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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Mobile Games Can Offer a Pocket-Sized Path to Healing

In October of 2018, after being hospitalized for a week due to sepsis from a blood infection, I spent five months recovering at home. IV antibiotics had destroyed my stomach, leading to constant nausea, dry heaving, and frequent trips to the bathroom. I was also anemic, my legs were swollen with fluid, and I could hardly walk from one room to another without becoming winded. Somehow, I found a way to cope, to redirect my mind away from my pain, both physical and mental, and focus it on something fun: a mobile game. The game itself was nothing special. The graphics weren’t really impressive. It wasn’t developed with a huge marketing budget; in fact, many people have never even heard of it. But it helped me every single day as I recovered from the sickest I’ve ever felt.

I’m no stranger to recovery. With a long history of open-heart surgeries, an implanted defibrillator, and a possible heart transplant down the line, I’m no stranger to anxiety or depression either. After the first shock from the defibrillator, I experienced my first panic attack. The gut-wrenching fear, rocking body, and clenched muscles became a daily occurrence for the next five years, while my worries about the future and my mortality triggered depressive thoughts. Medication and therapy got me where I am today, a place anxiety and depression sometimes visit but rarely stay for long.

Now and then, though, certain stressors can pull me backward. This recovery was one of them. Besides the fact that I felt completely awful, it was impossible not to be depressed as I watched my daughters live their lives without much involvement from me. A constant flux of symptoms fueled my anxiety as well. I was always convinced something new was wrong—the infection had reached my heart, I had C. diff or was in arrhythmia. None of those things were true, but I still felt like they were.

Digital Coping Mechanisms

Luckily, I found the tool that kept my panic at bay and distracted me from the sadness and physical symptoms: Cooking Fever, a mobile time-management game. Ironically, I could barely eat. Even when I craved flavor and food, after a few bites into a meal I’d feel nauseated and spend the next hour in pain.

Even so, I cooked every day. Well, digitally that is. I sat in the corner of our sofa, and on my tiny phone screen I grilled lobster, rolled fresh tuna and avocado, and topped ice cream with cherries. As I played, I focused on making sure I didn’t burn the burgers or serve the bok choy to the wrong customer, instead of thinking about my stomachache or temperature. Playing helped me forget my worries.

Deb S., a nonprofit administrator from Massachusetts, had a similar experience when she was hospitalized after emergency surgery. Candy Crush and digital solitaire distracted her from the “bodily horrors of hospitalization”—like surgical wounds and catheters—and psychological stressors, such as seeing other people in pain, witnessing their deaths, and fearing her own. “Sometimes we need to deal with our emotions head on,” Deb says, “but certainly not when we’re in the midst of an immediate, traumatic situation.”

Andrea Braverman, clinical professor of OB/GYN and Psychiatry at Thomas Jefferson University, would agree. Whether someone is suffering from a medical illness or a mental one, any activity that offers an escape, even a mobile game, can bring relief. “You want to get away. You’re feeling lousy,” Braverman says. “If you can turn that off for a little bit, that’s rewarding.”

While I was recovering, I had none of my usual sources of pleasure. I had little interest in my typical TV choices and couldn’t enjoy food. Being around my children was depressing because I couldn’t really be with them. My game brought me enjoyment when nothing else could. As Braverman says, these games are “intrinsically rewarding.” The rewards are built right in. I could always look forward to a new restaurant, new foods and equipment, and the pure satisfaction of finally beating a complicated level.

Mindful vs. Mindless Games

The more mindful the game, the better. Sometimes. Braverman says the more the mind is engaged, the more successful an activity will be at distraction. Cooking Fever required concentration and strategy. It was completely engaging and, therefore, effective. If I wanted to reach the next stage, I couldn’t think about anything else while I played.

For Jessie Voigts, an international educator from Michigan, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a life simulation game for the Nintendo Switch, brings her to another level of mindfulness; it’s actually meditative. Voight regularly copes with many medical conditions, including mobility disabilities, chronic fatigue syndrome, and neurological issues, and the pandemic only made things more stressful. ACNH brings her some relief from these worries. “For me, it’s a zen-type meditation, where I can watch the waves, look at the sky, and breathe deeply, all while being safe, inside.” For those interested, while ACNH is available only on the Nintendo Switch, Pocket Camp is the series’ mobile version.

Of course, mindless games can be useful too, depending on the needs of the player. Deb S.’ health condition caused constant headaches and brain fog that made it difficult to focus. For Deb, the lack of thought needed to play her games is what made them appealing. Eshani Surya, an academic coach and adviser from South Carolina, also preferred the mindlessness of Candy Crush while she was suffering from neutropenia and anxiety. “It didn’t require a lot of thinking. I could just swipe and make things happen.”

As Braverman explains, there isn’t just one tool we can use for a respite from physical or mental illness. There are different tools for different needs.

Playing Vicariously Through a Screen

I loved playing a cooking game because it connected me to something I was desperately missing—food. Yes, they were only cartoon drawings, but as I topped tacos with bright green guacamole and scooped rice onto steaming plates of grilled shrimp, I was enticed anyway. Braverman says that with activities like this, we can hold onto something that we’re lacking in real life. I couldn’t enjoy food in actuality, but with Cooking Fever, I didn’t have to cut it out of my life entirely.

“It’s almost like having an avatar,” Braverman says. This also seemed to be true for Shelby Vittek, a writer from New Jersey, who played The Sims Mobile while suffering from depression. Managing the lives of her Sims provided Vittek with the stability she’d been craving. “I didn’t feel in control of anything in my life at the time—not my depression, my job, my mood, or my ability to care for myself. But playing Sims Mobile gave me some semblance of control.”

Jessie Voigts also uses her game as a way to experience the things she loves when she can’t really enjoy them. The parts of the game she loves the most are the ones she loves in real life: “being in and around water, looking at the sky, reveling in nature. Here, it’s just virtual, but that doesn’t make the waves any less tranquil.”

Eshani Surya found the movement of the screen on Candy Crush helpful while she was unable to get out of bed. Even the simple action of moving the candy pieces was satisfying, since she couldn’t do much in reality. “It felt like things were at least happening on my screen.”

Beware of Loot Boxes and Microtransactions

Despite the many benefits, there are some pitfalls to watch out for, especially when you’re in recovery or in a potentially vulnerable mental or emotional state. In some mobile games, players can spend real money on items that speed up their progress. I purchased faster grills, an automatic ice maker, and other appliances to advance more quickly. Some games also offer loot boxes or prize carts, which can be bought with real currency and may or may not contain a needed item.

Whether this practice falls into the category of gambling is a gray area. Regardless, those with gambling addictions could be more susceptible to such features. According to a 2020 study by Aaron Drummond, people with problem-gambling symptoms spend more on these types of purchases than those without symptoms and are at higher risk for high spending on loot boxes.

It may also be true that people suffering from mental or physical illness could be more vulnerable, and therefore more susceptible, to these offers, and their spending could get out of control. Be wary, and take your individual circumstances into account before diving in headfirst or spending real money in any video game.

Still, while done safely and appropriately, mobile games can be a great coping mechanism. As we’re still reeling from the first wave of the pandemic and fearing a second one, watching our country fall into unrest, and gearing up for an important election, illness, anxiety, and depression regularly find their way into lives. Now, perhaps more than ever, we can use a way to remove ourselves, relax on a digital beach, cook up some sizzling electronic steak, or swipe some 2D candy into a “divine” match.

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