Gamer Dreams

In an earlier post I talk about games, video games in particular and the positive effects that they have on the people who play them. ( Video games. The bane of modern society?) For the average person they can help improve things like hand to eye coordination. They can also help with pattern recognition and memory improvement. For people with certain handicaps video games can often be used to help lessen the impact. They can do things like helping the deaf learn to speak.

All of that may be new to most people, but is something that I have known for quite a few years now. A recent article in Game  Informer magazine about the effects of video games on the dreams of the average gamer, however, kind of blew my mind. The article says that video games actually change the way a person's subconscious mind works. It says that the minds of people who play video games on a regular basis are different from the minds of those who don't.

Yeah okay, different maybe, but in what way? The article went on to say that the average gamer has less nightmares than the average non gamer. At first I thought, that is ridiculous. How could that possibly be true?

But then, I really started thinking about it. I've been an avid gamer ever since about the fourth grade. And I really can't remember ever having any nightmares. In fact most of my dreams are freaking awesome. I have often wondered why other people have nightmares and I don't and I never really came up with a good reason for why not.

Video games teach creativity. They cause us to practice using our imagination to get out of difficult scenarios. I have known for a long time that they helped me to solve difficult problems while awake. It never occurred to me to think that they would do the same for problems in my dreams.

It does make sense though. For years I have known about something called lucid dreaming, where the dreamer realizes that what they are experiencing is not real and once having made that realization can change their dream at will.

When I am asleep there is very little I cannot do. I often have limitless power at my fingertips. I can fly, shoot lasers out of my eyes, blow things up with a thought and move impossibly large objects just by a few simple waves of my hands. I am never trapped and there is always something I can do, no matter what the situation.

After thinking through all of these things, it caused me to accept that the article may be right. So, having trouble sleeping? Break out the old video games and give them a whirl. And even if they don't work to get rid of your nightmares at least you'll have had some fun in the process and gotten your mind off your real world problems for a little while.