Mental Illness In Video Games

A national survey in 2008 revealed that 45% of Australians are suffering from a mental illness (Abs.gov.au, 2016). With such a high number of people suffering in Australia alone, mental illness is clearly a prevalent issue within society and a topic that deserves a multitude of research and attention. The number of Australian gamers has also risen substantially in the last few years, with a national survey revealing that 68% of Australians participate in some form of gaming (Brand & Todhunter 2015). Evidently a large majority of Australians are playing games and almost half of Australia is suffering from a mental illness, however there has not been much research into the correlation of moderate game consumption and mental illness, rather most research has been focused on addiction. This study will investigate if there is any link between video games and mental illness, and help determine any positive or negative effects in regards to mental wellbeing. Results of this study will help in the future …show more content…
Analysing both people suffering from mental illness and people without it will help to see how people respond to video games differently and whether the types of games being played have any correlation to the player’s mental state. The findings will not only have a sociological impact on the gaming community but will also help with the further development of video games and will therefore prove vital to the gaming industry.

Hypothetically if a connection is found between positive wellbeing and video game game consumption of a certain genre, further studies may be set in place to determine what in this genre encourages people to feel happy and these findings will help game developers create positive gaming experiences. Similarly, if there are negative findings, steps can be taken to reduce negative wellbeing and behavior that is connected to game