Reply To: Disabilities and mental health (problems)

[amachan 25677xp 9]

First of, I have not yet watched this weekends weekender or XLBS and am planning on doing so today while doing some hobby later today.

My story.
I suffer from PTSD caused by multiple things in my past and this leads to a couple of other mental health issues as well, mainly heavy depression. I am still undergoing therapy to hopefully reduce the effects it has on my life. I’m not sure I have what you’d call a fully functional life. I can’t work for instance or plan anything in advance without knowing that I have a high chance that I might have to cancel it. Everyday is a whole new maze of problems to navigate through.

Painting helps me navigate through these days a lot easier, it calms me down and makes me feel like I can do something good in this life. Other hobby things does similar things, but to a lesser degree. This is the reason I paint so much. Tabletop gaming helps as well. I have a couple of close friends I regularly play with and if things are going well we even go to our local hobby store to game there with other people. Note that I rarely go alone. Tabletop gaming and indulging myself in the the worlds the games are set into help me deal with things as well, again to a lesser degree, but it helps. Video gaming works the same way.

I have no problems with depictions of mental health issues in games etc. as long as they show respect for the issues. It’s understandable that the game designers might not fully understand how it is to live with certain mental health issues. Depicting such issues realistically is the problem most game designers will struggle with I think. Not just because they might not know what it is like, but because how the general public can react to it. Most people don’t know what it is like to live with mental health issues and when seeing something depicted realistically can think it’s not realistic, because it’s so far out of what they can possibly understand or perceive. This is why I say “as long as they show respect for it” because I understand it can be difficult to depict. Game designers shouldn’t shy away from it and definitely include it. And when possible ask for help from people who know what it is like to live with these issues. Even when they cannot depict it fully realistically they should definitely give an impression of what it’s like to people who have not experienced anything like it. I think that raises the best understanding for these issues.