I've have been writing about the relationship between mental health and gaming a lot more than I ever thought I would over the past few months, and I found myself thinking about it constantly.
It isn’t something that is widely discussed yet, and I knew there could be so many more stories to be found that would be different to mine, and that is why I reached out to my followers on Twitter. Initially, this project was only going to be a few guest posts on my blog, but because of the amazing response I have had, I have decided to make this a lot bigger.
I have had a lot of writers interested in collaborating with me on this, which is amazing. I will be posting these on my blog but collecting them into an online zine called Glitch. The name Glitch is mainly inspired by the character Vanellope from the Disney movie Wreck-it Ralph, she is constantly referred to as a glitch in her game, seen as a nuisance and a danger to others. However, she overcomes this and uses her glitch to her advantage, and this is what I wanted to focus on in the name. I don’t want it to be seen as a bad thing, I see my anxiety as a glitch at times as it comes on so suddenly and often physically makes me wince, much like a glitch, it can completely disturb what I am doing. But I can overcome it, and this is what I want to focus on.
The first edition of Glitch will be exploring the general experiences of mental health and gaming, from how it has already been represented in games and my contributor's experiences with it.
I am hoping to continue the project with a series of editions, each focusing on a topic to do with mental health, for example, loss or anxiety. Each issue will dive deeper into the theme, exploring games that deal with these topics and gamers experiences with games when they go through these issues.
I want this series to be a positive thing for the gaming community, I want it to shine a light on how gaming can be a positive experience for those with mental health issues, but as I want to cover all aspects, I will be focusing an issue on the negative impact games can have on mental health, and how we can combat this in a positive way, rather than demonising games.
This project is very personal to me so I want it to be respectful, helpful and I would love it to possibly bring more awareness of the issue to the gaming community. I really hope that I can do all of these things, and I am looking forward to going on this journey with everyone!
I will be updating mainly on Twitter, so if you don’t follow me already over there follow this link!
I will also be taking part in a 24-hour gaming marathon for Mind! So I will be putting together a Go Fund Me or Just Giving Page very soon! In the meantime check out Mind because they do incredible things!!
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