How does creating a game help someone recover from a brain injury?
1: “How could a game so seemingly trivial, so admittedly simple, intervene so powerfully in such serious, in some cases life-and-death, circumstances?” Jane McGonigal writes in her book SuperBetter: The Power of Living Gamefully.
Following her 2009 concussion, Jane was at her lowest point, plagued by suicidal thoughts.
Then, suddenly, she had a thought: What if she created a game to help with her healing and recovery?
As a PhD and an experienced game designer, she knew exactly what to do.
She assumed a secret identity, adopted a challenge mindset, identified an epic goal and smaller quests along the way, named her “bad guys,” recruited allies, and outlined power-ups.
What was most surprising? It helped.
“It felt like a miracle to me,” Jane recalls. “It wasn’t a miracle cure for the headaches or the cognitive symptoms—they lasted more than a year, and it was the hardest year of my life by far. But even when I still had the symptoms, even while I was still in pain, I stopped suffering.”
She then posted a video online, showing how to play. Before long, people from around the world were sharing their own SuperBetter games and positive results.
“To be frank, if it hadn’t already worked for me, there’s no way I would have believed it was possible,” she says now.
2: As Jane continued recovering, she did research and immersed herself in the scientific literature.
She writes: “And here’s what I learned: some people get stronger and happier after a traumatic event.”
Scientists call it “post-traumatic growth.”
We are likely more familiar with the phrase “post-traumatic stress disorder,” where individuals experience ongoing anxiety and depression.
[Note: Post-traumatic growth is not the opposite of post-traumatic stress disorder,” Jane writes. “In fact, one study found that symptoms of post-traumatic stress were actually predictive of eventual post-traumatic growth—possibly because transformative growth requires wrestling in a deep and sustained way with something very difficult. If we bounce back too quickly, we miss the growth.]
“Research has shown that traumatic events don’t always lead to long-term difficulty,” Jane explains. “Instead, some individuals find that struggling with highly challenging life circumstances helps them unleash their best qualities and eventually lead happier lives.”
She shares the top five things that people with post-traumatic growth say:
1. My priorities have changed. I’m not afraid to do what makes me happy.
2. I feel closer to my friends and family.
3. I understand myself better. I know who I really am now.
4. I have a new sense of meaning and purpose in my life.
5: I’m better able to focus on my goals and dreams.
3: “There’s actually something quite astonishing about the benefits of post-traumatic growth, something I noticed in the course of my research,” Jane notes.
She came upon an article titled “Regrets of the Dying” written by an Australian hospice worker, Bronnie Ware, who had spent a decade helping patients at the end of their lives.
“She wrote that the same regrets were repeated again and again by her patients, year after year,” Jane shares. “Apparently, they are nearly universal. Not everyone has regrets on their deathbed—but if they do, they are likely to be one or more of the following:
1. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
2. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
3. I wish I had let myself be happier.
4. I wish I’d had the courage to express my true self.
5. I wish I’d lived a life true to my dreams, instead of what others expected of me.
“Think about this list for a moment,” Jane encourages us. “Are you having the same ‘aha!’ moment that I had, two years ago, when I first encountered it?
“Remarkably, the top five regrets of the dying are essentially the exact opposite of the top five experiences of post-traumatic growth.
“With post-traumatic growth,” she observes, “we find the strength and courage to do the things that make us happy, and to understand and express our true selves. We prioritize relationships and meaningful work that inspires us.
With SuperBetter, you choose a clear, meaningful real-life challenge (an “epic win”) that you want to pursue. Doing so may help you unlock your ability to lead a life truer to your dreams and free of regrets.
“Looked at this way,” Jane writes, post-traumatic growth—or getting superbetter—seems like a pretty strong candidate for the single most desirable personal transformation anyone could hope to undertake.”
More tomorrow!
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Reflection: Am I allowing my current challenges to shape me into a stronger, more authentic version of myself—or just trying to get through them?
Action: Reframe one difficulty I’m facing as an opportunity for growth and identify one small way I can engage it with more courage today.
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