Last day of #MCMComicCon! We're here with the Reset Room, a chill space to take a break! We have lo-fi activities to unwind with, and we've got mental health info available, too. It's staffed by our awesome crew, so do say hello! 🧠🎮 Find us upstairs in the Platinum Suite!

We're still at #MCMComicCon with our Reset Room! If you need to take a break for any reason, come by. It's quieter in here! We also have mental health information and lo-fi activities. It's run by today's awesome crew right here! 🧠🎮 Find us upstairs in the Platinum Suite!

Are you at #MCMComicCon and want to relax? Come to our Reset Room, a calm oasis where you can chill, do lo-fi activities, & re-energise before heading back to the show! We have mental health information too! Staffed by this cool crew. Find us upstairs in the Platinum Suite! 🧠🎮

If you are trans or gender non-conforming, and play TTRPGs, you may be interested to take part in this study by answering questions on if your gender identity impacts the gender of your characters, and if your gaming has impacted your own gender identity app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/nhslothian...

Consume Me is a semi-autobiographical work that deals openly and honestly with some pretty tough themes, including dieting, disordered eating, and fatphobia... but Jiao Hsia's slice-of-life adventure adopts a format that's immediately, winningly approachable. www.eurogamer.net/consume-me-r...

If you are trans or gender non-conforming, and play TTRPGs, you may be interested to take part in this study by answering questions on if your gender identity impacts the gender of your characters, and if your gaming has impacted your own gender identity app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/nhslothian...

Thanks so much for inviting me to speak at Gaming the Mind Conference. So many interesting speakers and an engaged audience. Long may this conference continue.

It's so invigorating to meet academics and clinicians to talk about our industries and share thoughts and hopes. This panel discussed how academics & experts can work with game devs. We both need to approach these moments as collaborations not limiting factors. Thank you @gamingthemind.bsky.social

Gaming the Mind Conference Prof Paul Fletcher delivers the day's keynote. As a clinical neuroscientist sees the potential of games to measure stress responses from players, and to use biofeedback for training self-regulation - explored through The Insight Project with Ninja Theory

Gaming the Mind Conference Dr Victoria McCloud chairs a panel featuring @chellaramanan.bsky.social from @3foldgames.bsky.social, Dom Matthews from Ninja Theory, and Dr Andrew Howe

Gaming the Mind Conference Ninja Theory Studio Head Dom Matthews discusses the development of Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. The studio worked with people with lived experience of psychosis, aiming to create a truthful representation of the symptoms in lead character Senua.

Gaming the Mind Conference @chellaramanan.bsky.social speaks about @3foldgames.bsky.social's Before I Forget, and depicting dementia in a non-cliched, respectful way. She and the team worked with psychiatrists for input, including our own Dr Donald Servant.

Gaming the Mind Conference Dr Andrew Howe, Consultant Psychiatrist & Psychodynamic Psychotherapist, speaks on Jungian archetypes in The Legend of Zelda, and using the mythology of games in psychological therapy. He guides us through active imagination based on Ocarina of Time 💭

Gaming the Mind Conference Malachi Gow showed us his game "i love me, i love me not", a relaxing game focusing on teaching mental health habits. He is the recipient of our first Independent Developer Award, and £1,000 for further development. 🏆 malgow.net

Gaming the Mind Conference at @rcpsych.bsky.social Addictions Psychiatrist Dr Stephen Kaar on research looking at longitudinal research into gaming disorder. Evidence suggests young people with depressive, anxiety, ADHD symptoms are at higher risk of developing gaming disorder symptoms.

Gaming the Mind Conference at @rcpsych.bsky.social @leonxiao.com on loot boxes and regulations related to odds disclosure, minimum age requirements, and advertising, as well as countries where they are recognised as gambling, and the myriad cases where games don't comply with regulations!

Gaming the Mind Conference at the @rcpsych.bsky.social Prof Henrietta Bowden-Jones on the establishment of the gaming disorder diagnosis and the range of presentations seen at the The National Centre for Gaming Disorders.

Gaming the Mind Conference Dr Stone Hsieh on the neurological benefits of exercise. He and Bread Lab's ActiGamer project looks to see if active video games can reduce ADHD symptoms, and the feasibility if introducing this as an intervention.

Gaming the Mind Conference Elin Festøy delivers a talk about My Child New Beginnings, about raising a Lebensborn child dealing with trauma in a hateful environment. The game aims to build empathy with the child, to create a strong motivator for transformation.

Preparing for the launch of the first ever Gaming the Mind conference! Hosted at the @rcpsych.bsky.social Ready for a day talking about the exciting growing field of gaming and mental health!

Today I'll mostly be talking about videogames at the Royal College of Psychiatrists @gamingthemind.bsky.social conference #BeforeIForget @3foldgames.bsky.social

Gaming the Mind Conference 2025. A must if you are interested in video games and mental health! 🎮🧠 Monday 29th September at the Royal College of Psychiatrists in London. Early-bird rates till 1st September. We look forward to seeing you there! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gaming-the...

Sword of the Sea (and Abzû) "...when you're actually scuba diving... You're floating. You just hear your own breath. It's like you're meditating. You're forced to just relax... it's nothing like what you see in video games. I was like: where is that?" www.eurogamer.net/sword-of-the...

"the "cosy" tag gets thrown around a lot, and lately I feel like more games are being branded with a title they don't necessarily suit." "Not every single task that can be simulated is going to be relaxing and fun (or more importantly, worth playing)." www.pcgamer.com/games/i-love...

How can video games help mindfulness and reducing stress? Read how games can put you "in the zone" (a meditative flow state), offer a break from stress, and provide social connection. www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/vide...

Nigerian students beating exam stress with video games. “I play FIFA soccer games with my friends during breaks between classes. It’s a great way to relax and take our minds off our studies, even if it’s just for a short while” focusgn.com/africa/niger...

Top anime comfort characters! "Crunchyroll's poll was conducted in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month" "stories often feature emotionally comforting and inspirational characters who help anime fans feel seen and supported." www.cbr.com/crunchyroll-...

Would you be more confident giving a presentation if your audience's faces were changed to anime?! "the anime character primarily reduced the speaker’s attention to the audience’s gaze, potentially benefiting in reducing the pressure of being watched"

Let's Play "One of the main messages I want to send is that everybody struggles with anxiety and self-worth... Sam hyperventilates... the mind races, and you start spiraling and looping.... I can relate to that... people don’t talk about it enough." www.comicsbeat.com/interview-le...

"Re:Curse follows Allison, a young woman caught in a monotonous cycle of obligations and burnout... The game touches on themes of mental health, connection, and the weight of regret, all set against the backdrop of a universe on the brink of collapse."

Now is the time! Early bird rates end on 1st September, so don't delay signing up for the Gaming the Mind Conference 2025! Will we see you there? Monday 29th September at the Royal College of Psychiatrists in London. Details below!

Unemployment Simulator 2018 "...your mental health is crumbling. Your daily to-do list may seem to ask little of you... but anyone who suffers from depression can tell you that just doing the basics to care for yourself can be a monumental task."

Neil Newbon (Astarion, Baldur's Gate 3) "I've had burnout where I physically, mentally just shut down... I just shut down and I had to stop." "And [Larian Studios] said, 'Uh, OK, you need to take, like, a week off.'" www.gamesradar.com/games/baldur...

Rue Valley "while the protagonist is struggling with his own inner demons, he faces them in a very different way to [Disco Elysium's protagonist]... The demo blew me away with great writing and an informed understanding of mental health" www.pcgamesn.com/rue-valley/r...

Can an educational Roblox game improve body image among children? This control study did not find evidence that it helps. The study authors consider why that might be, including that participants may not have encountered much of the educational content. www.jmir.org/2025/1/e66625/

"Though it may seem gauche to liken a playstyle to a mental health condition, a noteworthy number of people who say they’re approaching Donkey Kong Bananza with such diligence note that they do, in fact, have obsessive compulsive disorder." www.polygon.com/culture/6139...

"I was diagnosed with OCD... however, I’m not usually the completionist type who has to do every little side quest or task... Bananza, however, has found a way past that mental block... that inevitably turns into me devouring a meal of demolition." kotaku.com/donkey-kong-...

Do you have kids with ADHD traits who'd like to participate in a study on the effects of exercise gaming on self-regulation skills? Join this study by our friends at BREAD Lab and you can advance scientific knowledge, and get £40 for your time! More details below. See thread for links!

"and Roger" "It was a morning like all others, until she realized her dad wasn't home. In his place, a stranger who speaks nonsense and insists she "takes her medicine". Who is he? Where is dad?" (Review contains spoilers) kotaku.com/and-roger-re...

"Harmonies encourages you to pause and plan, creating a relaxing pace and a thoughtful gaming experience." "It's no surprise to me that a nature board game has become a source of comfort." www.wargamer.com/harmonies/co...

Fishing in video games. A relaxing "peaceful little side activity to give you a break"? Or a tedious "momentum-obliterating chore"? www.gamespot.com/articles/ple...

and Roger "It was a morning like all others, until she realized her dad wasn't home. In his place, a stranger who speaks nonsense and insists she "takes her medicine". Who is he? Where is dad?" (Review contains spoilers) aftermath.site/and-roger-sw...

Mortal Kombat 11 "I find a strange, dissonant serenity in it... each satisfying spine snap heralding the return of my sanity as I revel in utterly heinous acts of video game violence. Is this the stress relief I've been missing out on...?" www.gamesradar.com/games/mortal...

Video: "Why Dungeons and Dragons is good for your brain" From identity exploration, to practicing life skills, and building empathy. Studies are looking at the mental health of players, and what aspects of the game help. D&D is even being used in therapy! www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGqn...

Mewgenics is about breeding generations of cats. Human conditions such as autism are featured, allowing the player to make a decision to *not* allow a cat with autism to mate The creators explain their intentions, and stress the game is not pro-eugenics www.pcgamer.com/games/roguel...

"Steam’s new guidelines are vague, only saying that “certain types of adult-only content” are being affected... Adult content is an expansive label – it can include anything from queer relationships to depictions of mental health issues" www.thegamer.com/itch-steam-c...

This paper looks at therapeutic features of games designed to help people with anxiety, and considers how well a regular horror game (Carbon Steel) provides those same features, and how the game could be changed to be more therapeutic. press-start.gla.ac.uk/press-start/...

"Post-game depression" is a valid feeling, but it isn't (in itself) clinical depression. "This feeling is perfectly normal, I think... having it come to an end is enough to make anyone feel sad, and you’re absolutely valid to feel this way." www.destructoid.com/poll-post-ga...

Project; Virai: Doomer's Life Escape: horror RPG with hikikomori theme. "Step into the anxious Hicha's life and experience the health-destroying routine... It's up to them to help Hicha escape her depressive nightmare before it consumes her completely" bleedingcool.com/games/projec...

Content warnings "When you’re caught unaware by seeing this trauma pop up unexpectedly, though, it risks the opposite effect, of trapping and isolating you in that moment again where it’s impossible to see or feel anything else." www.polygon.com/gaming/61100...