Video games help kids deal with stressful situations

Email this article to a friend

Printable Version

Articles Related to This Article: • Violent Video Games and Certain Internet Use Cause Aggression and Other Negative Outcomes • Psychiatric industry now trying to classify video game playing as a "mental disorder" requiring treatment • Student-Led Research Suggests Video Games Play Role in Pain Relief (press release) Sign the Health Revolution Petition Join the call for genuine health freedom in America. End FDA tyranny and Big Pharma corruption. Watch the video and sign the petition here.

(NaturalNews) When an 11-year-old was recovering from brain surgery, his mother felt relived that he was able to play some familiar video games to relieve the tension and distress that often comes with a post-operative recovery period.

Gus was an all-star soccer player and tae kwon do green belt before being diagnosed with cancer. Although he was fifth-grade class president, Gus is now being home-schooled, and he can't imagine getting through his chemotherapy treatments without video games. The mother of Gus Luna said, "That made me feel like things seemed OK," referencing her son's video game system used during his recovery period. Gus added that being able to have access to playing his familiar video games took his mind away from the more stressful and scary things that were happening.

The Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles is among 1,000 hospitals worldwide with video game Fun Centers that roll from bed to bed just like regular hospital equipment. Kids jump at the opportunity to immerse themselves in video games that take their minds away from the treatment they are undergoing -- and the doctors say it helps.

Over the last decade, researchers around the world have done hundreds of studies probing the value of video games and other forms of virtual reality to help children -- and their parents -- cope with medical-related anxiety and pain.

The results have been overwhelmingly positive: in a UCLA study, children who were not playing an interactive game while having an IV inserted reported four times more pain. A University of Australia study ended with researchers citing "strong evidence" supporting the use of virtual reality and video games while kids were undergoing painful procedures.

Doctors also report that it calms the parents to see their kids engaged in routine activities: "If you have children and you see them in distress, then you're in distress," says Jeffrey Gold, program psychologist for the pediatric pain management clinic at USC. "If they're more calm, you're more calm." ###

Get articles like this delivered to you FREE in our popular email newsletter

Related CounterThink Cartoons:

Related Articles: • Violent Video Games and Certain Internet Use Cause Aggression and Other Negative Outcomes • Psychiatric industry now trying to classify video game playing as a "mental disorder" requiring treatment • Student-Led Research Suggests Video Games Play Role in Pain Relief (press release)	Take Action: Support NaturalNews.com Email this article to a friend Share this article on: NewsVine | digg | del.icio.us Permalink to this article: http://www.NaturalNews.com/021351_video_games_stress_relief_hospital.html Reprinting this article: Non-commercial use OK, cite NaturalNews.com with clickable link. Embed article link: (copy HTML code below): <a href = "http://www.NaturalNews.com/021351_video_games_stress_relief_hospital.html">Video games help kids deal with stressful situations</a>