:p I love this thread! I thought we were the only people in the world who used games as a distraction.
It's funny ... Shell knows what's going on with me by the game I have up on the computer. If it's solitaire, I'm puzzling through something mentally and she leaves me alone. If it's one of the more intense games, she knows I'm hiding. If it's one of the simple games, she knows I'm just kind of hanging out.
Shell has her PS2 and finds it not only distracts her mentally, but helps distract from physical pain as well.
I guess redirecting our minds in any way possible does work. Sometimes, for me, it's mostly a matter of stopping the "squirrel cage" chatter in my head and calming down.