Gaming and relaxation

Swamped in work and family issues [taking care of my mom], I’ve not had much time for a gaming release. I have played a whopping 20-minutes of Fable 2 [which is enough to dislike the interface but not get used to it], and I’ve snuck in a few minutes here and there on the DS in the doctor’s office or waiting for my mom. I tend to think of myself as a rather low-key guy, not too anxious about things. Consequently, I’ve never looked at game as a way to relieve tension or ‘just get away’ from pressures. I want to play Fable 2, not to relieve tension but to just play the game. The reason is that good games often seem to have their own tension, frustrations even, so I’m not sure how trading one tension for another really works as relief.

Certainly, I understand that there’s a certain appeal in losing yourself in an activity, of substituting one kind of problem for another because it’s a problem that a] isn’t significant and b] is under your control and can be interrupted at any time. But that’s substitution.

About 14 years ago, a good friend had a heart attack when he was 30. And I realized how bad many people are with tensions and anxieties, often not recognizing them and perhaps more frequently not knowing how to deal with them. I sometimes only notice when my shoulders ache enough that I have trouble sleeping. Mind you, I’m not going through anything particularly bad at this time, and I know many have far worse issues, but I’m curious — how many use gaming as a way to get away from personal and professional problems? Does it work? Do you feel better afterwards?

Curiously enough, reading is probably the hardest thing for me to do when tense.

The best thing I have found is to find something that makes me laugh, that makes me play like a kid. Taking a break and hauling the kids to a park or a Star Wars Convention probably helps the most.