Gaming the Mind Podcast

Gaming the Mind Podcast

Doctors by day; gamers by night! Exploring interactions between mental health and gaming, and promoting wellbeing in the gaming community. In this podcast we discuss a wide range of stories regarding video games and mental health.

Episodes

Exploring CBT in Vampire Therapist

October 31, 2024 • 49 mins
Vampire Therapist is a visual novel where players assume the role of Sam, a cowboy vampire offering cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to fellow vampires. The game integrates CBT concepts into its gameplay, allowing players to identify cognitive distortions. This podcast discusses how the game depicts and educates regarding CBT.
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Is AI all it’s cracked up to be?

July 11, 2024 • 99 mins
This podcast discussion delves into generative AI's potential applications, including in gaming, and raises ethical concerns about AI using others' work and replacing human workers. It questions whether we should attribute human qualities to AI and explores the concept of AI providing therapy without being recognized. Additionally, it ponders the meaning of AI "hallucinations" and suggests considering the term "confabulation."
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Psychological Layers of ‘Everything, Everywhere, All At Once’

March 6, 2024 • 41 mins
Recorded at MCM Comic-Con. Join us as we verse-jump through the multiverse of the deeply profound masterpiece, ‘Everything, Everywhere, All At Once’! Jason, Hammy and Sarah journey into directors the Daniels’ exploration of the beautiful mess of human existence, and how the film teaches us to be kinder to ourselves and each other. Weaving together […]
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World of Horror and “sanity meters”

November 29, 2023 • 43 mins
We take a look at World of Horror, which has now left Steam Early Access! This stark black-and-white horror RPG is inspired by Junji Ito and H.P. Lovecraft. Otherworldly horrors promise to test the sanity of Shiokawa, Japan. In the game, your character has a “Reason” meter, which measures their ability to mentally cope with […]
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Suzume and grief following disasters

October 3, 2023 • 81 mins
We have another “anime takeover” for our podcast, as we cover Makoto Shinkai’s latest film: Suzume! Though it’s an animation, Suzume covers traumatic disaster events that are very real and recent in history. We discuss what the film has to say about the outcome of disasters in terms of mental health. We also chat about […]
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Resident Evil 4 Remake and PTSD

June 11, 2023 • 64 mins
Capcom’s refreshed look at Resident Evil 4 adds a wealth of depth to characters such as Leon, Ashley, Luis and Ada. So what can we now understand about the mental health of these characters who are going through such a harrowing experience? How has Leon’s traumatic experience from Resi 2 affected him, and is he […]
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Virtual suicide in games

April 5, 2023 • 55 mins
(Content warning: this podcast describes suicidality and suicide in media, including non-detailed descriptions of suicide methods). We know there are guidelines around the depiction of suicide in media, but now there are games in which the player must make their character enact suicide, and with virtual reality this can be an immersive experience. Hammy, Don, […]
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Live panel: “Soulsborne: Mythology and Mental Health”

January 28, 2023 • 39 mins
FromSoftware’s games have had profound effects on the lives of players, especially those going through their own real challenges. And the games, such as Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Elden Ring, allude to mental health struggles within their story arcs. Want to know more? Grab your Sculptor’s Idol, light your bonfire and join us in the Hunter’s […]
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Kirby and the healing power of cuteness!

May 20, 2022 • 66 mins
What makes Kirby so cute, and why does he make us so happy? In this episode of the podcast, Hammy, Sachin and Marcus discuss Kirby (and other cute characters, besides), to discover the healing power of cuteness. We consider what makes something cute, and why we find things cute in the first place. What is […]
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Elden Ring and impostor syndrome

March 30, 2022 • 84 mins
We’re discussing the game of the moment, and probably game of the year, Elden Ring, in our latest podcast. FromSoftware superfan Hammy is joined by Sachin, Donald, and Marcus as we talk about what makes Soulsbourne games so fun, and how difficult they really are. We consider whether Elden Ring needs proper difficulty options, and […]
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Belle: coping with grief and anxiety in the online world

February 3, 2022 • 79 mins
In the latest episode of the podcast we are having an “anime takeover”, as we cover Mamoru Hosoda’s new film Belle! It’s a contemporary take on the tale-as-old-as-time: Beauty and the Beast, partly set in a vast online universe. We’re joined by TheGamer’s Lead Features Editor (and our good friend!) Jade King, who brings her […]
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Talking about Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk

December 21, 2021 • 71 mins
In the latest episode of the podcast we discuss the game Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk. It’s a relatively short visual novel in which you help a girl face the challenge of going out to buy milk. It’s worth playing through, so go check it out if you don’t […]
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Goliath: Playing with Reality – speaking to the directors

November 9, 2021 • 46 mins
In the latest episode of our podcast we chat to Barry Gene Murphy and May Abdalla, about their VR experience, Goliath: Playing with Reality, which is available for free on the Oculus store. The experience features interactive elements and takes you through the world of Goliath, a man who has spent years in psychiatric institutions […]
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Ace Attorney and dependent personality disorder

November 1, 2021 • 67 mins
Spoiler warning: this episode contains an in-depth discussion of the final case in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice for All. If you don’t want to know the big twists and turns of that case, please come back after having played it! Content warning: this podcast episode references the suicide of a fictional character and […]
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Mental health stigma in games

November 30, 2020 • 55 mins
What is stigma, how does it apply to mental health, and what are its consequences? And how might video games perpetuate mental illness stigma? In this episode, Hamilton (doctor), and Donald and Sachin (mental health doctors) discuss ways of understanding stigma and its impact, and look at studies of games which may cause stigmatisation. We […]
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Into a Dream – interview with creator Filipe F Thomaz

July 24, 2020 • 50 mins
Sachin (mental health doctor) talks to Filipe F Thomaz, creator of Into a Dream. This new game tasks the player with entering the dream of a man who has severe depression, so that you can explore their mind, find out how their life has led to this depression, and to help them out. They discuss the inspiration behind the game, how depression is presented within the game. They also get into some spoilers in the second half of the int...
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Kelvin Plomer from Jagex discusses developer mental health

July 6, 2020 • 78 mins
Sachin (mental health doctor) talks to Kelvin Plomer, Director of Player Experience at Jagex, to learn what the company is doing to support the mental health of their staff, and how wellness culture has evolved in the workplace. Also, he discusses how Jagex along with their partner charities are raising mental health awareness among the player community. He also talks about the measures Jagex are taking to keep players safe online,...
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Coping with the COVID-19 pandemic

March 16, 2020 • 71 mins
COVID-19 has been declared a pandemic, and anxiety around the illness, as well as self-isolation and quarantine practices can have an impact on people’s mental health. In this episode, Hamilton (doctor), and Marcus and Sachin (mental health doctors) discuss the potential psychological impact of quarantine, and then talk about how the gaming community is reacting […]
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Mental health advocacy in video games – EGX panel

October 25, 2019 • 54 mins
Listen to our panel at EGX 2019 about mental health advocacy in video games. There's lots of interesting talk about how games can portray mental health well, the importance of games in raising mental health awareness, and also a whole lot about how the industry can improve and do more to take care of the people who create these games and put their own experiences into them. We were joined by: Vic Hood (games writer at TechRadar, ...
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Judgement and cocaine

September 16, 2019 • 36 mins
The release of Sega’s Yakuza spin-off Judgement was delayed on the PS4 after one of the game’s actors was caught in a cocaine scandal. It’s notable that as a result of this, multiple projects involving the actor in Japan were shelved or edited to remove him, and his career has been derailed. In this episode, […]
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