The Insight Project: Gaming the Mind to Master Mental Health
We all have those moments. Something is off, it doesn't feel right. For some of us those moments last into days, weeks, months, years. They become all encompassing and seemingly impossible to overcome.
Mental Health is a real issue and I have to admit, when I was younger it wasn't spoken of, it wasn't really something we knew a whole lot about. Now however it is known, spoken about and we as a community can do and help those around us to get better, feel better with something as simple as R U OK?
You might have guessed it. I am a big advocate for mental health and having a positive impact on those around me and those in need. Well I like to think I try.
Today Ninja Theory the developers behind 2017's sleeper hit Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice announced The Insight Project. Watch and read the below as I will let them tell you in proper details their aim and goals, just let it be known. If this gets back to Ninja Theory and there is anything I can do to assist them in this cause all they need to do is ask....
Snoogs
Today
we are proud to announce The Insight Project,
an innovative R&D project at Ninja Theory that we have grand ambitions for.
In 2017, Ninja Theory released Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice on PlayStation and
PC platforms and later to Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and VR. It was headed
by Tameem Antoniades, co-founder and Creative Director at Ninja Theory under
the guidance of Paul Fletcher, Psychiatrist and Professor of Health
Neuroscience at University of Cambridge.
The game received universal acclaim for its depiction of a warrior with
severe mental health issues and was described by Wellcome as the best
representation of psychosis in any media. It went on to win widespread
acclaim, including 5 BAFTAs, 3 The Game Awards and a Royal College of
Psychiatrists award.
Subsequent to its release, Tameem and Paul have continued discussions on
how games can go beyond representing mental illness and distress and how they
play a role in promoting mental wellbeing. These discussions have resulted in
The Insight Project, an ambitious combination of technology, game design and
clinical neuroscience brought together with the aim of generating strategies to
alleviate mental distress.
The Insight Project will take shape over several years but is being
announced early to encourage an open and transparent approach to its
development. It is an exploratory but experimentally guided project that
aims to deliver a mainstream solution to help treat mental suffering and
encourage mental wellbeing.
We plan a programme of gaming, technological and scientific development
that will lead to self-contained, individualised and absorbing game experiences
within which people can become an expert at recognising, responding to and,
ultimately, controlling their own fear, anxiety and other negative subjective
experience. The work will be underpinned by rigorous scientific principles to
ensure its effectiveness and validity and it will adhere to strict standards of
ethics and data management.
This approach will be widely and conveniently applicable, flexible to
the needs of the individual and, critically, enjoyable and absorbing in ways
that will ensure enthusiastic engagement leading to marked and sustainable
change.
Our goal is to create and inspire a movement and help mental health
treatment to go mainstream. We hope you’ll join us on this exciting journey!
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