It's always a nice change of pace to hear something positive in video game news, especially as often as parents down-talk the things, so news like this is always gladly accepted amongst the gaming company.
Mental Health Advocates have teamed up with Scientists and Game Developers to put together an educational series that regards multiple mental illnesses. There are three games that feature characters with mental health conditions and they are meant to help fight the social stigma surrounging them.
Munzir Quraishi helped create one of the games by offering his own experience on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). See his comments on the video game below.
He's got OCD. His intrusive thought that he has is that something terrible is going to happen if he doesn't take pictures of these mushrooms. And if he does so then he feels calmer and relaxed and he feels like he can continue with what he's doing. Like in OCD it always comes back and then the mushrooms come back. And he does it more, it reinforces his compulsions and they get more and more frequent.
It's obvious that he would like a game he helped develop though, right? Here's what he had to say about the other ones, and the power of video games.
I've got OCD, and an eating disorder, and depression, but everyone's experience with mental health problems is different, so for me playing a game which portrays Schizophrenia gives me a look into their lives which I wouldn't understand otherwise. Just because I've got a mental health problem doesn't mean I understand all mental health problems. What video games can do is get you into the shoes of someone with a mental health problem. It can make you feel less alone and help people understand that they can help and that there is help out there for them.
What are your thoughts on the attempt by these video game creators at making an educational product? Is it something that would interest you? Check out the full video from Quraishi below, courtesy of BBC.
Would you recommend a game like this to a friend with mental illness? Let us know in the comments!