Originally published in the New York Journal of Books, September 14, 2015.
Releases September 15, 2015.
Super
Better: A Revolutionary
Approach to Getting Stronger, Happier, Braver and More Resilient—Powered by the
Science of Games by Jane McGonigal
By Amy Henry
Jane McGonigal has been acclaimed for decades for her
theories in gaming and the value of games in relation to positive psychology and
problem solving; however, it wasn’t until 2009, when she suffered a traumatic
brain injury (TBI) that she created the concept of Super Better.
Super
Better is a very personal method of transforming the depression
and anxiety related to injury into a successful mode for coping and actually
getting better.
She goes from plain Jane to “Jane the Concussion Slayer,” a
new identity used as “a way to start feeling heroic and determined instead of
hopeless.” Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is examined in detail throughout the
book, as she shows that there is a positive component, an alternative, called
post-traumatic growth. In this she seeks to show how one can not only recover
from TBI but also become better than ever before for the experience.
Her core strategy, or the rules of the SuperBetter game, are
seven touchstones for each player to achieve. They are achieved simultaneously,
not as individual steps. She does encourage one to start with the simplest, but
ultimately wants her readers to focus on interacting with all seven features of
the program. The first is “Challenge yourself,” and this is the most dramatic
of the set: many injured or depressed people don’t feel up to another challenge
than the one they are already battling. Instead, she shows how challenge is
possible, necessary, and rewarding.
She starts with quests, some so simple as to seem silly; however,
willingness to try these simple tasks is a way of opening up the mind to new
achievements. And it’s the mind that controls much of the pain experiences and
anxiety issues that trouble the entire person.
The book is filled with anecdotal evidence as well as
serious scholarly references. For example, she discusses burn patients, who
suffer excruciating pain when their wounds are cleansed. Yet a virtual reality
game, set in a snow filled environment, was given to some patients to play
during the process. Their focus on the game and the impression of the snow
enabled a reduction in pain so great that some didn’t realize their wounds were
being cleaned while they played. Why does it work? The mind was intensely
distracted, and the benefits were enormous:
“In order to prevent pain signals from turning into a
conscious awareness of pain, patients need to swing their spotlight of
attention somewhere else—and keep it there.”
In this, it’s cognitive focus that provides the needed
distraction to focus pain somewhere else. And much of this is as simple as
playing a game of Tetris. Tetris, the old-school video game, employs a simple
but fast paced strategy of matching tiles in specific ways. Created in 1984, it
still commands huge benefits when one is discussing cognitive focus. More
traditional games like Scrabble, crosswords, or puzzles simply don’t offer the
speed and required attention to become sufficiently distracted. So McGonigal
encourages readers to focus on digital games with color and speed to divert
attention.
Some of the applications of such gaming benefits are still
evolving to be used for maximum benefit. In one case, Oxford scientists found
that people exposed to a horrific situation that would likely result in them
suffering PTSD could alter that eventuality by playing Tetris within six hours
of seeing or being involved in the triggering situation.
Fascinating, yes. But in real life how does one predict a
situation of such staggering proportions? And then, how would one possibly be
able to ensure a Tetris game would be on hand? Further, would a victim even be
willing (or able) to dispel their shock and pick up a video game? The benefits
are intriguing, but the application is still impractical.
McGonigal also addresses the many stories in the media about
how bad video games are and how they distance people from real life. She
clarifies this by asking why people are playing these games for hours:
“If you typically play games to escape your real life—that
is, to ignore your problems, to block unpleasant emotions, or to avoid confronting
stressful situations—you will have a very difficult time translating your game
skills to real life.”
Yes, gaming to escape is not beneficial. But if one is
choosing to “play with purpose” as a form of quality family time, or to learn a
new skill, or to relax after a rough day, then gaming can be a positive force.
Viable applications are discussed throughout, mostly in cases of pain
management. And specific Challenges, such as the Ninja Challenge, can aid any
person in altering their minds, bodies, and relationships.
While McGonigal starts with her personal recovery story, she
completes the book with a positive scope that widens out the possibility of
anyone becoming SuperBetter via her tactics.
Special thanks to Penguin Press
and Elizabeth Calamari for the Advance Review Copy.
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