Mario therapy: How games help me manage anxiety and depression

We all face day-to-day struggles. Some of us also suffer from anxiety and depression. Video games have helped one individual manage those.

[NecrumOddBoy]

Jared Petty did a similar episode of Hop, Blip, and a Jump on Mario vs Depression. The plumber seems to have a positive power on people. As much crap as video games get from media, politics and game blamers, there is something almost supernatural about the joy a game has on the mental, spiritual and physical human being. It's a true medium of healing.

[Orionsangel]

Story of my life :(

[TheEnigma313]

Stop being a cuck and grow a pair of stones.

[Sgt_Slaughter]

Stop being a dick to people for no reason, how about that?

[DrumBeat]

Tired of idiots using this term incorrectly. Pretty sure, at this point, you have no idea what a cuckold actually is.

Back to the topic, you've got to have a healthy balance. Too much game time is no good for anyone, and can severely set you back socially. People become pariahs, and fear social interaction, affecting their ability to get and maintain jobs.

It can be seriously damaging, and Mario can't fix it.

[TheEnigma313]

cuck detected

[aaronaton]

I blame the parents, nowadays they wrap their kids up in cotton wool. When they get a taste of the reel world, they suddenly develop anxiety and depression. Anxiety wasn't even a thing 10 years ago.

[chinton]

Quite the contrary, in fact. Anxiety, depression, and mental health issues have always been around. They are just now getting the attention they deserve. I mentioned in that piece how I had it as a child even...

I just didn't recognize my anxiety and depression until I got older and it got worse. I literally started talking about it this year. I've been married for ten years and after ten years... My wife somehow broke through and got me to talk about my struggles. As a kid, I was not wrapped up in wool but instead was told to toughen up. But it has nothing to with "toughening up". Saying anxiety and depression not being around 10 years ago is like saying suicide wasn't around 10 years ago. People just didn't have healthy outlets or the proper treatment and they chose the only option they thought would stop it.

I appreciate your viewpoint as parents can do better in many ways. But take it from someone who spent 20+ years of his life denying and suppressing his inner demons and riding with the societal message at the time which was to "get over it." I remember literally typing and saying the exact same thing you just did to my friends and people I knew as an 18 year old while lying to myself. Talk about irony.