Therapy for Gamers? How Gaming Culture Relates to Mental Health
A population I love working with is people who are big into gaming communities and other media. I think gaming has a culture that impacts people’s lives in various ways. People find their own meaning, drive, hobbies, communities, social support, fun, identity, etc. in gaming spaces. Video Games are extremely diverse these days and have become part of our society. Not only is it for fun and social and personal purposes games are also part of jobs such as gaming industry such as business and creative part of games and also even esports. There’s so many spaces that it opens up for people. I think understanding the culture and impact is important when working with people who are a part of this community.
How does therapy play a part in these communities? I think that because of how diverse gaming culture is I think it affects people in various ways and in different areas of our lives. In a positive sense it gives people representation, community, friendship, escapism, creativity, safe space, fun, etc. In a negative sense, it can affect people feeling isolated, avoidance, negative community, hard balance of work and play, burn out, and other things. It’s important to understand these aspects of games and how they do or don’t affect an individual and their relationship with it and how it affects their mental health. Not everything in therapy is about gaming, but I think understanding the industries, communities, importance and other aspects are important when working with people who have their lives around it in some way.
As someone who also has a hobby in gaming, I think it helps out people not having to explain certain aspects that others who aren’t familiar with the community wouldn’t quite understand. If someone is experiencing stress or burn out in raiding and how it affects them or their interpersonal relationships they wouldn’t have to explain the whole background of what that is. Even understanding how stressful or toxic dealing with people in PvP gaming communities such as fighting games, battle royale, shooting games or even navigating own anger and frustration in the communities. Even how to navigate what’s going on in the communities themselves, knowing someone who has a general understanding can help people navigate a lot of the issues that are affecting them.
It’s important to note that not everything has to be related to games or industry, but can lead into other deeper aspects of a person’s life, environment, social circles and their own way of navigating things. Games are just one way that helps open up to the bigger picture.
