May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Together with RAD non-profit organization, join the discovery of awareness this important topic!🌱
In my opinion, video games play one of the leading roles when it comes to mental integrity. A huge number of people play with pleasure every day for several hours a day. Games are a great help in coping with stress. When we are in the process, we are immersed in another world, cut off from reality, with its own emotional background. It charges with new emotions, affects our mood.
Video games allow us to establish new social connections, find friends with the same interests.
Unfortunately, video games also have a vulnerability. In people with epilepsy, bright flashes can cause negative consequences. Children, through someone else's negligence, can gain access to "mature" games that can cause damage to mental health. Not only children, but also pregnant women, people with depression and suicidal thoughts. We see that the gaming community should be a safe home for everyone. Today's time shows us that developers have indeed become more aware of mental protection, and open up various projects to more players.
Mental well-being in video game development
We ourselves are the creators of the video game project The Nick< /span> which has the psychological horror genre. And we understand that it's not enough to simply adapt a creepy game for everyone. That's why we're working with inclusivity and psychology experts to create disclaimers and Light Sensitivity Mode to make gaming sessions comfortable for everyone. This is not all that we implement. We will tell you about our game later.
I would like to mention the developer Dan Salvato, known for his horror Doki Doki Literature Club! . When creating the console version with the Plus postfix, he expanded the policy on the accessibility of video games for everyone, creating pwarnings before shocking content and limiting foul language. As a result, the project remained the same creepy and exciting, but now also accessible to a larger number of players, unique in their own way. This is a great example of injecting mental health inclusivity into the horror game.
We encourage many indie developers to pay more attention to the impact of their projects on the mental state of the players, limiting and polishing the content.
Take care of your mental health with RAD
This month we're partnering with Rise Above the Disorder (RAD) to help people around the world deal with their problems. We encourage you to seek regular psychological help to maintain your productivity and quality of life. That's what RAD does, scheduling patients for therapy and providing quality psychiatric counseling sessions (often 3-6 months) for both those who can afford it and those who can't afford it. The company is aware that not everyone can afford to spend their money on mental support, but this does not cease to be important for everyone. Many of the organization's psychiatrists are willing to provide assistance with RAD grants providing free counseling to those in need. You can support the center by donating any one-time or regular amount for development.
Support for Flat Reality employees
Every day, someone from the team of our game studio works on projects. Sometimes tasks can become too monotonous, leading to burnout. As part of this month, we are launching a pilot program integrated with the YouAreRAD program, through which we are ready to provide free psychological counseling for those who need it. The experiment will last until the end of May and, if successful, will be launched on a permanent basis. We consider it very important to take care of those who take part in the development of our company. So the team becomes more productive and energetic.
We don't want anyone on the team to feel oppressed by their work at the moment when they feel overwhelmed and burned out. Therefore, we are launching another experiment, which is actively taking place in European companies Mental Health Days*. If a team member feels a deterioration in his psychological well-being, he can rest for a while, painlessly rescheduling his deadlines and comfortably adapting them both for himself and for the company. During these days, we also recommend that he visit a psychological consultation.
Maintaining mental awareness is a very important part that works in any field. We show the importance of its implementation in video games💚
How do games help you cope with psychological tension? Share it in the comments!