Can video games be used as a non pharmacological benefit?
Over the last decade there has been much controversy surrounding computer games. Whereas the educational benefits of computers and computer games are well documented there have been concerns at whether computer games can affect the behaviour of the user and specifically whether there is any link to violence and racial hatred. One of the most common criticisms of video games is that it leads to increased tendencies for violence in youth.
This has been documented over the years by hundreds of studies, which have been conducted by a wide range of psychologists and government agencies with the aim of addressing the issue of harm. They studies targeted possible links to aggression, addiction, violence and even stereotyping. The results of the studies have always been conflicting, often causing much disagreement. Some studies have found that playing violent video games correlates with at least a temporary increase in aggression, while others using similar methods video game violence is not related to engaging in aggressive behavior. Another common theory is that violent games simply attract those that are already violent minded, not that it enhances violence and aggression in the average player. With that said, there are many counter arguments to the negative issues that video games create, those of which include education, health and even social behavior.
A large number of studies have been conducted on this topic and several have found a correlation between these two aspects. However, there have also been counter studies, conducted by groups such as The Harvard Medical School Centre for Mental Health and The British Medical Journal, that have found no definite link between video game usage and violent activity; and others still, such as the University of Utah study which actually identify positive benefits. These positive studies do not seem to get as much coverage as the adverse reports, so the purpose of this essay is to look at the positive effects of playing computer games, not the negative.
Firstly it is interesting to look at positive effects such as the therapeutic properties of games when played by children and to a lesser extent adults who have been diagnosed with chronic illnesses. In 2012 the University of Utah released a study (Kessler, R. (2012) Video Games Help Patients and Health Care Providers. University of Utah News Center, [online] 19th September. Available at: http://goo.gl/vRBd3.) that looked at the effects of regular gaming on patients with illnesses like Parkinson's disease, autism and even depression. The Utah researchers say that the study shows that video games can act as a "non-pharmacological interventions that may enhance patient’s resilience towards various chronic disorders via neuronal mechanisms that activate positive emotions and the reward system", put simply this suggests that rather than use expensive medicines with possible side effects, games can stimulate the brain, which can potentially help a patient’s demeanour as they face the daily challenges of their illnesses.
In some instances medical staff utilise existing computer games, but in others actually create games for a specific medical purpose, for example:
"In the Perspectives article, the team describes therapeutic video games, including their own Patient Empowerment Exercise Video Game (PE Game), an activity-promoting game specifically designed to improve resilience, empowerment, and a “fighting spirit” for paediatric oncology patients. The researchers also looked at other games that have been shown to help patients with several chronic diseases." (Kessler, R. (2012) Video Games Help Patients and Health Care Providers. University of Utah News Center, [online] 19th September. Available at: http://goo.gl/vRBd3.)
Motivational games, or games that cause motivation can come in many forms. The motivation itself can come from difficult challenges that the patient overcomes, creating a sense of achievement and defiance, or even just from general game play where the game constantly cheers on the player, congratulating the player as they go through the game.
Another study, carried out by Dr Daphen Maurer of the Visual Development Lab of Ontario's McMaster University, found that playing video games can actually be beneficial for your vision (Dreifus, C. (2013) How Video Games Could Improve Our Vision. The New York Times, [online] 27th August. Available at: http://goo.gl/crDVw). The conventional wisdom is that "You will go square-eyed if you sit in front of that screen any longer", but it is a matter of balance. This is a valid comment if you do spend too much time in front of a screen, but conversely the study shows that playing fast paced games such as the Battlefield and Call of Duty series, that require an extreme amount of attention, actually train the brain and eyes to view things more sharply. They can also produce higher levels of dopamine and adrenaline. Dopamine is;
"a chemical messenger that helps in the transmission of signal in the brain" (Newton, P (Ph.D). (2012) From Mouse to Man. Psychology today, [online] 26th April . Available at: http://goo.gl/PsgTE.)
and adrenaline is;
"a hormone that stimulates heart rate, contracting blood vessels, and dilating air passages, all of which work to increase blood flow to the brain and oxygen to the lungs" (McGuigan, B. (2013) WiseGeek Adrenaline. WiseGeek, [online] 26th April . Available at: http://goo.gl/peDzC.)
So adrenaline and dopamine in a combination can potentially may make the brain more plastic.
So not only can video games provide non-pharmacological therapy, they can also improve vision and the brain’s response times. This is already rather more than computer games are often given credit for, but what else can they do? Quite a lot actually. Video games can provide pain relief, reduce stress and depression, and even improve your decision-making skills.
A group of psychologists at the University of Washington developed a game that helps hospital patients suffering from immense physical pain by using an age-old mental trick: distraction. The game, called Snow World, places the player in an Arctic wonderland environment, where they must throw snow balls at targets. The psychologists found that patients that played the game on a regular basis required less pain medicine during their recuperation.
"A video game may sound silly, but this particular game, Snow World, is a ground breaking experiment in virtual reality. In Snow World, Brown (Lt. Brown, a US Soldier injured in Afghanistan) could concentrate on throwing snowballs at penguins and mastodons to the music of Paul Simon, instead of focusing on the painful wound care happening at the same time." (Williams, R. 2013)
As demonstrated above, there are is obviously some real benefits resulting from playing games, especially when it comes to good health. But how do games achieve this, either intentionally or unintentionally, and what games do it best? Games like Bejeweled and Candy Crush (a tile matching puzzle game) as well as the SSX Tricky (a snowboarding video game) series all motivate the player as they go along. Either with a "You Rock" or a "Sweeet!" sound when a player achieves a combo move, or a reward for doing well. Other games such as Runescape (RuneScape is a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Jagex) or World Of Warcraft (World Of Warcraft is a MMORPG by Blizzard Entertainment) use a reward system to motivate players, as well as a thank you from in-game non player characters and a quest completed achievement.
Fast paced games such as Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty require a player to constantly pay attention to both sound and visual information. It only takes a small distraction, taking your eye off of the screen, for the player to be killed, so attention is vital. The in-game characters have a variety of camouflages, design to hide amongst an urban jungle or a grassy field. Due to this, the players eyes and brain need to work harder to pick out enemies from the surroundings, which in turn trains the brains and eyes.
Distraction games, used as non-pharmacological therapy, come in a much broader variety. Of particular relevance in this respect is the case of Jane Mcgonical, a game designer, who stuck in bed for weeks after a head injury. The injury caused her great pain and unsurprisingly she began to get depressed. She said “I was like, I’m either going to kill myself or develop this into a game. Because after all, I’m a game designer.” (Oberndorfer, E. (2013) Jane McGonigal Talks Playful Recovery With SuperBetter. MedCrunch, [online] 16th April. Available at: http://goo.gl/Rfb0p.) So this is exactly what she did, she turned it into a game which she called Superbetter. This was a game that provoked positive emotions, strengthening social connections, building the players ability to tackle difficult challenges without giving up. She used all of it to turn her recover into a game, distracting her away from the pain. She says “The more I played this game, the happier, the more confident and the more confident I felt.” (Oberndorfer, E. (2013) Jane McGonigal Talks Playful Recovery With SuperBetter. MedCrunch, [online] 16th April. Available at: http://goo.gl/Rfb0p.). In her words, she didn’t just get better, she got super better, hence the games name. With this said, you can easily see how games that distract and motivate the player are a huge help, making the player/patient feel as if they can accomplish more, as well as distract them temporarily away from their pain.
McGonigal leads on from this by showing that you don’t need to have a injury or sickness to use her techniques. By engaging in the steps she used in her game SuperBetter, the average person can increase their life by an average of 10 years. Her steps consist of completing several simple challenges a day, boosting your physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. The steps compose of activities like raising your arms above your head for 5 seconds every hour or standing up and taking a few steps. Clicking your fingers 50 times while counting or counting down from 100 backwards in 7’s, as well as simply thanking someone you know who has helped you in the past.
The use of procedural rhetoric techniques deploy in games can be used to build up an image of an impossible task, while in reality it is actually pretty simple. Narrative can play a part in this, as demonstrated in many World of Warcraft quests. The quest begins with a non player character asking for help, mentioning that many “adventurers” have attempted the task before and have failed. As the player continues through the quest they are met with multiple encounters that further reinforce the idea that no one has been able to complete the quest before, such as skeletons in key locations and other non player characters. The build up of the narrative and visual keys place the player in a mind set that what they are doing is unique and special. Once they complete the seemingly impossible task, a feeling of defiance and pride is inevitable, no matter how small. This style is common in games that follow a narrative of player versus environment. World of Warcraft with over 10,000 single player quests and Runescape with over 400 much longer single player quests. Taking an example from the latter of the two, Dragon Slayer in runescape is a fairly long quest in Runescape, that can take the player several days. The quest revolves around collecting information for a map, a key, and finally to slay the dragon.
“Prove yourself a true hero. Kill the mighty dragon Elvarg of Crandor Island and earn the right to buy and wear the powerful rune platebody.” (Guildmaster, 409AD)
Throughout the quest you encounter “dead bodies”, non player characters acting as real players that cry out for help and assistance of give warning, as well as a strong narrative that builds up the difficulty of what is actually a fairly easy but time consuming task.
Evidently, there is some force behind the concept that games can be used as a non pharmacological device and arguably, it has been well documented and proven work. There have been multiple studies in favour to the argument, conducted by experts in the field. These studies have shown that there is a degree of effectiveness when using computer games to assist and improve patients illnesses. On a much more personal level, Jane McGonigal has felt the positive effects that video games can have on a persons mind when recovering from an injury or sickness. My overall verdict is that yes, games can be used a non pharmacological tool. However, it does not in any way repla
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