GAME – Videogame to improve mental health

Background

In recent years, the mental health of adolescents has deteriorated, 9 million suffer from a mental disorder, 55% from anxiety and depression (UNICEF 2019). The sources of stress most often cited by adolescents are: school pressures, conflict with peers and social stigmas. Furthermore, the COVID pandemic, the lockdown and the closure of socialization places have caused a deterioration in mental health, especially among young people aged 11 to 17 in whom the presence of post-traumatic symptoms has been observed. The fear of being exposed, stigmatized and the lack of knowledge of this matter leads to avoid the problem even when the first symptoms appear. For these reasons, it is necessary to deal with the issue of mental wellness in an environment closer to young people, such as that of video games. Numerous researches, including “gaming your mental health” by Mark Campled have shown that video games can be a powerful tool in reducing some of the most common symptoms among young people.

The Partnership and the Project Kick-Off

In October we are proud to have hosted the Kick-Off of the Erasmus+ GAME Project – Video Game to Improve Mental Health – which was held in Naples at the Paidea headquarters, where we welcomed our partners from Bulgaria (Department of Psychology of ‘University of Sofia), from Greece (SQLearn) and from Portugal (Element).

The objectives of GAME and the Output

The project has the ambitious goal of creating a video game aimed at increasing the well-being of young people, raise the awareness of mental illness and providing support tools.

To achieve the objectives, two outputs will be created:

1. A video game capable of decreasing the anxiety and stress levels of the youngest. Particular attention will be given to details, such as music and colours, which can have a relaxing effect on the brain. By winning the different levels, the player, in addition to having an immediate benefit in terms of well-being, will learn to know and recognize the different symptoms and disorders related to the mind and the different support tools they can manage independently.

2. An e-learning course mode for teachers. The course aims to provide teachers the tools to recognize students in difficulty with stress and anxiety problems and to learn how to use and introduce video games and the topic of mental health in the school environment.