The Evils of Pokeman Go.

As a PT I am always trying to find ways to motivate people to move more. I find myself crusading against video games, cell phones in the hands of kids, and the evils of social media time wasters. In the new Pokemon Go mobile application, we have a combination of all the above. Surprisingly,  I am in the group of people that are really tickled with the new Pokeman Go phenomena. I really didn’t expect it.

 It is an amazing tool for movement. I read a blog post the other day about an obese hermit that walked 10 miles a day his first day of Pokeman Go. Granted, I would have never advised anyone to start their program at 10 miles the first day.  I’m sure he was very sore the next day.  I hope he doesn’t give up. The hardest part is starting, and he did that. I work very hard to motivate people to move more, and I have never come close to motivating someone into a 10 mile walk. I am Gob smacked.

Other than athletes getting injured, the largest group of patients I have are people that are too sedentary and have started to have pain with basic functional activities. They are watching too much TV, playing too many video games, spending too much time texting people on their phones, or working too many hours. Pokemon Go seems to be a real antidote to this problem. For the people fussing about having more important things to do, I would argue though that we need to weigh the benefits. I am not just talking about physical health, but also emotional and societal health.

It is even helping me to drag my family outside more. Recently, they have been hunting Pokeman while I hunt and pick berries. I spend a lot of my time outside the clinic harvesting and processing plants. In the last 2 weeks I have seen so many more people outside and moving with me.

Last year at this time when we went to the central square in down town it was mostly over run with homeless kids and drug deals. It was pretty “unsavory,” and not a place you would want to hang out with your kids. This weekend there were easily a hundred people down there at a time. My daughter walked up to 5 different strangers, with me by her side, and had great Pokémon conversations with all of them. There were people organizing food drives, and trash cleanups. Really. That is an amazing down town turn around. The city didn’t make that happen, Pokemon did.  Downtown Anchorage City Park on Pokemon Go, versus drugs. 

Last week I saw a crowd of people at a park down from my house, grouping together to take a picture in front of the Cheney Lake Park sign. They looked like they had nothing in coming. Different ages, races, styles of dress. I'm not even sure where they all might have met in another setting. There was a tall older paunchy Caucasian guy, looks pale like he works in an office, a young Asian kid, a few other nationalities, clothes styles, and fitness levels. They were doing group hugs and selfies together. I saw another group of adults in a car across the street at a Pokestop gathering Pokeballs, with a similar "unmatched" aesthetic; business, nerdy, grungy. It really warmed my heart to see their joy and their camaraderie.

To be honest. I think it is something that the country and the world really need right now. Strangers that have nothing in common but a new hobby they has them making new friends, walking miles a day, breathing fresh air, trying to improve their communities,  and seeing the world around them.

Walls have become very popular of late. It worries me. I worry that the tribal mindset of “us and them” is the greatest instigator of social unrest we have. The more people we meet, and different circles we overlap into, the better our empathy for one another. The more people socialize, they better they feel. I am seeing it in the smiles.

The more we talk and socialize with each other, the better we feel about society. Maybe it will help people to stop seeing each other as the enemy. Maybe people will be able to talk  more openly. Maybe this will encourage true discourse. This has me a little excited. A little glimmer of unexpected goodness from a “stupid video game.” A possible antidote, on a small level, for our current state of agitation and fear. From what I am seeing and reading, small barriers are being broken down. Social groups are becoming porous. Pokémon probably won’t tear down the biggest boundaries between us. But this happy porousness is something we need right now.

What if I have less patients because people are more fit because they are walking 10 miles a week? What if people have better mental health because they aren’t playing so many hours of first person shooter video games? What if Pokémon Go brings Jews and Palestinians together in the West Bank? A girl can dream.

Make fun if want. Roll your eyes, but I have definitely found some rose colored glasses to see this game through. I like the view.  

Drowsy trying to get away.