Honor and Game On Days for Tri-State Veterans
To capture the spirit of Veterans Day and celebrate the service of vets in the Tri-States, Dubuque Esports League will host the first Annual Honor and Game On for Tri-State Veterans. On Friday, November 10, from 7:30-10 p.m. and Saturday, November 11, from 1-7 p.m., all veterans are invited to play for free by the hour at Dubuque Esports League. You may also bring a guest, who will receive 50% off their gameplay.
This event is being held in conjunction with the Veterans Freedom Center.
Facts about video gaming and veterans
Many active-duty service members and veterans play video games to relieve stress, connect with friends, and have fun during their tours. This is also a way for service members to connect with their family and friends while being deployed. VA News
Every military branch has an esports team, and service members can be assigned to a unit and compete as their full-time job, much like soldiers are assigned to the Army Marksmanship Unit. US Department of Defense
Gaming is used to promote positive mental health and combat veteran suicide. US Department of Veteran Affairs
Research shows that video games support recovery for service women and men showing signs of PTSD, anxiety, and depression. GamingWell
Video games, when used in therapy, can enhance the rapport between the client and counselor.
Online communication enhances the quantity and quality of communication linked to greater closeness and intimacy. GamingWell
An exploratory study of active duty US military and veteran gamers found that almost half of the participants used video games to cope with challenges associated with their military service. VA News
The game Call of Duty Modern Warfare III drops on November 10. We plan to have that game available, and the vets will be the first to play it. Currently, Call of Duty offers an endowment where 100% of donations go directly to fund veteran job placements.
Great articles about how gaming supports our veterans
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Aggie Hirst, International Political Sociology, olab018
While the explosion of videogames as a global entertainment medium has been explored in International Relations (IR) and associated fields in some detail in recent years, the proliferation of games in military settings remains under-researched. This paper examines the uses to which US military veterans put videogames following service, showing that they play an important role in healing and rehabilitation processes through community building, therapeutic relief, and suicide prevention.
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Luther Elliott, Andrew Golub, Matthew Price, and Alexander Bennett Games for Health Journal 2015 4:4, 271-277
This article examines recent combat veterans’ experiences of “first-person shooter” (FPS) gaming and its relationship to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Current PTSD treatment approaches increasingly use virtual reality (VR) technologies, which have many similarities with FPS games. To explore these similarities, this article presents six case studies from recently separated veterans in New York City who reported both current PTSD symptoms and regular use of combat-themed FPS games. In open-ended interviews, participants discussed a range of benefits as well as the importance of regulating use and avoiding particular contextual dimensions of gaming to maintain healthy gaming habits. Findings demonstrate the need for more comprehensive study and dissemination of best-practices information about FPS gaming in the context of combat-related PTSD symptomatology.
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Colder Carras M, Bergendahl M and Labrique AB (2021) Community Case Study: Stack Up’s Overwatch Program, an Online Suicide Prevention and Peer Support Program for Video Gamers. Front. Psychol. 12:575224
Traditional mental health services are often not enough to meet the needs of people at risk for suicide, especially in populations where help-seeking is stigmatized. Stack Up, a non-profit veteran organization whose goal is to use video games to bring veterans together, recognized a need in its gaming-focused online community and created the Overwatch Program. This suicide prevention and crisis intervention program is delivered entirely through the Internet by trained community members through Discord text and voice chat. By combining aspects of virtual gaming communities, veteran mental health, and community-based peer support, this program provides an innovative format for implementing crisis intervention and mental health support programs. We describe here the context and features of the program, an ongoing evaluation project, and lessons learned.