since I was 13
dbrueck
an hour ago
This is so cool! From one random internet person to another: you can do it!
j45
3 hours ago
Don’t worry about grandstanding, it’s not.
It’s good to have found an angle that you care about and can apply yourself to.
This is a really nice way of explaining it and I didn’t consider it before despite being a very heavy gamer at one point.