Games as Therapy for Walter Reed’s Wounded

I was checking out the Washington Post and was surprised to find an article that speaks of positive things video games do for society. In this case, video games have become a form of therapy for wounded veterans staying at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. I’m a combat veteran myself who served with the 1st Cavalry Division and the 82nd Airborne Division. I currently rely on VA medical care myself and can’t honestly say too many positive things about the health system our country provides our veterans with. It is nice to here about something positive like this every once in a while.

When I was enlisted, video games were a big part of our down time when stateside and also sometimes on deployments. In our unit, Madden and Tekken tournaments in the barracks were common on week nights. I recall one time when I was in the middle east and re-enlisted, so they sent me to Camp Doha in Kuwait on a 5 day pass for rest and relaxation. I spent the entire 5 days eating ice cream and playing PS2 games they had set up in the lounge area at a place called Uncle Frostys. Playing games are really an escape for most gamers and people who are not gamers tend to focus on the negative impacts of video games, although the negatives in reality are really far and few between. Playing games for some people is an activity as valuable as watching a great movie or hanging out with friends. For me, games are a form of entertainment that allow me to get away from the reality of life even if it’s only for a few hours here and there.

It’s video-game night at Mologne House, a brick hotel-like building that is the largest residence at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Five new game consoles and some of the latest games are hooked up to large, donated television sets in a meeting space off the lobby. There are Tiger Woods and Tom Clancy games alongside Nintendo’s Wii Sports. One soldier debates bringing down his copy of Dance Dance Revolution. Just-unwrapped copies of Guitar Hero 2 are running on two of the TV sets — the evening’s biggest draw.