Video Game as Tonic

[splatstick]

Apparently video games aren't the Antichrist, at least, not entirely. (http://www.abcmoney.co.uk/news/172005460.htm)

LONDON: Video games, contrary to popular belief that they create aggressive behaviour, can ease pain, distract patients under chemotherapy and even help them to develop dexterity, according to an expert.
...patients with arm injuries can use the games to increase strength and dexterity, while children with learning disabilities can play them to develop spatial ability. The games can also help children with attention deficit disorders gain social skills.

Nothing makes me feel better than a little old school Metroid, fo' sho'.

[mkelehan]

I hurt my leg a while ago. Now that the pain has gone down, I'm using DDR as poor man's physical therapy.

[TrackZero]

Gaming for sick kids is definitely a good thing. I mean, you can sit around hoping you get better, or you can play a game with some fun, positive goals that you can achieve. Distracts the mind and keeps the spirits up.

[stomper1080]

I'm glad the media has finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel.

[Varsity]

I'm glad the media has finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel.
Don't hold your breath.

[kwillhan]

Kind of a wasted sentiment. I mean, for everything they say video games do, a book does the same thing. Same with playing with yourself. Or watching a movie. Or going for a walk.

Not trying to be negative, but, video games don't help people get happier.

And they totally had to have the people playing Mario. I doubt they had the 'examples' playing Mortal Kombat.

You all ever got to that one dude on the single player ladder in Mortal Kombat that is cheating? The one that you have to fight like fifty times to beat? F that Guy! He'd inspire violent tendenies in any chemo patient.

kel

[stomper1080]

He said patients with arm injuries can use the games to increase strength and dexterity

And I always thought that video games reduced hand eye co-ordination and dexterity?

[abso]

Sensationalism gets ratings. Science (on its own) does not. Video games being used for anything positive just isn't as dramatic as them being used for something negative. Frankly, positive stories don't get ratings, so good luck finding media that will embrace that. Studies have shown video games to be a positive treatment for several phobias, but you won't ever hear that on the news because it won't get ratings.

[Deadend]

Games can be relaxing, until you get to an area designed to piss you off. Such as what kwillhan mentioned.

Modded versions of Katamari Damaci may be good for therapy, just increase the time limit and its good.

[BigJonno]

Kind of a wasted sentiment. I mean, for everything they say video games do, a book does the same thing. Same with playing with yourself. Or watching a movie. Or going for a walk.

Not true, apart from the physical benefits (and I know from personal experience that videogames increase hand-eye coordination and manual dexterity. Overall I'm the clumsiest guy in the world, but when it comes to hand-eye and fine manipulation I'm as sharp as anything,) videogames are interactive and rewarding. Books and movies are linear, non-interactive forms of entertainment and cannot provide the same positive motivation and encouragement that videogames do.

My youngest sister has Down's Syndrome and there are countless pieces of research that say the videogames are good for the development of kids with DS and I've seen the benefit first hand. She just doesn't get the same experience from movies or books.

[XxSATANxX]

2 years ago I was diagnosed with Brain Cancer. I had surgery and chemo. It affected my motor skills to some degree. I had trouble with games. I spent time getting myself back. After a time I was kicking some ass on UT 2004. Most certainly it had a direct effect on bringing me back. There is not much they can do to make Chemo feel
any better. Having something you can throw yourself into helps alot.

I get scanned now every six months and I am 100% clear for now. I just want a game where I get injected into a brain and fly aroound killing cancer cells!!

[TheKeck]

I wrote a paper on this a while back for my Computers in Society class. There are actually several studies that show that video games can have many positive effects. Of course, as many have already mentioned, these things don't make very good news for most people, and so they get downplayed. My favorite was video game use to treat ADD. They connect an EKG machine, (or whatever it is), to the kid to measure their brain waves. When they are using the "bad" kind of brain waves, (I believe they were alpha, but again not sure), the controls to the video game would get sluggish and unresponsive. When they were use the "good" kind of waves, (here I think it is beta), the controls acted just fine. This teaches the children how to control the kind of brain patterns they use as they attempt to do well in the game.

It turns out that they had systems like this before video games where they had to make an electronic bar reach its full height or something like that. They work on the same principle, but this study said the video game method was more effective simply because the kids enjoyed it more and stuck with it better.

[Justin_McElroy]

XxSATANxX, your wish is granted, long live Jambi:

http://www.makewish.org/site/pp.asp?c=bdJLITMAE&b=81924

Love,

Justin

[mister_slim]

Kind of a wasted sentiment. I mean, for everything they say video games do, a book does the same thing. Same with playing with yourself. Or watching a movie. Or going for a walk.

Not really true. Pokemon, for example, is very number heavy. Someone playing it is probably exercising math and logic skills that none of your examples require. Am I interested in remember every relevant detail about 400+ pokemon? No. Am I impressed if some kid can? Yes, that's a lot of information to remember and process.

[fndarkone]

I've had anxiety disorder for a while and I've found that FPS games are a good therapy. They provide an intesnse situation that can induce anxiety and the goal is to concentrate on the situation and stay in control. It's a very controlled situation and I never experience intense anxiety. but that little bit of anxiety is good practice for the real thing.

I'm not self-medicating with BF2, but I find that it's a good addition to the scientificly verified therapy i actually go through.

Id like to see a study of people with anxiety or panic disorders using computer games that provide intense stimulation and how those "controlled-intense" situations affect therapy for the disorder.

[Eon]

I want to subscribe to the Agony aunt column that begins a letter with;

"Dear Satan, your wish is granted!"

Sorry - topic derailment, I know. For what it's worth and in a vain attempt to justify my existence in this topic, it's believed that after a generation of video gaming, most teens now would ace the WWII motor skills and eye/hand coordination testing, the stuff that used to give people all that trouble back in the forties.

Of course they're not as fit, but their reflexes are better.

[XxSATANxX]

Justin:

Thanks for that!

Eon:

Too damn funny!

[mister_slim]

Sorry - topic derailment, I know. For what it's worth and in a vain attempt to justify my existence in this topic, it's believed that after a generation of video gaming, most teens now would ace the WWII motor skills and eye/hand coordination testing, the stuff that used to give people all that trouble back in the forties.

Of course they're not as fit, but their reflexes are better.
We'd probably fail the reading test though.

[splatstick]

Hah... funny, yet true.
Ever picked up one of those collections of Civil War letters from soldiers to loved ones? They are absolutely eloquent. A hundred years from now, someone will flip through the letters from soldiers today that say something like:
Dear Jan,
I miss youre smilling and saying funny things all the time. I really really miss you. Please don't get pregenent while I'm gone.
P.S. Send pictures of youre boobies.