{"id":44115,"date":"2022-04-19T11:14:28","date_gmt":"2022-04-19T15:14:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/?post_type=emagazine&#038;p=44115"},"modified":"2023-05-29T05:27:19","modified_gmt":"2023-05-29T09:27:19","slug":"therapeutic-mental-health-gaming","status":"publish","type":"emagazine","link":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/secure-futures-magazine\/therapeutic-mental-health-gaming\/44115\/","title":{"rendered":"Are games the future of mental health treatment?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>In Kaspersky\u2019s <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/secure-futures-magazine\/bring-on-the-future\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><em>Bring on the Future<\/em><\/a><em> series, we meet people and businesses worldwide who are changing things for the better.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>One of the biggest challenges for mental health treatment is reaching more people who need it. Some don\u2019t realize they\u2019re mentally unwell. Others can\u2019t access therapy because of costs or waiting lists. Many don\u2019t like the idea of discussing their problems with a stranger.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.deepwelldtx.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">DeepWell DTx<\/a> aims to change that by bringing mental health therapy to the masses \u2013 especially hard-to-reach patients \u2013 through gaming. Co-founders Ryan Douglas and Mike Wilson speak about why games are a great way to treat mental health issues \u2013 if you get the formula right.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe class=\"youtube-player\" type=\"text\/html\" width=\"640\" height=\"390\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gz5HrrCMGc8?version=3&amp;rel=1&amp;fs=1&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;wmode=transparent\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Why did you decide to start DeepWell now?<\/h3>\n<p>We found that mental health came up constantly in our respective careers \u2013 Mike in gaming and Ryan in creating medical devices and therapies. We saw many people were missing the resources or help to treat disorders like anxiety and depression.<\/p>\n<p>We often talked about what we could do to address this unmet need, then the deepening mental health crisis alongside the Covid-19 pandemic pushed us to start DeepWell.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"c-promo-product\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"c-card c-card--link c-card--medium@sm c-card--aside-hor@lg\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"c-card__body  \">\n\t\t\t\t\t<header class=\"c-card__header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-card__headline\">Health tech for employers<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"c-card__title \"><span>Business health tech<\/span><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/header>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"c-card__desc \">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Should your business add wellbeing tech to its employee benefits?<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"c-card__aside\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/secure-futures-magazine\/telehealth-corporate-employee-wellbeing\/42625\/\" class=\"c-button c-card__link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Read more<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n<h3>What\u2019s DeepWell\u2019s philosophy?<\/h3>\n<p>We put games and game developers first. There is no treatment without player engagement, so therapy must be embedded in a fun and engaging game.<\/p>\n<h3>How has your team of 40 experts across gaming, science and mental health helped your success?<\/h3>\n<p>Our diverse team is made up of professionals at the top of their fields. Neurosurgeons, lawyers, creative strategists and others all work in service of the game developer. Without the game\u2019s fun, there is no therapy.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Having scientific, regulatory and medical experts on board means we can make therapeutic claims, but they complement engaging, well-crafted games made by talented, dedicated developers.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3>What can players expect might change after playing your games?<\/h3>\n<p>Our games aim to help players improve their physical and emotional functioning. After playing consistently, you should notice greater resilience and capability to handle the stress and anxiety of daily life.<\/p>\n<h3>How has gaming supported your mental health? Which games do you recommend for therapy?<\/h3>\n<p>At the moment we\u2019re focused on virtual reality (VR,) using games like <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/1079800\/Pistol_Whip\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Pistol Whip<\/a> and motivational fitness apps like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oculus.com\/experiences\/quest\/1830168170427369\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Supernatural<\/a> for leisure and exercise. These games have especially helped during the pandemic for getting off the couch and quelling anxiety with movement.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve also found immersive fantasy games like Lorne Lanning\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oddworld.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Oddworld<\/a> and American McGee\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/American_McGee%27s_Alice\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Alice<\/a>, role-playing games (RPGs) like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wizard101.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Wizard101<\/a> and world-builders like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.minecraft.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Minecraft<\/a> therapeutic for us and our families. Any game that takes you out of your head has potential benefits.<\/p>\n<h3>Who are your customers? Are businesses investing in these games, such as the healthcare industry, or any business hoping to improve employee wellbeing?<\/h3>\n<p>We\u2019re reaching out directly to folks with mental health issues. We also partner with game developers, publishers and platforms to create new games or repurpose games that are already therapeutic. We hope our games will make mental health treatment accessible to a broader audience.<\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Serious_game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><strong>Serious games<\/strong><\/a><strong> have evolved as a genre in recent decades, especially in academia and<\/strong> healthcare.<strong> Do you align with it?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>We are not <em>serious<\/em> <em>games<\/em>. We rely on the power of play and engagement that good games provide. While we see the value of other approaches, this is what makes us different.<\/p>\n<h3>How will your FDA games certification project benefit the industry and gamers?<\/h3>\n<p>Being able to make claims and develop games with therapeutic intent, and to have players understand the therapeutic benefit of engaging, will change game development and the audience games can reach.<\/p>\n<h3>Can you tell us about games you plan to launch?<\/h3>\n<p>The first game we\u2019re working on focuses on addressing stress, anxiety and symptoms of depression on a VR platform. More to come closer to launch.<\/p>\n<h3>How will you keep your products secure and safe for users?<\/h3>\n<p>We closely follow the FDA and HIPAA guidelines and requirements for data management in prescription games.<\/p>\n<h3>What will success look like for DeepWell?<\/h3>\n<p>Widespread recognition of the power of game developers to develop <a href=\"https:\/\/www.emjreviews.com\/innovations\/article\/the-era-of-immersive-health-technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Immersive Medicine<\/a> and being able to produce many therapeutic options for a range of cultures and mental health conditions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two friends combined their experience in gaming and medical therapies to create a unique approach to mental health that could help treat many more people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2521,"featured_media":44116,"template":"","coauthors":[3452],"class_list":{"0":"post-44115","1":"emagazine","2":"type-emagazine","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"emagazine-category-start-ups","7":"emagazine-category-tech-for-business","8":"emagazine-category-tech-for-good","9":"emagazine-tag-bring-on-the-future","10":"emagazine-tag-gaming","11":"emagazine-tag-healthcare","12":"emagazine-tag-mental-health"},"hreflang":[{"hreflang":"x-default","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/secure-futures-magazine\/therapeutic-mental-health-gaming\/44115\/"},{"hreflang":"en-us","url":"https:\/\/usa.kaspersky.com\/blog\/secure-futures-magazine\/therapeutic-mental-health-gaming\/26387\/"}],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/emagazine\/44115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/emagazine"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/emagazine"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2521"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=44115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}