More on Video Games
and Mental Health

It is our belief that those of us who are creators in the arts have a responsibility to actively respond to this cultural moment, by addressing mental health within the fabric of our work. It is time that we stop siloing these issues of public health and well-being and instead begin to treat them as part of the existing push for inclusivity, diversity and accessibility within media. As creators of interactive media, as makers of video games that have the potential to reach a mass audience worldwide, we must aspire to change our world by offering better heroes, better narratives and a new sense of what it means to journey through this world and come out victorious.

According to the 2021 global meta-analysis published by the Journal of the American Medical Association, “the pooled prevalence estimates of clinically elevated child and adolescent depression and anxiety were 25.2% and 20.5% respectively.” Furthermore: “The prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms during COVID-19 have doubled, compared with pre-pandemic estimates. However, according to the CDC, only about 20% of children with mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders receive care from a specialized mental health provider. During August 2020–February 2021, the percentage of adults with recent symptoms of an anxiety or depressive disorder increased from 36.4% to 41.5%, and the percentage of those reporting an unmet mental healthcare need increased from 9.2% to 11.7%. Mental Health America reports that more than half of adults with mental illness in the U.S. do not receive mental healthcare treatment, totaling over 27 million adults in the U.S. going untreated.