Commentary

Pokemon Go Is Just A Game

It’s an odd time. We believe nothing at all. And then again, we believe everything.

A little while ago I came upon a video piece on Weather.com that stated, flat out, that playing Pokemon Go improves mental health. The story has been everywhere online.

Because so much video is now played on smartphones with the volume low or turned off, stories are often told entirely with graphic overlays, like this one was on Weather.com. Written down, it’s poetic.

Below, is the title, based on the headline the Website gave it, then followed by the entire text


“Pokemon Go’s Weird Side Effect”

Millions of Americans are Pokemon Go-ing outside

It’s even helping our mental health

Exercise is considered a natural remedy for depression

Also players can bump into other players on their journey

Good for social anxiety.

Fighting depression while you catch ‘em all.


That’s all of it. Those are the medical “facts.”

I am not at all dubious, are you? Did you ever see a skyscraper clear out during a fire drill? People seem really happy. Accounting talks with editorial. Many employees take little walks before they’re let back in. They return refreshed, energized.

Pokemon Go? Same thing. But not many articles on "The Visiting Fire Marshal's Mental Health Miracle."

Probably, this kind of pop science has always been part of human experience. (Look at old time remedies). But there’s an avalanche of this stuff now--snappy, short video vignettes about nothing, really, substantiated by conjecture. That that would be forgivable if these pieces weren’t the kinds of things Websites have now made the focus of their attention rather than the trifles they really are. Those little meme-like kernels of “truth” are so popular.

The Pokemon Go is good for mental health thing has caught on. It's been all over. It's even been expanded. WebMD posted, “Sore Legs Become Pandemic As Pokemon Go Players Accidentally Get Exercise.” (So! This just could be a strategy to foist  “sore leg pandemic” panic stories in these dog days of August when only “short-fingered vulgarians” make news.

Health.com found an “evolutionary clinical psychologist” who said Pokemon Go therapy can work. But he cautioned, ‘One obvious potential drawback [of the app] is that Pokémon Go could become the only way a person can interact with the world.’ ”  Hidden danger.

Endgadget carried the testimony of Dr. John Grohol, who the site said is an expert on how tech affects human behavior and mental health. Grohol said Pokemon Go may be useful because the sort of people who are heavily into games aren’t heavily into going outside or seeking help.

Fast Company seems to have been an early debunker. “Harvard-trained psychiatrist Arshya Vahabzadeh” told the Website that  “plenty of people with severe mental illness are not on social media.  Others are “too incapacitated to be part of this conversation.’ ”

I’m going outside now. It’s hot, right?


pj@mediapost.com

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