PODCAST · games
Gaming the Mind Podcast
by Gaming the Mind
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
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24 Hours Online: Z2_Conjurer on Marathon Streaming, Community, & Mental Health
Gina, known as Z2_Conjurer, completed a 24-hour Twitch streaming marathon for Gaming the Mind. In the podcast, she shares her motivations, preparation for the event, and the challenges of exhaustion. She also discusses her mental health experiences and the supportive role of her streaming community.
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Genshin Impact’s “loneliness syndrome”
Thelxie's Fantastic Adventures campaign from Genshin Impact, recorded in 2024, explores mental health by addressing "loneliness syndrome." The game details its causes, symptoms, and treatments while inviting players to assist a boy suffering from the condition. It also prompts discussion on…
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Exploring CBT in Vampire Therapist
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...
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Is AI all it’s cracked up to be?
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...
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Psychological Layers of ‘Everything, Everywhere, All At Once’
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...
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World of Horror and “sanity meters”
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...
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Suzume and grief following disasters
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...
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Resident Evil 4 Remake and PTSD
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...
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Virtual suicide in games
(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...
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Live panel: “Soulsborne: Mythology and Mental Health”
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…
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Kirby and the healing power of cuteness!
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…
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Elden Ring and impostor syndrome
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...
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Belle: coping with grief and anxiety in the online world
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…
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Talking about Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk
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
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…
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Ace Attorney and dependent personality disorder
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...
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Mental health stigma in games
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...
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Into a Dream – interview with creator Filipe F Thomaz
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…
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Kelvin Plomer from Jagex discusses developer mental health
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...
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Coping with the COVID-19 pandemic
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...
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Mental health advocacy in video games – EGX panel
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…
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Judgement and cocaine
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...
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Blue Whale, Momo, and Doki Doki Literature Club – the myths of games compelling suicide
[content warning - mentions of suicide] In this episode Don, Marcus and Sachin discuss "games" which have variously been reported as the cause of suicides: but is there any known truth to such claims? We look at the phenomena of Blue Whale and the Momo Challenge - what they are, why ideas about...
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Virtual violence: “sin tax” and morality
Violence in video games: does it cause violence in real life? And how do we morally feel about it? [content warning - mentions of suicide and shootings] In this episode Don, Fai, Marcus and Sachin discuss a report of a bill in Pennsylvania that would increase tax on violent games, to raise money…
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Mortal Kombat and PTSD
Can people develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder following exposure to traumatic media? [content warning – trauma] In this episode Don, Fai, Marcus and Sachin discuss a Kotaku report of a Mortal Kombat 11 developer who said they were diagnosed with PTSD after working on the game. We...
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Apex Legends – who decides if the voices are real?
Wraith in Apex Legends hears a mysterious voice that helped her unlock her powers and tells her what will happen in the future. So is she mentally unwell? Who decides? In this episode Don, Sachin, Fai and Marcus (mental health doctors) discuss characters who hear voices: Wraith from Apex Legends,...
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Hikikomori and dreams in Yume Nikki
[content warning - this episode features mentions of suicide and abuse within the context of the game Yume Nikki] In this episode Don, Fai, Andrew and Sachin (mental health doctors) and Hammy (medical student) discuss the experimental horror game Yume Nikki and use that as a base to discuss the...
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Episode 5 -“Gamer burnout”
In this episode Sachin, Don, and Marcus (mental health doctors) discuss: – Gamer burnout: What is burnout and can you experience burnout from video games? (check out this article for more https://waypoint.vice.com/en_us/article/mby89y/millennial-burnout-gamers ). They also discuss this article on...
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Episode 4 – Celeste and anxiety
In this episode Sachin, Don, Fai (mental health doctors), and Hammy (medical student) discuss: - Celeste: how does it portray anxiety in main character Madeline and how is the game's attitude to mental health reflected in its design? (Check out this article that describes how a tough game like...
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Episode 3 – Silent Hill 2 and symbolism of mental health
[cw - suicide] In this episode Sachin, Don (mental health doctors), and Hammy (medical student) discuss: - Silent Hill 2: how does it use symbolism to portray trauma and mental health issues, and does it do a good job? (see article www.inverse.com/article/27660-sil…nami-pyramid-head for more)…
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Episode 2 – Esports doping and Tourette’s syndrome representation
In this episode Sachin, Fai, and Marcus (mental health doctors) discuss: - Claims of stimulants used as performance enhancing drugs in esports (see article motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/…fficial-league) - A Twitch streamer with Tourette's and what this means for representation (see article...
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Episode 1 – trans representation and esports touring
In this episode Sachin, Don, Fai (mental health doctors) and Hammy (medical student) discuss: - Gaming in moderation, based on an article by student Timothy Franklin advocating this (http://collegian.tccd.edu/?p=37310) - Concerns about how Cyberpunk 2077 will handle trans identities, in light of...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
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.
HOSTED BY
Gaming the Mind
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Gaming the Mind Podcast have?
Gaming the Mind Podcast currently has 32 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Gaming the Mind Podcast about?
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.
How often does Gaming the Mind Podcast release new episodes?
Gaming the Mind Podcast has 32 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Gaming the Mind Podcast?
You can listen to Gaming the Mind Podcast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Gaming the Mind Podcast?
Gaming the Mind Podcast is created and hosted by Gaming the Mind.
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