Gaming as a coping tool?

[byteblock]

When I look back at what I've endured over the years the one bright spot has been gaming. I'm not totally endorsing it(makes you more withdrawn technically) but it gets your mind off everything around you but doesn't screw up your body like drugs. Whenever I had nothing to look forward to I could anticipate a game and it has made life tolerable to keep going regardless of how bad things got. The only downside now is I find it difficult to have fun when I'm not playing videogames.

 

[Flax]

I somewhat blame gaming for making me how I am. I isolated myself in my room and played games all the time as a teenager. It did keep me out of trouble though, I never got chicks pregnant, I didn't do any drugs or anything bad. My problem now is that I have lost interest in video games and all my other interests that used to keep me busy. So now I go on random websites and rarely enjoy myself. I find myself going on websites not really enjoying myself and watching television programs that aren't interesting at all. Sometimes I think about unplugging both and putting them in boxes in another room so it forces me to figure out something else to do. Yah know what... I think I might do that. I'll post again if I decide to.

 

[Yossarian]

Yeah I find gaming helps. But this is like anything that you can lose yourself in like books, music etc. It does you good to take your mind off things now and again. Also having interests in life can give positive experiences to counteract the negative. There is nothing like fun to make you feel good. Of course like other hobbies there is a danger of neglecting the more important things in life and not just socialising either.

As for losing interest in things you used to enjoy, it could be depression or just your interests change naturally as we grow older and change ourselves. Like music, I don't listen to what I did as a teenager anymore because I'm a different person and have different thoughts, feelings and tastes.

One thing I enjoy about games is there are usually clear objectives to be achieved. I like this as more subjective activities like painting which can be therapeutic mostly lead to frustration as perfection can never be accomplished and thus always open to criticism. Ho hum.

 

[Anonymous]

yep i use gaming too much.dunno if it led to my SA tho.

 

[LonelyDude]

Gaming

I play chess on the internet for hours each day. To be honest, I've grown to hate chess with a passion, but I'm addicted to it because it's something I'm good at. I play the same people every night, and for some reason I find it easy to tell them about all my problems. I guess they're the closest things I have to an ongoing relationship.

 

[LilMissTragic]

Online gaming is a good way of communicating with people with similar interests i reckon. I myself am a chat room fiend. I find my whole personality comes out and i dont really care what people think of me cause i dont have to see them...lol.

 

[Crimefish]

I don't game that much. Every week or so I spend all day playing Resident Evil, and I spend most of the rest of the time doing anything else that doesn't involve leaving the house or talking to people. I'm in no way bored. It's not "healthy" but when is mental illness healthy.

 

[Jordan]

Interesting thread, thank Byteblock for starting it!

I've also been a fan of games all my life along. Especially solo, pretending to be the other players - and occasionally getting disappinted at the wrong copy of myself. Of course, with computers it became easy, having AI-controlled opponents.

Together with reading and daydreaming, gaming has always been a way to get some relief and pleasure. It's an alternative reality, where I somewhat am more alive than in what you might call the real world. Negative feelings appear but are easier to manage. It is rare, for instance, that a pack of nasty aliens jump out from your computer and taunt you all together.

What about changing interests, it could be subjective. Since I was a kid, I used to be obsessed with a game (such as chess or cards or board games) in a certain time frame, then drop it with no apparent reason. Some time later, I returned there, and did it again. No matter of special events, it was like I was "done". It's a trait of me, and didn't wear off with the time.

 

[Anonymous]

i like game, computer game, playstation game, i can spent all day playing game.

 

[Horatio]

Yes this is a great topic!

Personally I have used gaming as a coping tool through different stages of my life. Im 22 now and kinda growing out of it but there is still a few games that I love to play, especially online games where a little bit of interaction is involved.

I use the internet a lot for other things too, chatrooms, forums, surfing and researching etc. And I do think its a kind of escape from reality tool. I often wonder what life would be like growing up with socialphobia before the internet was around, I mean I honestly dont know what I would do without it!

So yeah, gaming is a coping tool that helps us escape from reality, but so are books, movies etc which I also use a lot.

 

[Anonymous]

I used games as a coping tool in the past, but now i think that it made my SA even worse. It made me more withdrawn from society. So now when im studying i don’t play games anymore.
Games aren’t a good coping tool. They change your mood for some time. but they don’t get you any closer to solving your problems. You don’t confront your problems but you escape from them.