As an avid Lord of the Rings Online player and arts, Jordan Long is taking his theories about in-game communities and their benefits for those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to new levels. Long has 'mailed' himself from his home in Arkansas to a final destination in Oregon locked in a crate with nothing but his computer and his LOTRO companions along for the ride.

In my art I study trauma and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In my research I have found that many people who are confined to their homes due to physical or emotional trauma find online games a place where they feel safe to enter back into the social sphere. Unlike the real world, they can enter and exit whenever they choose, be whoever they want to be and feel like functioning members of society again.

Being locked in the crate is an opportunity for me to feel the effects of being confined and understand better how these online communities can affect us in a positive way.

Follow Long's progress, both his personal blog and his character's blog, at JordanWayneLong.com.