CNN.com - Video games calm kids before surgery

flaagan

http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/12/09/hospitals.gaming.ap/index.html
I find this humorous cause, a few years back, I stayed up the entire night before I had my wisdom teeth removed (all four during one surgery) and played CS (original) so I would already be tired when they gave me the gas.

ElysiumGX

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The hospital is considering making Game Boy use standard before pediatric surgery.

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That's cool. I wonder if playing a Game Boy also helps speed up the recovery process of patients after surgery, or recovery from certain illnesses. Harvard did a study years ago (so it's official, stupid Harvard discovering something the world has known since the beginning of time) finding that when patients are happy and comfortable with family around, they recover quicker.

adam

Last summer when I had my appendix removed all I did was play PC games to go through the recovery process. 1.) They keep you from being bored 2.) You're calm and don't feel the pain 3.) You recover faster (or so it seemed).

Artreth

So far I have only seen researches that actual state that games can relieve stress and so on. I'd also like to add that it can also:

1. Get rid of that pent up anger(especially the anger towards your demon spawned boss)

2. satisfy your baser instincts if your other half decides to withhold sex.(you're angry? Then go shoot some people online)

KDR_11k

It can also fill you with rage and aggression. After playing CS I want to break stuff and kill people. HL2DM isn't as bad, it just makes me want to stop playing (because, well, it's so fatally flawed I spend half of my time cursing the issues) but CS pushes me over the edge.

gauss

KDR: if it fills you with rage and aggression, it's a reflection on you, not the game. there's nothing inherent about counter strike, or basketball, or half a dozen other competitive games that get people fired up... my little brother and i sit side by side and will play the same CS:S server, usually on the same team, but almost every time we play if he's losing bad he starts to get really angry much as you describe. that's a learned behavior that needs replacing... games are for fun. when you're so far from having fun that you're cursing and filled with rage, then it's time to stop playing or, perhaps more pointedly, it's time to evaluate and change how you process things emotionally.

you don't get that frustrated and aggressive when you've got a 10:1 kill/death ratio in CS, so what it really comes down to is learning how to become a gracious loser.


i've never had more serious surgery than my wisdom teeth out, but i think everyone here can relate to the calming effects of video games.

iMag

been there, back in 99, had shoulder surgery. spent a month sorta bored. picked up a voodoo 3 card and kicked ass in team fortress classic. was mucho fun.

mr.toast

damn i wasnt able to even play video games after my surgery, when i had my wisdom teeth removed, the whole right side of my face was swollen for 2 weeks and the whole time i was high off my percocets to really do anything, i guess my body doesnt recover as good from surgical procedures as the rest of you people do

Mark Dygert

I second what Gauss said. Learn to laugh it off, shrug it off, or not equate your happiness with your kill count. Learn to take one for the team with a smile. There have been plenty of times when playing team based games my team gets bottle necked and no one wants to advance, but they would follow someone that leads the charge (and dies). I don't mind being that guy because it will get everyone thru. When poeple TK you don't get all pissed off and freak out. Just smile and say "TK happens, much like sh!t" You get laughs instead of "woa buddy chill out k!?"

Its not the games that need to change its the attitudes of the players and how they deal with stress. It is ok to not be the A-#1-GIANT-WINNER-GUY all the time. Also when you handle things with grace instead of freaking out, people respect you rather than pitty you.

/me climbs off soap box...

frosty

I never feel violent after gaming, either super charged with energy, very sleepy or just relaxed.

gauss

vig: it also helps these days that many of the deaths that might otherwise really get you angry are spectacular ragdoll deaths that everyone can enjoy. sure, the guy who shot you feels good, but you can feel good too about having a really nice dramatic death. i always cheer for the counter terrorist players who try to defuse a bomb much too late--they provide a lot of entertainment for everyone