Luke had begun playing World of Warcraft with his then partner and friends about 2 years ago. In the course of that time, Luke and his partner had tried unsuccessfully to adopt a child, which he believes was thwarted by a judge who did not think gay couples should marry. He and his partner saw the legalization of gay marriage and its overturn in his state, CA. His partner had lost his job, and their relationship subsequently deteriorated, ending in divorce. Throughout all of this Luke was able to stay connected and supported by his friends and other members of his guild. He attributes his ability to move on and be ready for the next phase of his life through the enjoyment of WoW and his guilds.
Sam credits a video game with saving his life. He was working abroad in Qatar in the Middle East. He told me how he had fallen into a profound loneliness and depression shortly after moving out of the country. His work began to suffer, and he had a hard time dealing with the isolation. All his friends were back in the US, and he had a hard time being in touch with them. He had seriously begun contemplating suicide. Then he remembered that his friends had been pestering him to try this game, World of Warcraft. He had nothing to lose, so he loaded the game onto his computer. He found the game very compelling, and was even happier to discover that he could log on to the same server as his friends at home. They were able to raid and talk together for the next 9 months he was living in the Middle East, and his isolation and suicidality became a thing of the past.
… read the complete story ~ http://issuu.com/onlinetherapyinstitute/docs/tilt_issue5_final?mode=window&pageNumber=24
This article first appeared in the May 2011 issue of TILT Magazine ~ Therapeutic Innovations in Light of Technology.
Mike Langlois, MSW, LICSW is an adjunct faculty member of Boston College School for Social Work and a Teaching Associate in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He received his B.A. from Connecticut College in 1991, and his M.S.W from Smith College School for Social Work in 1994. He has 15 years of experience counseling adults and families. He is the co-founder of Sparta Social Networks and creator of http://gamertherapist.com. He has a private practice in Cambridge, MA.
