Immersive Games for Neurodiversity and Mental Health in Children and Young Adults

Serious And Immersive Games For Mental Health And Neurodiversity

Games, especially video games or digital games, are ubiquitous in the life of children and young adults. They can also be used for ‘serious’ purposes such as learning or support of mental health. Called serious games, these games are defined as games that do not have entertainment, enjoyment or fun as their primary purpose (Michael & Chen, 2005). A central goal of serious games is that the learning in the game generalizes to improve real life outcomes (Whyte, Smyth, & Scherf, 2015).

Serious games in the health sector include games to actively involve young people in the treatment of cancer, in the field of psychotherapy, or to treat conditions such as eating disorders (Lau et al., 2017). Serious games which address mental health may make use of evidence-based mental health therapy, such as CBT or exposure therapy (Fleming et al., 2017). Fleming et al. (2017) define three processes linked to serious games and their impact on mental health. First, serious games can represent an addition to online health programs, and reach those who otherwise might not engage with these programs. Secondly, the motivational factor of games can be used to keep users engaged. And thirdly, combined with therapeutic processes, game elements can lead to change. When well designed, games can enhance concentration, improve retention of learning content, facilitate deep learning, and lead to behavioural change. While serious games promise to show positive effects on psychological and behavioural change or symptom relief, as initial studies show the field of serious games for mental health is still in its infancy – with sometimes poorly described interventions. For example, the studies examined by Fleming et al. (2017) treat diverse approaches as homogenous.