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Pokemon Go Therapy!

JannaSenior Contributor23 July 2016, 2:14 pm AEST

Pokemon Go Therapy!

Hi All,

I'm sure most of you have heard about Pokemon Go. The new location based, mobile gaming app which uses GPS and the camera of a smart phone, to catch, battle and train Pokemon.

I am the mother of a 17 year old son who suffers from major depressive disorder and social anxiety disorder who is currently in residential care in a CAMHS facility.

My son has been struggling with his MH problems for approximately 4 years. As such he dropped out of school and dropped out of life. His days were spent entirely in his bedroom - either in bed or on his computer at his desk. He had disengaged from life entirely. Since being in this facility he has improved significantly. They have managed to restore a healthy sleep/wake cycle, he is completing school work again despite having to repeat a year. He has become more confident, engaging, talkative and energetic.

The most marked improvement happened last week whilst on school holidays at home. On Wednesday last week my son got out of bed, dressed and said "I'm going for a walk"!! I don't think words could describe the look on my face or what I felt when he said this. Given that he had downloaded the Pokemon Go app the day before, I inherently knew what he was up to and said "You're going to look for Pokemon aren't you?". To which he replied "Yep". With that he headed out the front door (that's a first) and walked kilometres for 2.5 hours in search of Pokemon. On the following day he did the same, but overdid it and took the next two days to rest after such strenuous physical exertion.

Upon return to the facility on Tuesday it appears that Pokemon Go has taken nearly all the adolescent residents by storm. So much so that when I caught up with his psychiatric registrar she alluded that she had also downloaded the app as a means of "connecting" with the kids. They walk and talk and catch Pokemon as part of their therapy! My son, along with other adolescent "inpatients" have embraced this with major positive results. They now eat their meals with haste so they can get out and walk to catch Pokemon instead of heading to the common room to just sit and watch TV or the like. My son has walked a minimum of 1 hour every day in his persuit of Pokemon, along with others. In his weekly weigh this week in he has lost 3kg since his last weigh in prior to the holidays (2.5 weeks ago) ..... most likely due to increased exercise.

All the nursing and clinical staff at this facility have embraced this app positively. They are seeing adolescents suddenly connecting with each other, voluntarily engaging in physical exercise which gets them out into the fresh air and sunshine and a positive shift in their mood as they actively seek Pokemon in unison.

It's Saturday today. My son is home for the weekend. Yesterday he had a dental appointment in the afternoon and volunteered to walk home ..... the long way. Today he has dressed himself and yet again headed out for some healthy walking in search of Pokemon. Yahoo ..... I couldn't be happier! Beats being holed up in his bedroom in PJs for the weekend. This is great and just what he needed.

Because of what I've experienced first hand I decided to Google it and low and behold found this: https://www.engadget.com/2016/07/13/pokemon-go-mental-health-science/

So it's not just me; it's not just the facility. There appears to be real benefits in this game.

Janna ❤️

4 replies

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In response to: Pokemon Go Therapy!

AppleblossomSenior Contributor25 July 2016, 1:24 am AEST

Re: Pokemon Go Therapy!

On the train, I saw a lovely family of 4 young adults out with their mum playing it.

Glad your son is doing better.

My son derided the new craze ... his dad would have done the same thing ... if it helps some kids thats great.

I also used to read or engage with my kids interests ... that helps most of all.

In response to: Re: Pokemon Go Therapy!

JannaSenior Contributor25 July 2016, 6:40 pm AEST

Re: Pokemon Go Therapy!

Pokemon Go is the go in my world right now. My son has done more physical exercise and seen more of the outdoors in 1 week than what he has done in 3 years.

On Saturday he dressed and left home in search of Pokemon at 1.15pm and did not return until 4.45pm. On Sunday he did the same except extended his "out" time by 1 hour.

Pre-Pokemon Go he would spend his entire weekend in his bedroom and not bother to dress. What a difference this has made in his life. Even this morning on our journey to the facility he was bright, alert and tuned in to his Pokemon Go app as we drove through peak hour traffic. That's a stark contrast to the boy that reclined his seat and slept throughout the entire journey just a couple of weeks ago.

He tells me that he has met people and socialised whilst hunting for Pokemon .... this is so out-of-character and a total turn around for him ... considering he suffers with social anxiety disorder!!

It may not be considered to be healthy or of any great benefit, but I can only speak of my personal experience with and what it has done for my son. Its taken him from the confines of his bedroom out into the world where he can get physical, visual, auditory and social stimulation. For me the rewards of seeing him actually engaging in life, albiet via Pokemon Go, are so internally satisfying. I see a boy who had landed back on earth, as opposed to one which was free falling in a void.

Janna x

In response to: Re: Pokemon Go Therapy!

NikNikSenior Contributor26 July 2016, 8:18 pm AEST

Re: Pokemon Go Therapy!

..I may be a little hooked on the game myself *runs outside to get pikachu*

In response to: Re: Pokemon Go Therapy!

JannaSenior Contributor27 July 2016, 1:46 pm AEST

Re: Pokemon Go Therapy!

@NikNik:

LOL - your comment was hilarious.

I myself have also had to become familiar with Pokemon Go as a means of being able to talk the talk and have a level of understanding!! So when I was sitting in the ANZ bank waiting patiently for my number to come up I caught 3 pokemon LOL and it just so happens that there is a Pokestop next to our GP's rooms ..........LOL

I spoke with my sons psychiatrist today and yet again Pokemon Go was discussed. She revealed that they discussed it at the "Team Meeting" and were trying to determine how much of my son's improvement was attributable to his increased meds and how much was due to Pokemon Go. In the psychiatrist's words "I think that it's at least 50%". Shame that Pokemon Go and the medication increase coincided like they have, otherwise we may have had a clearer causal relationship.

The feedback that I received today is that his treating team are very impressed with the very obvious improvement in my sons energy and mood. It was noted that he is laughing more - infact the psychiatrist commented that in a 1 hour walk & talk session he would previously laugh around 3-5 times and now he is averaging 20.

Janna ❤️

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