As far back as I can remember there has always been some sort of gaming medium in my household. When I was younger, there were educational games like Carmen Sandiego that I played on the computer in an effort to see if I could catch this elusive catburgler with geography and vocabulary skills. I became so enamored with the game, that when the television game show came out on PBS, I vowed that I would be a contestant on the show. Although I never did actually become a contestant on this show, Carmen Sandiego ignited my love for all aspects of gaming.

The year was 1999. I was coming out of my middle school years and going into high school. It was April and my biggest concern at that time was passing exams and what high school everyone was going to next year. The one thing that helped me to alleviate my stress was playing video games specifically on my handheld Sega Genesis Game Gear. When I would bring my Game Gear to school everyone wanted to play Donald Duck The Lucky Dime.

But that carefree energetic attitude immediately turned somber when one morning my teacher turned on the daily Channel One News homeroom announcements and there was talk about a school shooting that had occurred in Columbine, Colorado. I had already heard all about the shooting on April 20th, 1999 because of the all of the coverage from both the local and national news. I remember listening intently as a group of panelists tried to make sense of the event. One of the answers that was provided was that violent video games caused the shooting. In fact years later in 2007, the New York Times cited Jerald Block an Oregon psychiatrist who stated, “…that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold went on their shooting rampage at Columbine High School after their parents took away their video game privileges.”

Gaming has never sent me into a violent rampage. In fact, it has had the opposite effect and has now become one of the many coping mechanisms that I use in order to help me through my own mental health struggles. Initially when I started therapy, my therapist suggested that I use squeezey balls to help physically alleviate myself from the anxiety I was having. It worked for 5 mins. The issue with the squeezey ball or other temporary physical coping mechanisms that therapists often use is that it did not take my focus off of the stress. It merely made me put something in my hand while I was dealing with the stress and therefore caused more irritation. Over the years as my therapist had gotten to know me better, she now knows that gaming is one of my best stress relievers. When other’s go for a walk to calm down, I take out my phone and play some type of puzzle game.

Many may think, “Well how can gaming help relieve stress for you? It’s literally just a GAME.” Because gaming helps me to divert my focus from my stressful situation and place that energy in beating a level or completing a task. That sense of accomplishment that I get from completing that task or beating that level helps renew the confidence within myself that hey if I am smart enough to beat that super hard level in candy crush on the first try I can now go back to work with that same confidence and deal with that stressful situation.

Gaming has also helped me reconnect with some of my family members. For many years, I have battled mental health issues that have caused me to isolate from my family. But after my cousin, told my other cousins about my writing error reports for a particular gaming company, they reached out to me about playing together. Now we play on a fairly regular basis together talking and laughing just like old times. Please don’t mistake my experience with gaming as being the sole reason that my mental health is being restored. My faith, talks with both a therapist and a psychiatrist, and an incredible family support system have also been major contributing factors in getting me back to where I feel more like myself again. Gaming has been one of the positive tools in my tool belt of dealing with mental health that has allowed me to reconstruct my life in a healthy way.

Please keep in mind, this blog is merely a discussion on my own mental health issues. I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you know someone who is struggling with mental health issues please call or text the number 988 to get professional assistance. 

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU. What has your experience been with gaming both positive and negative? What types of games do you like to play mobile, computer, console or all the above? Feel free to comment below and your comments maybe featured in our next article in this ongoing series about gaming and mental health.