WoW as Cancer Therapy

A new documentary centered primarily around World of Warcraft will be making its debut soon. Called "WoW Mom", the documentary originally started as a project to bring attention to Terry Bolts' rare form of cancer. It later evolved into a journey of discovery at how gaming communities, many within World of Warcraft most notably, have been created to bring sufferers from a wide range of ailments together in a therapeutic manner.

The documentary project quickly expanded as Bolt discovered others using MMO games to provide a way of coping with hardship, illness or injury. She interviews a father who plays World of Warcraft with his diagnosed son. She covers a tournament thrown in support of a stomach-cancer patient in Denmark.

“Once I started looking into gaming as a way to heal there was too much story there to tell,” says director Andie Bolt. “It’s not just a bunch of dudes in their parent’s basements; it’s grandmas on their ranches, terminal children in their hospital beds, or wives who just lost their husbands.”

Read the full Wow Mom press release.