Should We Psych Each Other Out?

CORONAVIRUS CHRONICLES

Since young adults are developing their identities, creating new social relationships, and testing authority, I can understand why some kept partying on beaches and elsewhere despite the social distancing recommendations during the pandemic.

As an introverted person, I thought following these recommendations would be easy for me. I was wrong. I missed my friends, my gymnastics teammates, and my extended family.

I wondered if I could find a safe way to replace live social gatherings. I stumbled across an online game called PSYCH! Outwit Your Friends. This game challenges players to choose an outrageous real answer among fakes, similar to how we may navigate political information.

PSYCH worked well with my friends. I was curious to see how my grandparents might respond to the game. Instinctively, I thought the name sounded like a fit for my grandfather, a psychiatrist. Very quickly, we all started laughing at our answers, finding out new things about one another, and victory was spread around as we psyched each other out.

This simple game may bring some needed social interaction to everyone staying safe at home. I suggest anybody in the psychiatric field give PYSCH a try. Let me know what you think if you do. Or, if you have found other games that link families and friends well, let us know.

Disclosures:

Ms Goldstein is from Evanston, IL. She is 15 years old.