Video Games as Emotional Therapy?

I haven’t posted in a while. I admit I have an erratic posting schedule, but there’s a reason for the hiatus. In September, my grandmother (who has been with me since I can remember), passed away. I sunk into a huge depression.

Some people drown their sorrows in alcohol, or chocolate, or ice cream, or shopping. Me, I prefer to wallow in the form of extensive video gaming. Some say that this is unhealthy because it’s anti-social; they would say it’s healthier to surround yourself with friends.

But what if my friends don’t know what I want? What if they don’t care about what I want even after I tell them? That means I have very little patience with these interactions. Given my volatile mood, I believe it’s best if I retreat into my room in an effort to spare them any explosive emotional turmoil. This way I can keep my toxic feelings in check and indulge in gaming, which makes me happy. I acknowledge that this is temporary because I would miss my friends and love them, but I don’t know how long it would take for me to snap out of it.

Sometimes I find tediousness comforting, and that’s why I turn to single-player video games for therapy:

• I can be in control (within the game’s story and boundary of course!)
• The life in game might be better than real life
• I know the rules and what can be done to advance
• I can undo/I have a savepoint/I can resurrect
• I can consult gameFAQs if I’m lost
• If the game is good, I’m distracted from the real world
• If the game is bad, I can choose to move on
• If I don’t want to risk a bad game, I can replay an old game I know will bring back good memories

The binge gaming I’m referring to is when I play until 3am, crawl into bed, crawl out of bed to go to work exhausted, come back home, rinse and repeat. I would take some time off of work just to play. When you’re grieving, you want relief to take away from the pain.

Right now I realize, life is short, and you should do what makes you happy (without harming others! Don’t steal and stuff!) Why must I be productive every waking hour of the day? Posting in this blog was one of the first things I neglected to do.

Here are some articles I found about the stress busting and therapeutic effects of video games.

That said, everything in moderation (including moderation). On the flip side, I also believe that some games can cause stress and depression, but that’s another post for another day.

What do you do when you’re depressed? Do you also find comfort in video games? Do you think this is a bad idea?