Table 1.

Recovery strategies, video game play examples and relevant quotations.

Selected area of recovery/suicide prevention	Example from video game play	Illustrative quote
Adaptive coping
Distraction	From rumination or suicidal thoughts	“… there was times I was suicidal… you gotta find something to fill those spaces in when you got the time to think of-you know, the devil’s workshop…”
Focus	When symptoms or medication interfere with thinking	“It helps with refocusing because yes, they give you tools to do these, but when you ‘re in the midst of all that chaos, you ‘re not thinking about tools…”
Preventing relapse	Substituting for alcohol or heroin use	“I might be playing video games for two hours one day, well I’m sober for those two hours.”
Eudaimonia/well-being
Autonomy/confidence	Sense of accomplishment	“That’s what I love about it. Challenges and stuff like that. Because it brings me back to the fact that there’s challenges in life that I gotta face… It helps me recognize those and go for it.”
Meaning/insight	Good vs evil	“Things make sense again… You know, good, evil. Evil is evil; you stomp it out, we ‘re good.”
Social relationships
Social support	Playing and talking with family members in person	“The most important thing to me now is just maintaining a good relationship with my family. And we do it through video games…”
Connecting	Meeting other military members online	“I’ve met a bunch of active duty infantry guys and we play specific combat games together. We all know the lingo and it’s awesome.”
Role functioning
Leadership	Leading a team or guild	“My club was the number one ranked club in [the game]…Isold a portion of it… for $5,000 because it was so popular.”
Meaningful work	Being a professional gamer or streamer	“I broadcast on a website… That’s my hobby… and I finally got into it professionally…I actually work for [them] now.”
Managing feelings/mood
Stress relief	Enjoying a refreshing break	“The other day when I was playing that game with the guy, Ijust felt refreshed… like when you watch a movie and the movie’s over and then you ‘re like ah, I can breathe.”
Relieving boredom	“Getting into” a game	“I can’t stand solitude, things being slow. I need flashes of light and noise, and 30 billion things going on at once… [With games], sometimes you get so into it you forget to breathe.”