Video games that are tackling mental health issues | Hacker News Reader

Video games that are tackling mental health issues

nytimes.com

92 pointsingve36 comments

As someone lucky enough not to deal with these issues, I think the idea of these games bringing these issues to a broader group of people is really important. For example, I bought Celeste because it was a great platforming game, and found myself really unexpectedly moved by the plot of her depression/anxiety and it's relation to the mountain. That said, I would not have bought the game because of the plot alone. I think this is a really awesome and clever way of making these issues better known!

For someone who might be interested in reading some research on the topic:

Videogames may help with anxiety. They may be used as a healthy alternative to otherwise compulsive behaviors (self-harm etc) and just as a general coping technique battling anxiety episodes[0] and also offer a healthy distraction for people suffering from PTSD[1] but it's not a 100% safe route, sometimes videogames may trigger even more anxiety, sometimes people will fall into compulsive/obsessive territory and develop an addiction (which will basically start a vicious loop of anxiety-compulsive gaming-more anxiety-more compulsive etc). I really like this article - [2], it looks broadly into the issue which is multi variable.

[0]: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292142434_A_Randomi...

[1]: https://www.nature.com/articles/mp201723

[2]: https://slate.com/technology/2015/11/how-video-games-can-tea...

P.s. Regardless of their effectiveness as a psychotherapeutic tool, videogames which are dealing with mental health as their main theme and exposing these issues to wide audiences, are obviously very needed and important.

P.p.s. Hellblade is amazing, breathtaking and everyone should play it. Yes.

I've been playing a lot of Stardew Valley lately, glad to see it mentioned in this article. The game in combination with with a sativa vape has made me much better equipped to deal with my own stress and anxiety caused by working so much.

Isn't Stardew Valley an anxiety creator? I haven't played it, but I'm deliberately not because I hear people talk having to plan their days to maximize the output of their crops and such. I really don't want to have a new virtual job to go with my real daytime job.

I haven't played it too but from what I've read about it, I suspect it might cause a so called Tetris Effect when the game mechanics basically invades people's though patterns.[0] It can be used as a somewhat effective "distraction" for your brain during episodes of anxiety[1] helping to overcome it. So if someone is planning their crops, they're probably just distracting themselves from anxious thoughts. Just my understanding from reading the article and different opinions of players.

Anecdotal: a friend of mine used to play some casual mobile game for quite some time (Candy Crush or something), she told me once that when she was giving birth she involuntarily started to "play" the game in her mind when the stress and pain became too strong, she said it helped her both to distant herself and to focus. :)

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris_effect

[1]: https://www.nature.com/articles/mp201723

You sound like someone who has never had Tetris vision. It’s mildly frustrating. You close your eyes and your brain starts simulating whatever game you’ve played too much (in my case, dungeon crawl stone soup). But it’s not a fun simulation, it’s more so just a random imagined game state and then predicted next state, vaguely dream like.

Honestly it’s probably the same mechanism as dreaming. Just your brain training itself too hard while you’re still awake.

when i was a kid i fell asleep on a pokémon game and for a few hours after waking up lived in a world echoing with one pokémon song. sleep deprivation from staying up all night playing pokémon surely doesn’t help. toying around with the tetris effect is fun. human sensory perception is whack, even without drugs! our brain can play us scenes if we guide it a bit.

I've never had it from Tetris or other games, except the "falling sand game". It took a few weeks before it went away. It wasn't fun.

I used to play it and enjoyed maximizing revenue on my farm. My daughter does basically no farming, instead she likes to interact with the villagers and do other things the game offers. The game does not hold your hand, you are free to enjoy whatever aspects works for you.

it's what you make of it, i suppose.

there's no score, no deadlines, and no punishment for missing things in the game, so it's a very relaxing game for me. some 'days' in the game i'd get up, water my plants, and just go back to sleep because i didn't feel like doing anything.

other people naturally like to min-max, though, and the game certainly allows you to do that. there's people who'll make farms that are entirely optimized for maximum gold production; there's practically nothing to do with that much gold but seeing the numbers go up is what they enjoy.

i have played a ton of stardew, and it really is a great game to relax too, the planning and such you are talking about is so minor in terms of seriousness, that it can help teach planning and management of time. it lets you focus on what you want, the relationships you build feel real, and the reward of growing these digital plants feels good!

This article reminded me of this research published in Nature about mental health claims made by apps.

Using science to sell apps: Evaluation of mental health app store quality claims https://www.nature.com/articles/s41746-019-0093-1

Can't recommend Night in the Woods enough. I played it on the Switch while visiting home for Christmas, which made for a surreal overlap of fiction and reality. Shows just how pitch-perfect the writing is.

Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines has an option to play as a vampire lunatic from the Malkavian clan¹, where craziness is also a form of communication with the world around you. It's arguably the best option in the game, since it gives many hidden hints about the plot that aren't available otherwise. But you really need to pay attention to get that.

1. https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Malkavian_(VTM)

But for the sequel, recently announced by Paradox, it doesn't seem we'll have the same opportunity, according to some comments of the devs.

Not much is known about the sequel yet, so it's too early to tell. I doubt they'll skip such opportunity.

I was going by the comments devs made on mental illness and the fact that, as far as we know, the player don't select a clan at character creation, only later in the game; I don't think that, at this point, the game would change dialogue, it would be too confusing for the player.

Of course, things can still change, so can hope

So far it's not clear how clan selection would work to begin with. Since the character is a "thinblood", they technically can't belong to a clan and the only option to "advance" is considered abominable in VtM settings (and resulting in the loss of humanity). So it would be interesting to see, how writers will present it.

In this sense, question how to become a Malkavian isn't very different from how to become any other clan.

> question how to become a Malkavian isn't very different from how to become any other clan

Yes, but I don't think it will cause a significant shift in dialogue like in the first game.

I hope it does, at least after the clan choice. I'd miss that font too :)

I loved the Malkavian dialogue so much! I still remember one line -- when talking to a a guy with a stutter, your character says to him: "You're words are wobbly"

Also, having an argument with a stop sign was a cool little touch. VtM Bloodlines had such great writing. I still play it again every few years.

I'm not sure what to feel about Bloodlines 2 though, but information is sparse, so we'll see when we learn more, I suppose. I just feel it will be very hard to live up to expectations.

Yeah, though playing as Malkavian in Bloodlines really pays off once you finished the game a few times using other clans. Too many things are only hinted and hard to understand without knowing the broader context.

I hope they won't mess it up in the sequel.

That's true. The very first time I played, I played as Malkavian and it was cool, but I didn't know how different it was until I played other clans and then went back to playing a Malkavian. The contrast between the playthroughs definitely helps make it great, as you say!

Me too. I'm worried, but hopeful.

One of the few videos I have bookmarked because they are inspiring and relatable is [0], which is a "Top 10 games you should play"-style list, but is actually called "Top 10 Games to help you through the holiday season".

It is incredibly heart-warming to hear that others like me struggle in the same manner, and much of the narrator's intro focuses on the genuinely helpful intentions behind the recommendations.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQbc8uG5asA

While we're here, I'd like to mention these little indie gems on the topic:

https://holypangolin.itch.io/karambola (it's free, but you can donate)

https://pigmentumgamestudio.itch.io/indygo ($4.79)

(full disclosure: I helped a bit with some technical aspects of Karambola)

American Truck Simulator:

https://youtu.be/AzOiYfL7l7Q

Just me, my rig, and the open road.

I loved Night in the Woods and actually wish they didn't include the end-game plotline and just kept it mundane, about Mae's life and her struggles with her mental health. Those parts were very touching and I loved every moment. The plotline later on was a bit meh (and rushed) in my opinion.

Doesn't this sidestep the problem? We aren't lacking in games to cut stress. Arguably time away from videogames would help, and more time out in the world.

I haven't read the article, but there have been a number of games that I found personally helpful. It's not that they're helpful because they provide an escape from real life and its problems. Instead, they can be a source of meaningful dialogue about common problems, and they can help us to see that we are not isolated and that our troubles are not as impossibly unique as they might feel. After a quick skim, I haven't played any of the games in the article, but two games that made a fairly large impact for me were Celeste and OwlBoy.

Celeste is mentioned in the article.

I've played Celeste. It barely says anything. At most mental health is identifiable as a problem, and the character metaphorically overcomes the issue.

The article title is somewhat misleading; the point of the games described isn't simply to "cut stress".

Rather, the games variously work to raise awareness of mental illness; help people with mental illness cope by giving them protagonists and storylines they can relate to; provide role models and story structures for overcoming challenges related to mental illnesses; and improve overall mental health in a variety of ways from dancing in VR to mindfulness exercises to encouraging conversations with therapists.

edit: a word

I figured. There are more effective ways to reach people.

Video games are a temporary panacea, if even that. Notice how no doctors, studies, or anything worthwhile was cited -- just self-reported anecdata.

Nothing can replace well-trained mental health specialists (psychologists and psychiatrists), a solid support system (family, friends), healthy social environments (book club, church), and physical activity (a friendly soccer league, going on trips, exploring). "More videogames" for people that are already anxious and depressed seems honestly like some of the most harmful and bizarre advice I've ever seen.

This article isn't offering advice, its just a fluff piece about games that tell a personal story.

As someone who deals with these sorts of health issues, I can speak from experience when I say that yes, doctors and proper medical treatment, therapists, etc are essential. However, video games also form a core aspect of my coping strategies, serving as an outlet and attention sink when my mind might otherwise be focused unproductively inward. As such, while they are no panacea, neither does their benefit have to be temporary. Like any other hobby, they can be a beneficial part of continuing treatment.

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