Video games that actually help people

yes, yes I do. when our son was hospitalized and very sick and in excruciating pain for nearly a year (residuals of viper bite) they would not give him the narcotic pain meds he really needed because of his tender age and not wanting to get him addicted... pain management was very difficult. we found that playing video games gave him enough distraction that the edge was taken off of the pain while he played.

I totally belive in the fact that diverting one's focus from pain can help one to endure the pain. This is the premise on which the Lamaze breathing techniques for childbirth are based. This is the idea behind the use of guided imagery for pain and anxiety. The article you linked is wonderful, it is about virtual reality therapy. This is an up and coming therapy that I predict will be in heavy use in the next ten years. The armed services have used it for years to train pilots and other things. It is being used in medicine as a distractor to pain during the painful debridement (scraping) of burn wounds and also very heavily in the menatl health arena. In the mental health arena it is helping with phobias a great deal. One dons the virtual reality headset and sees an image of the phobic item. Variuos scenarious are endured with the person ultimately coming into real contact with the item. It is used too to treat PTSD by re-exposing the person to a similar situation and as they relive the situation, they are with their therapist and then they process their reaction. Great tool...and coming on strong! Great discussion and link!

I bet people are willing to try it- It might work… I know when you are cold they say to think of someplace or something really warm—it sometimes helps me. It’s mind over matter to a point – I think that I’d be willing to give it a try to see if it helped with pain.

That's really cool and totally agree. Keeping busy and finding something to do, relax the brain and pain. Videos of interesting facts would get a person tuned then focusing on the pain. Great to for sharing letting everyone to know.

I agree and I believe that this is true. Video games actually distract people from their problems, worries and insecurities. Even though they divert the attention of people from their house chores, it might be as well like a therapy to people who wanted to forget. I play video games when I am really worried about something, just to lessen the worry or my anxiousness. It's easier when it's like that. Yes, even body pains could be forgotten too.

I think this could definitely help because i often times find that if I have a mouth sore or something annoying that it hurts much more in times im thinking about eating or activities that have to do with my mouth. And the video game isnt just getting their minds of of the burns or whatever problem they might have, but actually it is better because it has things which are reversing the effect of the wound or whatever. Such as that coolness to the burn. GREAT JOB SCIENTIST!!! keep up the good work

Hi Hon We have some places here that use the wii for physical therapy. It works well because people are not bored while working with pt. oxxoxoxoxoxo

It stimulates the brains and keeps it working like a clock tick tock tick tock..The more you think of strategies for the gmaes it helps you practice

I think having something else to focus on is a great tool for reducing physical pain as well as depression. It's been helpful to me to have games and mylot to stay out of my own head.

I think that is great and its free of any side effects too. Iknow that I do not think about my arthritis pain while i am mylotting and my thoughts are all on what I am doing here. I know that burn victims do suffer a lot of pain and if that video game will help then that is really good news. I know from my own experiences that your mind has a lot to do with how much pain you feel and if you can distract yourself it really helps.