Violent video games can help with PTSD nightmares.

[StaceyPowers]

From this article: “According to a new study, soldiers who play aggressive video games on a regular basis experience less traumatic nightmares than soldiers who only play occasionally or who play less violent games.”

Makes sense to me. It probably helps rewire the brain so that “violent” content is perceived of as less threatening.

What’s interesting to me about this is that for the longest time, my mental safe space in dreams has been FPS environments. Those are the only places my own C-PTSD nightmare content almost never surfaces.

Edited May 11, 2021 by StaceyPowers

[The Blackangel]

They haven't helped me from the trauma I went through in the Marines. They haven't made a damn bit of difference. So I'll tell you right now that that study is severely flawed, or purely bullshit.

Besides, they only publish the results they want from studies like that anyway. They don't publish the numbers of soldiers that violent games either didn't help or made their PTSD worse. Those are the numbers you're looking for.

[Patrik]

maybe because violence becomes a normal thing to you in video games and stops being overrated (personal opinion)

[Reality vs Adventure]

Maybe in the game they develop a sense of control which carries on in their dreams. Maybe it helps detach them from something personal as killing in video games tends to be impersonal, which would mean that impersonal violence carries on in their dreams so that instead of seeing the eyes of someone you killed or saw die, it becomes a blur and they see many blurry enemies or allies instead of that one defined one that haunts them. Or maybe it helps them see things clearly and develop battlefield awareness playing video games that helps them see what is going on in the dreams and gives them security that they can find safety. 

If aggressive video games help soldiers with ptsd, should a woman who was raped play a video game where there is a lot of rape in order to cope with it better in her dreams?  So there is some irony there. But hell, maybe so. 

[killamch89]

1 hour ago, Reality vs Adventure said:

Maybe in the game they develop a sense of control which carries on in their dreams. Maybe it helps detach them from something personal as killing in video games tends to be impersonal, which would mean that impersonal violence carries on in their dreams so that instead of seeing the eyes of someone you killed or saw die, it becomes a blur and they see many blurry enemies or allies instead of that one defined one that haunts them. Or maybe it helps them see things clearly and develop battlefield awareness playing video games that helps them see what is going on in the dreams and gives them security that they can find safety. 

If aggressive video games help soldiers with ptsd, should a woman who was raped play a video game where there is a lot of rape in order to cope with it better in her dreams?  So there is some irony there. But hell, maybe so. 

This is such a bizarre and ironic one - while your disassociation theory does sound plausible but this study seems to still lack a lot of substantial evidence that it actually works. As we know, a new study can also come out tomorrow disproving this new finding so I'll just wait for more evidence before I can conclude that it can actually help.

[Heatman]

Seriously, I don't really know if such should be encouraged because one with PTSD shouldn't be exposed anymore to acts of violence because it makes matters worst for them.