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Playing video games can help to reduce stress and anxiety, and improve mood

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Re: Playing video games can help to reduce stress and anxiety, and improve mood

#61

Post by zokier »

r3trohack3r wrote: post #44

I thought this was going to be an article about optimism ("geeking out" as in getting excited about things). I acknowledge that I'm responding to the headline and not the meat of the article. I've recently (past ~5 years) stopped viewing the world pessimistically. I don't believe it's because I'm blindly optimistic, but because I didn't have the perspective to understand our ancestor's problems and how good of a life…

> Whenever I get a brief feeling of "this is bad," I remind myself that humans have conquered far worse than whatever "this" is

It's a nice sentiment, but I see no reason to think it is true. While I'd agree that in many ways life is nicer and easier, the problems that we do have now are even more complex and difficult than ever.

Re: Playing video games can help to reduce stress and anxiety, and improve mood

#63

Post by doubled112 »

JohnFen wrote: post #53
olvy0 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was this one time I had a prolonged dental operation, I was fully conscious, the dentist talked himself through a delicate situation while hunting in my mouth for the right angle to do it. And I thought suddenly, hey, it's just like me when I'm debugging! Cool!

Yes! What your doctor (and dentist, etc.) are really doing with you is exactly the same as what you do when you're debugging a program. Except that health care providers don't have the luxury of having a debugger or the ability to examine the "machine" state in accurate detail.

For some extra perspective in the case of a dentist, there's also a live, breathing, feeling, conscious human they're about to drill into or debug on.

No thanks!

Re: Playing video games can help to reduce stress and anxiety, and improve mood

#65

Post by boshalfoshal »

fullshark wrote: post #59

Like all vices.

This should be voted higher. People really want video games (and other things like certain drugs) to be innocuous and maybe even "healthy" but its just like any other instant dopamine rush, and can - and is often designed to be - addictive to keep you hooked and engaged in their product.

Imo a far better method than this is to exercise, walk outside, or play sports. These are natural dopamine boosts with little to no real downside.

Re: Playing video games can help to reduce stress and anxiety, and improve mood

#67

Post by austinprete »

munificent wrote: post #30
the_af wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> General anaesthesia and the idea you are actually awake but forget Do you mean that this happens for some people? For me, GA felt like a very deep dream where I didn't notice falling asleep but I definitely remember what I dreamed.

I think the parent poster if confusing general anesthesia from sedation [1]. If you got a colonoscopy or your wisdom teeth out, it was probably sedation. If you got major surgery where they cut a big hole in you, that's more likely to be general anesthesia. "Twilight sedation" is pretty spooky from a philosophical perspective. You are somewhat aware of what's happening to you and are experiencing it in the moment. Bu…

There’s also the concept of anesthesia awareness [1], which does apply to general anesthesia.

[1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anesthesia_awareness

Re: Playing video games can help to reduce stress and anxiety, and improve mood

#68

Post by whateverman23 »

munificent wrote: post #30
the_af wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> General anaesthesia and the idea you are actually awake but forget Do you mean that this happens for some people? For me, GA felt like a very deep dream where I didn't notice falling asleep but I definitely remember what I dreamed.

I think the parent poster if confusing general anesthesia from sedation [1]. If you got a colonoscopy or your wisdom teeth out, it was probably sedation. If you got major surgery where they cut a big hole in you, that's more likely to be general anesthesia. "Twilight sedation" is pretty spooky from a philosophical perspective. You are somewhat aware of what's happening to you and are experiencing it in the moment. Bu…

I've helped a couple of family members who have gone under the sedation that you're talking about. I don't care how much more dangerous or more expensive general anesthesia is. I'm taking that option every time. I never ever want to be under the sedation you're talking about.

That sedation takes hours and hours to wear off, where you're worse than helpless. Completely memory free for hours after the surgery is over and can barely function. It's terrifying.

Meanwhile, when I've woken up from general anesthesia the few times I've been under, I'm almost immediately perfectly conscious and able to function on my own and remember things.

Re: Playing video games can help to reduce stress and anxiety, and improve mood

#69

Post by rye-neat »

I'm nearing 40 and in the past few years I've tried to focus more on "real world" activities (I've never lacked them, I just felt like gaming had less value). I've done well with this by spending time with my interests/pastimes; however, my work lately has been less stimulating. As a result, something has been missing.

Long story short, I realized I wasn't getting into a "flow-state" often enough and guess where you can get an easy fix of that? First-person shooters.. (for me anyway). I don't have 3+ hour-long sessions or anything, maybe just a round or two and it's like that first cup of coffee in the morning.

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