Game Design Meets Therapy

transcript

Game Design Meets Psychotherapy

...how they hit it off and conceived the “depression game”

Doris C. Rusch, Dr.MIT GAMBIT Game Labdcrusch@mit.edu

T. Atilla Ceranoglu, M.D.Mass. General Hospital

aceranoglu@partners.orgwww.drceranoglu.com

games tackling the human condition

our concept of choice

Facts on Depression

Facts on Depression5 or more criteria, during the same 2-week period

Depressed mood and SIG: E CAPS

Suicide: recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying), recurrent suicidal ideation

Interest changes: markedly diminished interest or pleasure in activities

Guilt: feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt

Energy: fatigue or loss of energy

Concentration changes: diminished ability, or indecisiveness

Appetite changes: significant weight loss or appetite changes

Psychomotor changes: psychomotor agitation or retardation

Sleep changes: insomnia or hypersomnia nearly every day

Facts on Depression

• 2.2 million depressed adolescents in 2004

Facts on Depression

• More than twice likely to use drugs

Facts on Depression

• 7% may commit suicide

Facts on Depression

• Less than half (40%) received treatment

Facts on Depression

• Less than half (40%) received treatment

...Under-response!

Step 1:

defining the purpose of the game

Response to Depression

Reasons for under-response...

• Limited services or number of providers

• Lack of funds for effective outreach

• Attitude towards mental illness

Course of Depression

Consequences of depression

• Noncompliance with treatment

• Estrangement

• Frustration among caregivers

• Estrangement

• Frustration among caregivers

the purpose of our game is not to cure depression!

Taking on Depression

Public education aims

• Inform friends and families of depressed

• Increase understanding of how depression manifests

Gaming for Depression

Videogame as a tool

• 97% of all teenagers play a VG

• 1 of 2 played a VG yesterday

• Best tool to reach the Digital Native

Step II:

defining the design approach to inform and raise awareness.

• embracing subjectivity

• modeling “what it feels like”

• not preachy!

• playing to the strengths of the medium

depression is about loss:

loss of meaningloss of goals

loss of control loss of agency

loss of playfulnessloss of sense of self

loss of focus loss of energyloss of voice

games are about play

play is a state of mind

freedom

expansiveness

depression is the opposite of play

In order to make “loss” tangible, the game will also model that which is lost.

It aims to show the contrast between playfulness / agency and depression / loss of agency

and the transition between the two in an experiential way.

Step III:

translating high level ideas into concrete design:procedural metaphors

Gameworld = Emotional Landscape

objective: tap happiness potential

conflict: mood struggle

one has to fight the downward tendency of one’s mood to experience joy and escape

the doldrums of depression.

“passion” as power up; “hum” to identify emotional resonance!

happy state

depression state

potential structure:

normal = nhappy = h

transition = tdepression = d

Check your experiences. How happy were you? How sad? Want to try again?

end screen that shows how you did in terms of potential happiness / sadness:

main collaboration points:

• define purpose of the game: understanding depression and contextual problems

• inspiration for design through clinical accounts on depression

• reality check: does the design adequately represent experiences of depression? Are new features consistent with the concept?

• sharing excitement for the project, mutual motivation, encouragement and fun! :-)

Thanks! Questions?

dcrusch@mit.edu aceranoglu@partners.orgwww.drceranoglu.com

Game Design Meets Therapy

Health & Medicine