StaceyPowers Posted September 13, 2022 Share Posted September 13, 2022 I was having a really bad day the other week, and found the only thing that made me feel safe and okay for a few hours was to log into my friend’s Minecraft world. When we were young, her house used to be the place I feel safe, but she lives across the country now. I was surprised by what a big help her Minecraft world was for getting me more centered again. Does anyone else here find that virtual environments have a therapeutic effect on you? Empire Of Sight and killamch89 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Empire Posted September 14, 2022 Share Posted September 14, 2022 Worlds like this do exist, but they never gain traction. To be big enough that people will be aware of it, make them big enough to be targetted by trolls or worse. Given VRChat moderation is an absolute farce, and nothing would be done to even the worst offenders of this, the only way to make a safe space for something like this is a private community in private rooms. And while I've seen a few come and go in VRC, and every one has either fizzled out in inactivity, or spiralled in to toxicity, cliques, and generally not nice places to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane99 Posted September 14, 2022 Share Posted September 14, 2022 There are people using VR for mental health reasons. I hear it can help those with autism and other neurodivergent conditions. I know someordinarygamers on YouTube has a video about how he slept in Minecraft for a month for his insomnia. And I guess it helped him sleep easier. But yeah, I can see VR helping with many things including mental health. It could serve as a safe space kind of thing, like your happy place. Heatman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ajibusu Posted September 14, 2022 Share Posted September 14, 2022 3 hours ago, Kane99 said: There are people using VR for mental health reasons. I hear it can help those with autism and other neurodivergent conditions. I know someordinarygamers on YouTube has a video about how he slept in Minecraft for a month for his insomnia. And I guess it helped him sleep easier. But yeah, I can see VR helping with many things including mental health. It could serve as a safe space kind of thing, like your happy place. This is part of the reasons I got VR. It has helped me stayed sane in a world where it hasn't been easy for me. I don't even bother much about the worries of the world after spending some time on it as well. Virtual environment should be adopted by many that are passing through one challenge or the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runswithspatulas Posted September 14, 2022 Share Posted September 14, 2022 22 hours ago, StaceyPowers said: I was having a really bad day the other week, and found the only thing that made me feel safe and okay for a few hours was to log into my friend’s Minecraft world. When we were young, her house used to be the place I feel safe, but she lives across the country now. I was surprised by what a big help her Minecraft world was for getting me more centered again. Does anyone else here find that virtual environments have a therapeutic effect on you? My happy place is in Animal Crossing New Horizons. I spent the pandemic in that game. If they ever decide to stop making Animal Crossing games I think I will cry. I live in my video games when I'm not at work because that's pretty much the only I can take the world and life right now. When I'm not playing I'm not happy because of things that are going on in my life right now. So yes for me they're very theraputic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akun Posted September 15, 2022 Share Posted September 15, 2022 I could relate to this so much because I have a hard time in the real world, with my social awkwardness and anxiety. I would take fictional characters over real people most of the time because they can't hurt me. I know that's pathetic, but that's just how it is. I can't help my insecurities. Been trying to fix it with therapy for years, but it never helped. Anyway, with the Metaverse coming, I might just be able to escape real life for good and hop onto a completely virtual world where I could have a fresh start in life, like I usually do with anonymous monikers on the Internet. Akun is obviously not my real name. And with VR, I feel like the immersion would greatly make you feel even more like you're transported to a safe space, particularly if it's a private therapy room or something. I could only imagine how much the therapist could do with a virtual therapy room, the kind of psychotherapy they could perform that they couldn't in real life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heatman Posted September 15, 2022 Share Posted September 15, 2022 Video games generally are designed to work on us like that. It's another world where we can go into and phase off from whatever that's bugging us at the moment. It's not only video games that does that for me, movies works the same way for me too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yaramaki Posted September 15, 2022 Share Posted September 15, 2022 (edited) 20 hours ago, runswithspatulas said: My happy place is in Animal Crossing New Horizons. I spent the pandemic in that game. If they ever decide to stop making Animal Crossing games I think I will cry. I live in my video games when I'm not at work because that's pretty much the only I can take the world and life right now. When I'm not playing I'm not happy because of things that are going on in my life right now. So yes for me they're very theraputic. Good choice i can relate to animal crossing working miracles for somebody their mental health. I haven't played new horizons yet because i just don't have the time to play it properly but whenever i'm at my parents place, i always have the itch to boot up my gamecube that is still in my room and see how my characters in animal crossing are doing after all these years and you know it works miracles. That and the fact my room at my parents place hasn't changed in over what 15 years now has a therapeutic effect on me, not only does it take me back in time but also to a time where quite frankly things were much simpler then they are now even if it is just for a couple of hours. Probably should make work and start new horizons anytime soon, i mean i bought it when it came out but like so many games it got buried in my never ending backlog. Edited September 15, 2022 by Yaramaki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heatman Posted September 15, 2022 Share Posted September 15, 2022 On 9/14/2022 at 3:29 PM, Kane99 said: There are people using VR for mental health reasons. I hear it can help those with autism and other neurodivergent conditions. I know someordinarygamers on YouTube has a video about how he slept in Minecraft for a month for his insomnia. And I guess it helped him sleep easier. But yeah, I can see VR helping with many things including mental health. It could serve as a safe space kind of thing, like your happy place. The way VR can be exploited is limitless. They haven't scratched its surface even when it's looking like developers have done a good job with it so far. When we revisit the capability of VR in the next 10 years, we would be wowed by what's attainable with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runswithspatulas Posted September 15, 2022 Share Posted September 15, 2022 2 hours ago, Yaramaki said: Good choice i can relate to animal crossing working miracles for somebody their mental health. I haven't played new horizons yet because i just don't have the time to play it properly but whenever i'm at my parents place, i always have the itch to boot up my gamecube that is still in my room and see how my characters in animal crossing are doing after all these years and you know it works miracles. That and the fact my room at my parents place hasn't changed in over what 15 years now has a therapeutic effect on me, not only does it take me back in time but also to a time where quite frankly things were much simpler then they are now even if it is just for a couple of hours. Probably should make work and start new horizons anytime soon, i mean i bought it when it came out but like so many games it got buried in my never ending backlog. i enjoy it cuz it's fairly time consuming and there's so many possibilities. it's a sweet little game. i haven't found any to match it. some are close but it's not the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heatman Posted September 16, 2022 Share Posted September 16, 2022 On 9/14/2022 at 6:41 PM, Ajibusu said: This is part of the reasons I got VR. It has helped me stayed sane in a world where it hasn't been easy for me. I don't even bother much about the worries of the world after spending some time on it as well. Virtual environment should be adopted by many that are passing through one challenge or the other. I would have gotten one by now because I know very well how good it it is when it comes to benefits you can get from using it as a gamer. But the cog in the wheel for me at it now is the cost but I'm definitely not giving up on it yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Blackangel Posted September 16, 2022 Share Posted September 16, 2022 Mine should be pretty obvious. I find solace in RDR2. Being in a simpler time and getting around by horse, stagecoach, and trains instead of cars. It's peaceful, and just relaxing to me. I also like getting into gunfights and killing people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heatman Posted September 16, 2022 Share Posted September 16, 2022 Unpacking is another excellent relaxing video game that I get into which helps me to unwind if I'm under a lot of duress. I can play it for hours which helps to calm my mind and nerves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ajibusu Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 21 hours ago, Heatman said: I would have gotten one by now because I know very well how good it it is when it comes to benefits you can get from using it as a gamer. But the cog in the wheel for me at it now is the cost but I'm definitely not giving up on it yet. The benefits that comes with getting one far outweighs the cost and I think you should save in order to get the one that you really need at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Empire Of Sight Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 On 9/14/2022 at 3:02 AM, StaceyPowers said: I was having a really bad day the other week, and found the only thing that made me feel safe and okay for a few hours was to log into my friend’s Minecraft world. When we were young, her house used to be the place I feel safe, but she lives across the country now. I was surprised by what a big help her Minecraft world was for getting me more centered again. Does anyone else here find that virtual environments have a therapeutic effect on you? Its epic you felt like that by logging into the game just to re experience that point in life that was your friends ^.^ I do feel like that too if I play specific games and do certain content in them. Hope you have a better week! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
