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Stories

Personal journeys of mental health

Stories

Unintentional Baggage: The Aftermath of Sexual Assault

Content warning: This story contains non-graphic references to sexual assault. It’s funny the things we carry with us, without even realising we’re doing so. A few years ago I was processing some big life changes around the pandemic and lockdowns...

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What RSD means to me

As someone diagnosed last year with ADHD, rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD) has plagued my life as a silent passenger.  Up until a few years ago, it was assumed that ADHD didn’t exist in AFAB (assigned female at birth) individuals –...

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Choose Your Character: Representing Real Bodies in Games

Please be advised, this article discusses body image, weight, body descriptions, and gender stereotypes. I struggled with body image in my teen years and into my twenties, like a lot of people. The two things that most led to me...

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My 10-Year Diagnosis Journey

When I was 18 I went to the GP and said I thought I might be depressed. They prescribed me a self help book, which would have been filled at the library, but all their copies were checked out. I...

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Grounded with Gaming When Deployed on an Aircraft Carrier

Written by SaltyVet23, U.S. Navy Veteran As one can expect, being in the Navy is a… unique experience. For those who don’t know what the experience is like, imagine taking your entire high school and making it float at sea....

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Inglorious Banthas: How Gaming’s Camaraderie Saved Me From the Abyss

José A. Morales | StrawHatRican, U.S. Air Force Veteran Peddling Cartridges Long before Dante and Randall clerked the Quick Stop and RTS Video, I had the privilege of being raised in a video store long ago on the shores of...

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Obsessive Completionist Disorder: The Shaky Connection between OCD and Achievement

With the advent of achievements becoming a mainstay in gaming, it is easy to associate compulsive behaviour with ‘trophy hunters’ and ‘completionists’ who desire to 100% a game. The self-satisfaction that many people feel from getting an achievement (gaming-related or...

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ADHD & Gaming: How Neurodiverse Gamers are Connecting & Creating Positive Spaces

Before discovering I had ADHD, I thought I was alone in my quirks and how I socialise. But my experiences were more universal than I realised. Gaming has evolved to be more than an experience shared alone. In the world...

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Navigating the Complexities of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Rediscovering Purpose in the Games Industry

Since my earliest years, I’ve always sensed a profound difference within myself, as if I didn’t quite fit into the mold of “normal” childhood. It took me a long while to truly understand what was going on during this time. ...

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Celeste: How one video game made me take better care of my mental health

When the pandemic began, like most people, I found myself with more time on my hands than I knew what to do with. Then, I remembered my backlog of video games! I didn’t know what I was getting myself into...

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Alcohol Awareness with Julia Melvin

This week is Alcohol Awareness Week, a campaign from Alcohol Change UK to raise awareness of the impact alcohol can have on society and end alcohol harm. Alcohol Change UK is not an anti-alcohol charity, but they are advocating for...

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Facing The Final Note: A Journey Through Gender Identity and Mortality

Before we start, I’d like to give a trigger warning for mentions of the subject of death. Your health comes first, so make sure that you feel comfortable before you read. When I was young, I was an extremely angry...

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Resilience, Riddles and Reality: Why I Design Puzzle Games

I am a game designer. No wait, scratch that. More specifically – I am an escape room designer. I became a professional, full time escape room designer back in 2019. Not long before the global pandemic… And you can guess...

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Loss, Therapy, and Finding Myself through Streaming

Content: Warwick Zero shared their experiences in grief, loss, therapy and using streaming to explore their identity. My personal mental health journey has been a fairly recent one (the last 3 years or so), but more so because I felt...

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How FFXIV Became a Home

CW: Brief mention of suicidal thoughts, brief mention of abusive relationship As someone who spent their adolescence riddled with the undiagnosed, but very real, symptoms of both Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder, my communities have always served as...

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Knowing Yourself Is Half the Battle

I didn’t have a queer role model growing up. The only tangible examples of people like me I ever saw were the ones presented in movies and television. You know, the ones who are constantly tormented and tortured, who can’t...

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The Freedom & Possibility in Video Games

I don’t remember the first time I ever played a video game. What I do know is my brother, being only a year older than me, had a player 2 once I was old enough to hold a controller. I...

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Gaming: A Journey of Self-Discovery, Healing, and Resilience

Life has a funny way of throwing unexpected challenges our way, shaping our paths in ways we never could have anticipated. Growing up in a Christian context in Lebanon, where being gay was frowned upon, I found myself navigating a...

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How Video Games Saved My Life

Mental health. For me, this topic is intensely complex, and tied in with both gaming and all aspects of my life and journey. As a streamer, we put ourselves in the public eye so many times, and it can be...

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Agoraphobia recovery and finding myself in Stardew Valley

I have been through a lot of traumas in my life so far, from being bullied by all the girls in my year in high school to multiple situations with men who didn’t listen to me when I said no....

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How Rainbow Six’s queer representation saved my mental health

I love competitive games, specifically first person shooters (FPS). However, they are notorious for their toxic communities. This poses an issue for neurotypical, non spicy-brained individuals, so the effects it has on someone who is atypical can be incredibly detrimental....

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L’Envol by Élise in the Clouds

Video games have been for a long time my lifeline. I was born a very turbulent but smiling boy, had troubles focusing on things, was always daydreaming about nothing and everything… My mother told me later that she originally didn’t...

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Video Games are my Mental Crutch

Video games have been an important part of my life for over 35 years. They bring me a lot of joy and now I make my living as a game journalist, grateful that something that has always been there to...

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Embracing the Power of Baldur’s Gate

In the vast realm of video games, there are those rare franchises that go beyond mere entertainment, leaving a lasting impact on players’ lives. Although becoming more common, and the topic of mental health is being tackled more often, they...

COPING WITH MENTAL ILL HEALTH

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COPING WITH MENTAL ILL HEALTH

Feeling different from usual or noticed a change in your behaviour? Learn about some common feelings and mental health symptoms, how to cope with them, and where to go for help.

A-Z of mental health Feelings & symptoms Resources
COPING WITH MENTAL ILL HEALTH
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