When the Escapist first hired Liana, I distinctly recall there being a mention that she was going to be doing cosplay coverage. At the time I was of mixed feelings about this, not that I hate cosplay or anything like that, but I have read several of Liana's articles and knew that she has a talent for long form editorials.
So, imagine my surprise when I click on this link and it was both not what I was expecting, but also what I expected from Liana - Long form, well written, well researched with actual interviews and opinions from real people. I'm quite glad to see that the Escapist is letting her run free like this.
Anyway, the one thing that I have to say about this subject is that gaming as escapism is probably most of why people play video games in the first place. The thing that's fantastic about it, as Liana mentions, is that it's a form of escapism that gives you varying degrees of control, which obviously is nice for people who are struggling with issues of not having control in their lives. So yes, I totally agree and see that there could be not only a therapeutic value for current gaming, but even potentially games MADE for therapy (I wonder what that would look like?)
However, and I think this is just a minor annoyance of mine, talks of trigger warnings and the such really seems a step too far for me. From a practical stand point, if someone wants to use them on their work or art, then so be it - I certainly am not going to tell anyone to not do that. The thing that annoys me is that quite simply put - the world doesn't come with a trigger warning on it and it likely never will. No amount of public or social awareness is going to completely wrap life in warnings where people can avoid everything and anything that might discomfort them, at least not without some Orwellian levels of societal monitoring from the government. So when I see people push for warnings on school rooms, or on text books, or before television shows I think to myself that this is a bit of nonsense due to the fact that it creates a very false sense of security for the people who want these warnings. To put it bluntly - If you have a problem with, I'll just pick something at random - rape imagery or stories, then don't watch crime procedurals without looking at what it's going to be about first (There is this little thing called the TV guide...).
I'm not saying this because I am a callous individual, I'm saying it because if people refuse to take charge of their own lives, even so far as not being responsible for using their noodle to avoid situations that they might find unpleasant, then they will never challenge themselves to grow beyond whatever mental state they are in. To put it bluntly - I believe that this type of coddling actually retards a persons attempt at recovery from these types of psychological wounds.
It seems that as a culture we are starting to lose the understanding that not all pain and discomfort is bad. Sometimes it is the price you pay in order to grow as a person. It really seems to me that this is just advocating a state where the person in question is to remain eternally powerless over their own state of affairs and I don't find that outcome particularly inspiring.
