How playing Facebook games helped me heal my brain from the effects of a stroke, I would recommend playing games as a valuable tool, to get your brain back on track. or if you know someone that has had a stroke, feel free to share this post, or the idea's I've written about with them....
You know how you see a meme about how you shouldn't judge other people, you haven't walked in their shoes.... this is an example of that, concerning facebook games and recovering from a stroke.
You know if you don't play games on facebook, getting requests from your friends to play can be annoying.
Back in 2011 I had a stoke, and while I could walk and talk ok'ish straight away, I had damage in my brain, before the stroke, I had a very good memory, and was quick and alert, and used a computer with confidence,
then overnight I was suddenly very forgetful, I had trouble remembering how to point the mouse and click quickly and often so confused, following instructions, and doing things like counting objects, I would lose count just so easy, forgetting peoples names, and what we had talked about 10 minutes before, I couldn't even remember logical orders, so had to stop my favourite thing in the world to do writing and heck was I very angry that my life had changed yet again, that no-one could really see from the outside.
A doctor I saw, suggested I play computer games, to rebuild the connections in my brain that were damaged.
With games, there is always a lot of mouse use and you get tasks to do things like, Plant 10 flowers, water ten flowers, sell ten flowers, or Find 20 red stones, just very simple instructions.
Well for a start, I had the hardest time, even remember what they task was, I would read the instructions, close the window, and instantly I couldn't see the words, i would forget, so I would need to open that task window again. Hell it was so frustrating. I started writing down the instructions on a paper beside me so I could look at it, to remember what the hell I was supposed to be doing....
As time when on, I would remember the instruction, until I was distracted, like if i turned away from the screen to pick up my coffee mug to take a sip, and I would then have to go back and check what it was again.
Then with those instructions, you generally have to go through some process, maybe you have to make more coins to be able to get enough money to buy the flowers you are planting, for that you may have to grow strawberries, water them, harvest them, sell them, and do that over and over to get the money.... then often you can get fertilizer by feeding pigs, the fertilizer when spread of plants makes them grow faster.
While all these tasks may seem inane to most people that don't like games, for me, at the start it was while frustrating, it was a a way I could constantly be doing something to build up those broken connections in my brain. The little achievements I made, of remember what the task was and doing it, was monumental to me when I finally did it.
Then with many of facebook games, you can join a group, where you help each other out, become neighbors within the game, either sending them gifts or with some of the more complex tasks. Within those groups, for many many months, I would forget who people were, people I had had many interactions with, would change their profile picture, and I would forget who they were....
But also that old saying, that the best way to learn something well, is to teach it, I would help and encourage other people, that were just starting the game.
In real life, I couldn't be around people, because they frustrated me so much, and one side effect of my stroke what I started to swear and curse something terrible, I went from a mild mannered, well spoken woman, to a loud, foul mouthed bitch from hell. But with the group, and writing my responses to peoples I could control those outbursts.
Now about the requests from people that play games, many of those games, are down right sleazy, the way they send out those requests, you may not get something you need, if you don't send them out, or you can't even pass a stage until you do... or even worse they say they are just asking your neighbors within the game, you say ok, and then realize it went out to everyone on your friends list.
Now over 4 years later, I have fixed all those connections in my brain, since I live alone, and don't haven't interacted with many real people in those years, and I can tell you I could never have done that, without facebook games.
Now I am back to normal.... well normal is stretching it huh.... as normal as I can be ;) and I play games just as a pastime, where I don't have to think too much, a far cry from why I started playing them...
Anyway, the moral of the story is, to just be aware, generally other people don't set out to annoy you, and there maybe a very good reason, that they are playing games, even though you may think they are just wasting all your seconds, having to scroll past their request. There is a way you can turn those requests off, or turn off anything you find annoying on your wall. :)
Replies to post....
Christine LL: Perhaps at the beginning you could add:- Playing Facebook games helped me heal my brain from the effects of a stroke. I recommend it to all who are trying to get their brain on track. - Cause we want to help people who are at their wit's end trying to figure out how to recover from where you were - what do you think? Lynny Bishop:
Lynny Bishop: Good point.... Done
Christine LL: And you said writing was your favourite thing?? What did you use to write then?
Lynny Bishop: i used to write about pretty much anything I knew about. I have an uncanny ability to learn new computer programs, without using helpfiles... I never found help files very helpful. So I'd learn a program, and write the easy way to learn to use them, The first program I learn to use was an easier version of Photoshop, you used to get it with your scanner as a free program, I used to own a website called Photo Impact for Dimmies, and wrote hundreds of easy to understand tutorials and articles.
I also used to read or learn complicated idea's or concepts, medical or technical stuff generally, I'd find out what all the big words meant, and them rewrite the article in my easy writing style so anyone could understand it.
I have written a couple of fiction books, over the years, and have done loads of shorts stories, and a few more non fictions almost finished, lost them all with fried hard drives and computer crashes... There was a time I had 30 blogs at once, on different subjects, to do with websites, what you should include on a website, what you shouldn't. how to get them ranking highly in search engines, the importance of pictures, easy instructions, and how to get your website ranking highly in google.
Christine LL: Oh how sad you never printed any out?
Lynny Bishop: Yeah, I was always too broke to afford the ink, and most I was never completely finished rewrites.
I did print and sell my very first cookbook out lol.... I wrote a cookbook for people living on low food budgets, Just a few months ago, I get that cookbook digitalised again, and transferred all the recipes to a facebook page... But like I said today, I'm lousy at selling what I do.
Dona F... Oh I remember my brain being just like yours post stroke. Unless one has been there it is difficult for them to understand how it is.
Lynny Bishop: Dona The only bonus I see looking back at having that stroke, is the experiences of having it, and that long journey recovering from it. Of course you were part of that journey Dona, those books you sent me, on the sort of hidden effects of a stroke, stuff that like you said, unless you have had one, you wouldn't have any concept about.
I still think I would be a wonderful support worker for the Stroke society, especially for people who like me, didn't show on the outside that I had had a stoke, or any brain injury for that matter.
Dona F... Yes you would be fabulous
Malaika W... This is so good Lynny! I do remember how hard it was for you, but you did all those guides and that group, helped so much people that actually helped you too to recover! Amazing
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