When people look at me, and see that I spend hours in front of my computer, playing a game or tinkering. This is not because I am anti-social. Video games is whats keeps me sane, and it’s not just me it is the majority of those on the spectrum.
Now you may be asking “How can playing video games keep you sane?” The simple answer is escapism. It’s our escape from reality. It’s a world where we have complete control of everything. Take the game Minecraft, if you look at those who play the game, you will notice that everything is just about perfect. The door is in the center of our building, the building is even, no odds. This is all because we have control of the world we play in.
There are two types of Minecrafters, the first type is The Adventures, those who play survival and like the thrill and the battle of defeating monsters that roam the world (Skeletons, Zombies, Spiders, Etc) and than there is the 2nd type, the creative builders, those who like building without any worries or stress of creatures that wonder the map.
Now outside of Minecraft any game is an escape. It helps us get away from the anxiety, and stress of dealing with all the stimulation from dealing with interacting with the world around us. This way if we don’t like something we can just change it.
The world of video games is meant to entertain us, help us escape from the every day world, just like movies do, where movies take us into their story, video games take us into the world of the game, whatever it’s Zombies or trying to avoid a killer on the lose or just zipping around a open world and exploring it’s all meant to do one thing.
For it’s a way to relax and let loose and not worry about every day life. No I am not trying to get away from everything, but at times I get stressed out and I need a outlet for my frustration as do others.
So if you see your son/daughter playing a game. It’s not cause they are lazy and don’t want to do anything. They are doing it because it’s their way of escaping the world for that short time. Now I am not saying they should play all day.
The way playing video games has helped me is, it helps with the sadness that keeps creeping in, it keeps my mind busy and sharp, as long as my mind is busy I don’t think about what ifs or feel depressed I am focused on the task at hand. As I am sure this is why those on the spectrum play video games as well.
Online Gaming
Now online gaming is a whole other world. This is a world where people can play against each others. For those on the spectrum it is a world where they can converse with others and be themselves. There are those on the spectrum who are really good at team games and play online and there are those who just play for the factor of conversing with others and playing their favorite games.
Now if they are really good, there is a whole world of e-Sports that they can compete for big money in many shooter games. But this is only for those who are truly really good at it.
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