SuperBetter

    In the Ted Talk titled "The game that can give you 10 extra years of life", Jane McGonigal introduces a revolutionary way of thinking about video games. Instead of viewing video games as "a waste of time", McGonigal encourages us to see how these games can actually enhance our lives and make us feel better, and even healthier.  

    How is this possible, you ask? McGonigal starts off by talking about her own health trials. When she got a concussion several years ago, McGonigal became severely depressed. As a gamer, she decided that the best way to get over her symptoms would be to develop her own video game.
    That's when "Jane the concussion slayer" was born. The game was set up to where McGonigal would create goals for herself and when she reached these goals, she would receive powerups to help her "defeat the bad guys". Her husband and twin sister also joined the game, as her allies, and helped her to conquer the villains. By playing the game, McGonigal reported that her depression seemed to "immediately vanish".

Image via http://www.baseconcept.co.uk

    She used this new-found intelligence to start another game similar to "Jane the concussion slayer", but named this one "SuperBetter". SuperBetter is currently played by over thousands of individuals each day and many of these players have reported (some via YouTube) the same benefits as McGonigal did during her health crisis.
    In a world where technology is rampant, it's not surprising that even something as seemingly simple as video games could actually be used for something as complex as increasing an individual's overall mental health. I honestly can't wait to see what new advances McGonigal discovers in video gaming technology next. Her creativity has really inspired me to think outside the box!