It’s no secret that video games have a huge impact on mental health and disability. Games provide a safe haven for people, especially those living with disabilities and those looking for a home in the queer community. Sometimes it’s both.
According to MedScape’s Megan Brooks, “Playing video games causes structural changes in the brain in areas responsible for spatial cognition, memory formation, strategic planning, and fine motor skills, with potential implications for psychiatric disorders. New research suggests that giving. Therefore, for people with mental or physical disabilities, playing games can have a significant impact on their health.
It’s not groundbreaking that games help people with disabilities and bring members of the queer community together, but it’s not emphasized enough. Enter “Ablegamers Foundation”. Founded by Mark Barlet, himself a disabled gamer, Ablegamers strives to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities through the power of gaming. This foundation exists not only to help increase participation in the disability gaming field, but also to provide safe play for gay people.
The game helps people with all kinds of disabilities. Dr. Amy Kavanagh is a visually impaired bi/pangamer. Kavanagh said of video games:[have] Gaming has a really positive impact on my mental health, it helps me find community, and it’s really fun. Video games allow us to enjoy the virtual world that we are often denied in life. Additionally, I love advocating for improved accessibility, and the gaming industry is very forward-looking, so this is a great opportunity. ”
Also a pansexual gamer missy I also live with several disorders, including postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS), generalized anxiety disorder, chronic depression, and PTSD. Missy says gaming was her lifeline.
“Due to delayed sleep phase disorder, I have a cyclical sleep-wake cycle, so I don’t run on a normal 24-hour clock like everyone else, so some days I’m awake all night and some days I’m awake during the day. There are days when I’m like,’ and everything in between, I have no control over at all,” Missy told me. “Games are independent of set times. You can play them whenever you’re awake. If you’re feeling PEM (post-exertional malaise) or brain fog, you can play simple, low-impact single-player games If I feel more awake and social, I can play a multiplayer game and someone somewhere in the world will wake up and join me. It also helps me distract myself. My pain is always the worst when I don’t have anything to focus on, but I can really forget about myself during a match, so it helps a lot.”
Missy plays video games every day, sometimes for 10 hours at a time, while Kavanagh plays 12 to 20 hours a week. Game time varies from person to person, but can still have an essential impact on each player. Kavanagh and Missy have been encouraged to participate in games to overcome obstacles and give them a sense of community.
“I was born visually impaired,” Kavanagh said. “When she was 9 or 10, she was encouraged to play games to improve her hand-eye coordination.”
Like Kavanagh, Missy has been gaming since she was 15 years old, before she was officially diagnosed with the disorder.she found her love sims And I’ve been playing for over 17 years. Missy has been encouraged by medical professionals to continue playing games as they continue to be an outlet for positivity.
“I’ve been seeing a psychotherapist for the past three years and she’s been wonderful,” Missy said. “He definitely encourages my game. I was feeling stressed and guilty thinking, “Other people have to go to work, I’m a fraud.” He helped me see things objectively. Others can take a shower without lying down afterwards, or stay in bed for days just because they washed their hair. Others can load new games and learn on the fly. Sometimes you have to wait literally years to learn a new system. I had to talk a lot, but now I feel comfortable playing games. There are a lot of things you can’t do anymore, but you can do this one thing, and that’s a good thing, and there’s no need to feel guilty. ”
For people like Kavanagh and Missy, being disabled in many spaces can feel very isolating. But games not only help them with their disabilities, but also give them an outlet to express who they are. It brings comfort to an otherwise uncomfortable world.
Kavanagh said gaming is his happy place. “[Gaming is] It’s a great comfort and helps distract me from anxiety, having fun, enjoying challenges, chatting with friends, it’s my happy place! ”
Missy says: “I joke that my ‘desert island’ item would have to be a sand-and-waterproof PC with magical powers, a modified game, and spare parts for unexpected situations. Gaming is practically essential to my health.”
Similarly, gaming provides Kavanagh and Missy with a community of LGBT+ peers, making them feel at home. Missy even found herself chatting with other disabled LGBT+ gamers to form a happy corner of the internet.
“I’ve found some amazing queer and disabled gaming YouTubers and streamers to follow, and a great network to chat around,” Missy said. “Laura K Buzz, for example, is an autistic trans gamer who does a variety of video essays, TikTok streams, and tweets, including a really great series about accessible gaming. Her Content I’ve had great conversations with people in and around the world, including Jim Starling, who has ADHD and is non-binary. I’ve found people to follow and chat with, especially on Twitter.”
There are many disabled LGBT+ gamers out there, but it’s not just disabled queer people who are welcoming to the gaming community. Missy has also found that most queer gamers, including non-disabled gamers, are very accepting.
“In general, we’ve found the LGBTQIA+ gamer audience to be a pretty open-minded and welcoming bunch,” Missy said. “In my experience, when I met non-disabled gamers from the queer community and subsequently opened up about my disability, all I got was nothing but solidarity. There are moments when people don’t fully understand the situation or use expressions like “disabled,” which I and many in the disability community don’t like, but it’s never malicious. did. In contrast to regular gaming spaces, I feel much more comfortable talking about my disability in queer gaming spaces. Because there is a general sense that “we are already a group of people that society considers to be different from or less than, so what’s the difference?” ”
As for Kavanagh, she finds queer solace in the Twitch community. Kavanagh says her community is a growing space for people in her LGBT+ space, and it’s growing in ways she never expected. But apart from Twitch chat, Kavanagh said she doesn’t always feel accepted in queer spaces as a disabled person, as many communities are inaccessible to people with disabilities.
Gaming communities aren’t always accessible to people with disabilities, but Kavanagh believes accessibility is becoming more commonplace, like in her Twitch community. According to Kavanagh, “Game accessibility is a growing industry, with incredible disability advocates working with game developers and studios to improve games for everyone. It’s a great new market and we recognize that it makes economic sense to make it more accessible.I knew a blind person who bought a PlayStation just to play. the last of us 2. This is a billion dollar industry with a passion for accessibility, which is very exciting and could inspire other tech giants to get involved. ”
Video games are at home. They provide comfort, safe space, and accessibility to those who need it. People often talk about the negative aspects of gaming, such as how it can lead to anti-social behavior or encourage violence. I don’t know if that’s true, but the positive impact far outweighs those stereotypes, especially for people navigating life with a disability. While it may be considered anti-social behavior to some, for people with disabilities it is seen as a place to rest, take up space and be themselves. Similarly, a similar happy place emerges for those in the LGBTQIA+ community. Both Missy and Kavanaugh found a safe space for themselves as disabled and queer people. While Missy finds solace in her community of other disabled queer gamers and fellow queers, Kavanagh is a pioneer in her community of queer people on Twitch, and is dedicated to supporting disabled gamers. We are also creating space. Kavanaugh and Missy both fall into the disabled and queer categories and are amazing examples of how video games are having a positive impact around the world. we love seeing it!
This article was first published in April 2021
