Like all professions, medicine is not immune to social norms and biases that influence what are considered valid forms of knowledge, who are its purveyors, and through what formats it is communicated. To take an apolitical stance (if such a thing is possible), this piece calls attention to an aspect of the humanities––medical and otherwise––that has long been pushed to the fringes: video games.
Herein I argue not only that video games are an epistemically valid artform but also that the health humanities should actively incorporate them into critical discussions. As any diligent qualitative researcher would say, such arguments must position the writer, so I’ll begin by briefly describing how I came to this topic.
At the time of writing, I am a resident in psychiatry in New York City. I grew up and completed my formal education in the Middle Atlantic region, and video games have been a part of my life the entire way. As a child, I was fortunate enough to play both handheld (e.g., Nintendo Game Boy) and console (e.g., PlayStation) systems. I gravitated toward role-playing games (RPGs), those in which the player acts as a particular character to live through that character’s narrative (often a hero’s journey). I especially loved fantasy and science fiction RPGs, which mirrored my passions in literature. Aesthetically, they transported me to rich worlds with stunning visuals. Practically, they taught me skills I didn’t realize I was learning (e.g., map reading, orientation in a digital space, manual dexterity). Emotionally, they carried me through incredibly challenging moments, providing a mentally stimulating escape when my child and adolescent brain needed time to process.
Yet, I carried––and, at times, still carry––immense shame for video games’ presence in my life.
The messaging had always been clear: if you want to do nothing with your life, then go ahead and play video games in your parents’ basement. Whenever I heard this, I became smaller. Despite my life aspirations and dreams of being a physician, I couldn’t help remembering that I was indeed the child living in his parents’ basement playing video games. I felt I was one step away from failure at any moment. I still enjoyed my games immensely, but I constantly created timelines for when I would “give them up.” Video games became a vice, a tumor that I needed to excise lest it devour me.
But I couldn’t.
Every time I attempted to leave video games in my past, something brought them back: the newest installation in my favorite series, a need for variation in my leisure activities, an offer to play a collaborative game remotely with new friends, a need for active escape. Still, I kept it secret. I talked about it with my closest friends, but only if they too struggled with the same addiction.
Until one day I stopped. I made the active choice to talk about it with my peers, co-residents, and supervisors if it naturally presented itself. And, miraculously, the shame started to ease. I realized that video games nourish my life in ways that other activities do not. In some respects, they offer the narrative of literature, the visuals of movies, and the interactivity of board games all wrapped in one beautiful image. I started to question why I could spend countless hours reading or watching shows without concern but immediately felt guilty when I played a game. This piece, and subsequent series, seeks to challenge this socialized notion that video games are a waste of life force.
Just like other forms of media, video games both comment on and transform the human experience. Video games have expanded into innumerable genres and formats. Gone are the days when you needed a desktop computer or a gaming system to play; the size and pervasiveness of the mobile game market is near incomprehensible. Video games have become a part of mainstream culture. It’s time we change our viewpoint on them and treat them like the critical pieces of media they are. Through MedHum, we will join in rewriting this narrative, highlighting the value of video games within the health humanities. First on our docket is an open-world game called Forspoken, a game with a bit of controversy in its reception. Stay plugged in to read it soon!
Web image by Aditya Sethia
