[QueenTomato]

Hi everyone,

May 9 to 15th is mental health awareness week and this year's theme is loneliness. Last year there we created a "Wall of Kindness" thread (click here to see it) where members commented with different quotes and advices they wanted to share with other members.

There are a lot of discussions about whether gaming can make people feel more lonely or less lonely.

According to suiceline.org.au, when video games burst onto the scene in the early 80s adults across the country said that they would rot our brains. As the years passed, they said video games would rob us of our ambition, our social skills and would lead to violence.

Instead, in the last 40 years, video games have exceeded all our expectations in ways in which we couldn’t possibly have ever imagined. They’ve opened up our hearts and imagination to pulse pumping fantasy worlds and in many ways, more importantly, gaming has connected players all across the world both in communication and also in adventure.

“Video games have evolved and changed with the times in such a significant way that they’ve become a major social network for people with a common hobby.”

What do you think? Does gaming make people feel less lonely or more lonely?

[DracoTarot]

@QueenTomato (Tamara) I think it depends on the circumstances. Actually, I think it's a 50/50 scenario. Joining a gaming community or clan gives people a sense of belonging and knowing there are more of you out there who share the same feelings and interests and when loneliness hits the hardest they are able to reach out and express themselves through gaming and other means.

On the other hand, I also feel and have seen before that gaming could be toxic to people. Live streams are a good example. People would take it too seriously and release negative energy onto others and themselves. People will distance themselves from this person and will fall back into the mindset of not being wanted and go back to feeling alone. I think it depends on how gaming is initially approached and also on the type of person.

My option is gaming is a good tool to evaluate yourself psychologically and also a good way to express yourself and know where to draw the line.

The gaming community has proven many critics wrong and funny enough some of them ironically also find gaming to be a release and a way of not feeling alone in this world.

I must confess I'm a person who feels constantly alone and gaming gives me a little release, especially when sharing a match or two with friends and family.

A while back I've written a few words to remind myself why I do not have to feel alone even if I am alone there is still hope.

It's hard to tell how mixed up you feel during these unforeseen times. Hoping what you need is behind every door. The keys may still be missing or don’t fit.

Each time you get hurt, you don’t need to change and to keep on pushing forward, because everyone has hopes, you're human after all. There are feelings you get sometimes, wishing you were someone else and feeling as though you never belong. Remember these feelings are not sadness, these feelings are not joy they are here to guide you towards enlightenment.

You do not need to hate for all the hurt that you feel. The world is just an illusion, trying to change you. Being like you are well is something else, who would comprehend? But there are some that do lay claim. If it’s not what you believe, it doesn't matter anyway.

A part of your soul ties you to the next world or maybe to the last, but we are still not sure. All that we do know, is to us the world is different as we are from the world.

Keep on fighting and know it’s not too late. Your face might be a dream to others and they will feel never wake up. Memories do hurt and it would be a good time to let them go. Keep the ones you cherish close to your heart and they will help you to move on.

Be thirsty for life and stay hungry for more even if there is so much to bear and overcome. Don’t feel too small and allow yourself to give up. In a desert of grey make a commitment to finding more colour. All the beauty is created from within you.


Be kind to your mind 😊😉❤

[j7schultz]

@QueenTomato (Tamara) - @DracoTarot

For me is also 50/50. I love playing with friends, but I don't get to do it very often and even when I do, depending on the games I feel useless, stupid or just bad because I am a noob, I die all the time, I am not fast/agile, I don't deal well with pressure and hardness in videogames. I end up getting frustrated and feeling like a burden to my team. That is why I prefer single-player games because I can do it on my time, my way and die without guilt.
On the other hand, I live alone, so talking/playing together helps me be part of a community and feel less lonely.
Also, I have been fighting depression for many years now. Life is hard and I don't need to add more to it and play hard games/modes, I just want to relax, have fun while I am playing and for a moment forget my problems.

I would love suggestions on games that don't have any combat/fight at all. Just chill and enjoy. Like escaping rooms, detectives or any other where people (real or NPC) can't kill me. Does anybody know any games like that?

[LockOut]

@j7schultz
it's fine you can play fight or shooting games and have fun at least you are not on tournament to try hard like ok the Victoy give you so hype but it's fine if you lose if you scared from you team flame you just mute them or play with me when I play with friends don't care if I win or lose it
And now competitive games not only about shooting you can be tank to save you homie or be support to let your friends stronger or heal them
Like when we played on game night like cs:go we dead alot but no One think oh the team losing Because I am not good enough you can chill here with any game do you like😄




You said you want game with no fightsHorror games work with you?


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@QueenTomato (Tamara)
and about the post it's depend about who plays like some people try running from life to games ( like he choice run from problem not to fight it ) so yeah will make him lonely because he is scared from real life but when he play he feels so comfortable and he is not lonely

And who play it and keep going on his life I don't think will affect on him

[QueenTomato]

@DracoTarot I agree, everyone wants to feel that sense of belonging whether it's online or offline.

As you said, some gaming communities (whether forums or streamers or discord groups etc) can be toxic and players choose which kind of community they would want to belong to.

I believe that almost every single person can go through days where they feel lonely even if they were surrounded by people. And it's okay. It's okay not to be okay. It's good to identify these emotions and be conscious of them!

There's a quote I once read and it stuck with me so I thought I'd share it too: "Feelings are just visitors, let them come and go"

And most importantly, be kind to your mind💙

[QueenTomato]

@j7schultz Hi Jackie!

Thank you for sharing something so personal!

I completely understand where you're coming from! I hope you don't feel this way when playing with us because everyone is welcome to play in our #GameTogether regardless of their experience in that game. Besides, most of us (Community Managers) are noobs in a lot of the games we play so we can all learn together, no one is a burden on anyone 💙


Someone very close to me was also going through depression and I promise that there is light at the end of the tunnel - and you are really so strong for fighting through 💙

Besides life is ups and downs and there's always a rainbow after every storm 🌈

[QueenTomato]

@j7schultz forgot to add regarding the game recommendation, I would highly recommend playing Catan. It's initially a board game but can be played on mobile or on Steam. It's super super super nice - my favorite game actually!

Happy to show you around if you'd like 😊