Therapy in Game Form

An anonymous reader writes "That's right, playing PC and video games can be good for you, according to this article on BusinessWeek Online. The article talks about games that can help people improve their self-esteem, fight phobias and ADD." There's obviously some biofeedback hardware involved with the games mentioned, but sadly there's no pictures with the story. It's also probably safe to assume that such games won't be coming to an arcade anytime soon.

Comments

OCD

[Jane_the_Great]

Games can also be enables of health problems. For instance, a person with OCD may thrive in a MMORPG where the best players are the ones who play the most and go on the most quests. Clicking repeatedly to kill monsters will appeal quite a bit to those with a disorder like that. I've also noticed that games such as The Sims can also enable people with mental health disorders to further their behavior. Rearranging furniture, building and rebuilding over and over, et cetera, all seem like activities someone with an OCD-type disorder would enjoy. Better than playing these games, people with these disorders should try to seek help for the problem rather than just moving it into a different medium than real life.

Of course, games, like most forms of entertainment, can be a great stress reliever. But all things in moderation.

Re:OCD

[Anonymous Coward]

I have OCD.

And I partly agree with you, a person who has OCD could have an obsession over rearranging furnature in "The Sims" for example, but if they didn't have the game, they'd just rearrange it in real life, or develop another obsession. It's not as if you get rid of the disorder as soon as you get rid of what they can obsess over.

After I stopped a praying obsession, it became small things, like standing on one foot while the microwave was on, washing my hands in a certain way, walking around the table in a specific pattern.

Games are not the problem, OCD is. And if you act out these things in real life or a game is irrelevant, you still need help.