To play the game you have to identify and then battle “bad guys,” or the obstacles or triggers in the way of your goal. But McGonigal says it could be considered a good supplement to treatment, and anyone who has participated in cognitive-behavior therapy will see that it has some similarities.
The game isn’t therapy, and shouldn’t be used in place of therapy for people who have real mental health concerns. She has since renamed the game SuperBetter and turned it into an app that other people can play to help them with things they are struggling with-anything from weight loss and lowering stress to mental health issues like depression or anxiety. Over time her symptoms began to leave, and while she says she can’t totally credit the game, she does know that her mood improved as soon as she started playing. She called it Jane the Concussion Slayer, in honor of her hero Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Working in short bursts, and with the help of family and friends, McGonigal began making a game to help herself get better. She was surrounded by research claiming this, so she started to think maybe a game could be the answer for her. The book would argue that games make us happier, more creative, and more resilient.
“My brain began telling me that I would like to die.”ĭuring this time she was supposed to be writing her first book, Reality Is Broken, not that she was able to work on it. And so McGonigal, who has big blonde curls and was wearing sparkly tennis shoes to her speaking event, disclosed that she starting having suicidal thoughts. In a vicious cycle, her doctors warned her that it would be harder for her brain to recover if she stayed feeling depressed. Like many people who experience serious brain injuries, McGonigal was also feeling depressed and anxious, which only increased as she avoided doing the things that made her happy. “Obviously there was no reason to live,” she joked to the crowd she was telling her story to at the New York Public Library last week.īut it began to actually feel that way for her. Her doctor put her on cognitive rest to help her brain heal quicker, which meant for months she couldn’t read, write, work, run, drink coffee, or play video games. She was in a mental fog-unable to concentrate or remember things-and experienced headaches, nausea, and vertigo. McGonigal knocked her head against an open cabinet door and sustained a traumatic brain injury, with effects that lasted for a full year.
Six years ago Jane McGonigal, the game designer and creator of several extremely popular TED talks, had what she calls a “stupid household accident” that changed her life.
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