mental health issues
In the video game Brain Agents, players are the crew of a spaceship. The goal is to rescue the crew, and the only way to do that is by using cognitive reframing. Players have to say things like, “I'll find a way forward.'' At the end of each level, the game asks you to do some breathing exercises.
Assistant Professor David Antognoli Department of Interactive Arts and Media In partnership with the non-profit organization Stryv 365, we created a “Brain Agent” that teaches a variety of techniques for managing trauma, resilience, and emotional learning in a fun way.
The nonprofit's mission is to “instill trauma resilience in youth and create trauma-informed after-school programs and youth initiatives,” Antognoli said.
The game is currently being playtested in Minnesota public schools. Stryv 365 conducts research testing the effectiveness of games with adolescents and teens.
The big picture:
Stryv 365 wanted to move its curriculum to a digital platform during the COVID-19 pandemic. Antognoli connected with them and both had the idea of making a game.
In 2023, Power of Play ReportThe study by the Entertainment Software Association surveyed 13,000 players from 12 countries. The survey found that a significant number of players believe that video games can help them overcome personal challenges and reduce stress.
With 212.6 million video game players in the United States, the potential for using gaming to address mental health issues is huge.
What they did:
Antognoli and his team of developers worked with a variety of mental health experts on how exactly to accomplish the game's objectives.
“One of our subject matter experts is a child therapist, so she tells us what they're doing during the sessions,” Antagnoli said. “There's a breathing technique that they do called 'breathing shapes,' where you trace these shapes and when you trace them on one side, you breathe in, on the next side you hold your breath, on the next side you breathe out. “So we literally put that into the game at the end of every level. ”
Collaborating with mental health professionals in games that focus on mental health themes is becoming increasingly popular.
The popular game Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, developed by Ninja Theory, featured a protagonist suffering from psychosis, perceiving whispering voices, and having vivid hallucinations.
Several mental health consultants were brought in to help portray the mental illness. The goal was to depict mental illness, but to do it in a way that followed the lines of serious mental health issues and fun gameplay.
In terms of numbers:
According to Power of Play, 71% of video games act as a stress reliever, 61% say games reduce anxiety, and 58% say they help reduce feelings of isolation and loneliness.
Antognoli said video games also helped him as he worked to recover from surgery. “When your body is completely immobile and you can't do the things you're used to doing, it can take a mental toll,” Antognoli says. “I think being able to still interact with people and have some kind of outlet through video games is really helpful to me.”
The relationship between violence in games and violence in real life has been a topic of debate since the birth of games like “Call of Duty” and “Grand Theft Auto.” There have been calls to end the “glorification” of violence in video games, one of which came from former President Donald Trump in 2019. However, recent research has also shown that gaming has a positive impact on players overall.
a study In 2022, researchers at the University of Oxford found that there was no relationship between aggressive behavior in teenagers and the amount of time they played violent video games. In fact, according to the Power of Play report, 63% of players around the world feel that playing video games increases their sense of well-being, and 64% feel that it provides a healthy outlet for daily challenges. Masu.
As Columbia University graduate Narcissa Wright has learned, that doesn't mean gaming culture is always healthy.
Although it's a movie rather than a video game, Jane Wagner's documentary Break the Game tells the story of Wright, best known for breaking the world speedrunning record in 2014's The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Masu. This technique, which utilizes in-game glitches to avoid huge segment sections and play the entire game as quickly as possible, has garnered a huge online fan base and viewership on his popular live streaming platform, Twitch. I'm getting it.
The film follows Wright, who lost a huge fan base after coming out as a trans woman in 2015, as she attempts to set a new world record with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. There is.
“Despite knowing that Narcissa was facing intense online harassment, Twitch did not reach out to her or offer assistance,” Wagner told the Chronicle.
Wagner hired a mental health supervisor to help Wright process the experience of watching the cut of the film, which will be shown at 33 E. Ida B. Wells Building on May 8 at 6 p.m.
“When I started 'Break the Game,' I had no idea that I was making a film that had mental health elements,” Wagner said. “It wasn't until the events of the film started to unfold that I realized that issues like anxiety, depression and isolation were part of the story. Things have improved somewhat since we started working on the film in 2017. But we still have a long way to go when it comes to supporting the unique mental health needs of gamers and people who spend a lot of time online.”
Between the lines:
The first International Games Summit on Mental Health was held in Toronto in 2019 and continues today. This summit will bring together various game developers and mental health researchers to discuss the impact of video games on mental health. This will include panels and roundtables to exchange ideas for creating mental health-based games and supporting game developers.
Paul Fletcher, lead clinical consultant for Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, was the keynote speaker at the inaugural Summit in 2019.
“The central principle that emerged was that precision was sought, but not an attempt to generalize to all mental illnesses and be all things to all people. It’s a story,” Fletcher said. “What was really important to me was that Senua needed to be a human being and not just a two-dimensional shell of mental illness.”
Fletcher also said that the game's main character, Senua, is a heroine and is different from the usual portrayal of people with mental illness in media forms, saying, “She's a hero, and I think that's really important. ” People with mental illness are often portrayed as victims, but she was not. ”
“The Other Side,” a student-led mental health game being developed at Columbia University, was the idea of Joshua Chaffee, a senior professor of game design, about how some people express their struggles with their emotions.
Another game that Chaffee said inspired his own, Celeste, deals with depression and anxiety. The shadow version of the protagonist is the main villain of the game, as the protagonist climbs this mountain and ultimately overcomes his mental health pain.
Student feedback:
Lytle Landers, a first-year acting major, said playing video games helps with mental health, but it can be distracting.
“It depends on the day whether you're doing it to relax or to escape something,” Landers says. “As long as you're here [playing] It's about being careful about your reasoning and knowing that it's for mindfulness and relaxation, not escapism. ”
Marina “Moss” Bradley, a first-year social media and strategy major, said video games have had a positive impact on their lives.
“I really like playing alternate reality, escapism, type games when I'm stressed out about things in real life,” Bradley said. “Especially this final match is amazing.”
Bradley said he often plays “calming” games like Animal Crossing. But Bradley said it's understandable how video games can negatively impact mental health, especially when it comes to violent games.
Zach Klepser, a sophomore film and television major, said video games haven't had a big impact on his mental health, but he has used them to help get through difficult times in the past.
Klepser said playing video games gave him an outlet to “have fun and laugh again” while getting through difficult times.
Copy edited by Jordilyn Lewis
