How Gaming Changed My Postpartum Experience

I’ve been a gamer as long as I can remember. However, if you told me when I was a teenager that when I grew up I would be launching a gaming discipline at a company that serves innovative healthcare and life sciences companies, I likely wouldn’t have believed you. Life’s funny that way. But here I am. Doing this incredible thing at this incredible place squarely focused on the connection between healthcare and humanity.

Gaming isn’t just a hobby for me anymore. It’s evolved into a tool I use daily in my battle with anxiety. Never has it been more useful than when my postpartum anxiety reached an all-time high after my youngest son, Harrison, was born in April 2021.

Newborns are always challenging, regardless of how many times you’ve been through it. I was unable to breastfeed my older son, but with Harrison it worked. For the first time, I found myself feeding this little person eight times a day for up to 45 minutes at a time, while being glued to a rocker or the couch. My postpartum anxiety found a home in the stillness of breastfeeding, and intrusive thoughts would flood my mind during these quieter moments. I decided to give gaming a try during feedings (my hands were free, after all!). As I began to play while Harrison nursed, the symbiotic relationship between gaming and my anxiety resurfaced. I recalled gaming helping with my anxiety as I was growing up: the more I played and the more puzzles I solved, the more my anxiety would dissipate. I still play a variety of genres, from action to horror, as well as escapism and fantasy. So gaming became this incredible way to self-soothe as a young mother. As a bonus, gaming relaxed me, improving my milk production and extending my breastfeeding journey almost a year. I’m not alone in this: statistics show two out of three moms also game, and their primary motivation is to improve their mood and give their brains a rest.

I also was able to find renewed community through gaming in the bleary early months of newborn life. I would hop on Discord with my internet mom friends and we would play games like “Overcooked” together, bursting out in laughter about our weird postpartum cravings. 4 a.m. wakeups suddenly became our time to connect with one another through shared silliness and friendly competition. Even today, busy with our babies-turned-toddlers, lives and work, we still find time to come together and play because we know it’s pivotal for our hearts and minds. There truly is power in numbers, and we shouldn’t discount the power of communal sharing in our healthcare struggles and journeys.

Before I joined Real Chemistry, I led fundraising, marketing, and communications strategies for JDRF, the leading global funder of type 1 diabetes (T1D) research in the world. While there I was fortunate to be exposed to how gaming could create community for patients and caregivers through the launch of JDRF’s charity streaming program, Game2Give. Through these communities, patient and caregiver charity streamers have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for T1D research and connected countless gamers through its mission. Charity streaming is a billion-dollar business, with St. Jude’s alone raising tens of millions of dollars through gaming events, activations, and partnerships every year.

Early on at Real Chemistry, I realized we had a unique opportunity to bring the power of gaming to help transform healthcare experiences for patients worldwide. Not only is gaming therapeutic, but it advances research, educates healthcare providers and patients on novel treatments, and significantly enhances quality of life. When researching our own clients and their patients, we found they were over-indexing as gamers by up to 200% more than the general population. Seeing the connection between the behaviors of our audiences and their needs as patients, HCPs and caregivers made our quest to bridge gaming and health a no-brainer.

Gaming can also be extremely inclusive and breaks barriers in some of the most organic, immersive ways possible. Thinking about the opportunities to reach millions of patients with rare diseases in new ways while at the same time giving to the community is what we are committed to at Real Chemistry. Through gaming, we have the real opportunity to transform the way our audiences experience healthcare.

Real Chemistry leaders encouraged me to bring a business case to the table about why we should add gaming to our creative and strategic portfolio. The culture of entrepreneurial encouragement paired with an incredibly supportive network has made this journey inextricably linked to our mission of making the healthcare experience the one you want it (and deserve it) to be. Just like healthcare, the way we approach our work cannot remain stagnant. Gaming is the next evolution.

As we launch this new area of activation to our clients, I feel incredibly fortunate to have people around me who love it just as much as I do and who bring significant knowledge to the space. While I am still learning new things every day about what it means it to be a mom with anxiety, my healthcare journey has inspired me to want to help others learn about how gaming can heal, connect, and support them in their own journey.

21GRAMS and Real Chemistry are excited to introduce this new offering to our clients and patients. Stay tuned, as this is only the beginning.