In my member profile I'd mentioned how video games had helped me through a rough period in my life (my marriage was dying a slow and painful death). ACWW wasn't out back then, but Donkey Kong was, and my daughter and I must've spent hours, days, and weeks lost in the virtual Monkey Jungles.
When I finally crawled out of our three-month Monkey Marathon, I'd realised how great it was to just lose myself in an activity which really did let me forget all the turmoil roiling around my life for a while. My frustrations were duly taken out on the Big Boss guys at level's end... poor Bosses didn't stand a chance! And being able to vent somewhat in a game let me be a little more mellow when I had to turn the game off and go fix dinner or deal with an attorney.

When Nintendo brought out the DS, I got one of the first ones out. Now I have 2 DS systems, one for me and one for whomever but sometimes I hook 'em together so all the creatures in ACWW can visit and I get to advance to Nookington's instead of Tom's Terrible Treacle shop! And I finally caved and got the Xbox360, which is one of the best things ever.

Then I got a phone call from one of my dearest friends... she had just been diagnosed with a very vicious form of cancer. Knowing the road that lay before her with long hours of chemotherapy and all the other horrors of cancer treatment, I decided to introduce her to my little "magic machine", my DS. I started her out on ACWW, which she found as enchanting as I had. She also quickly realised that a really good game which let her beat the tar out of the bad guys gave her an emotional release and helped her cope with the day-to-day realities of her ongoing chemotherapy treatment.

Today, my friend has recovered, no remissions, and she is now into the Xbox as well as her Playstation and she's built up a pretty awesome game library.

The point of this little tale is this: Most of us play games, and video games in particular, just for the sheer fun of it. But sometimes (especially with the "go anywhere" convenience of the DS) being able to escape from whatever your reality may be at the moment, can be very therapeutic. Age doesn't matter, I was 48 when my life fell apart and my kid got me into gaming. My cancer-surviving friend was in her mid- fifties when I gave her her first DS.

So maybe the next time you see someone who is experiencing trauma in his or her life, consider giving them a video game and watch what happens, you may be surprised and they just may be thankful for a little escapism. It helps.

ps: if anyone reading this has had similar experiences, please share them with me? Thanks!