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Wham, S ock, K apow! Can B atman defeat his biggest foe yet and combat mental health discrimination? An exploration of the video games industry and its potential for health promotion

Wham, S ock, K apow! Can B atman defeat his biggest foe yet and combat mental health... Introduction There are a vast number of media products portraying mental health content carrying both positive and negative messages. While addressing these issues with regards to the media as a wider entity, this article is concerned with video games and the communicative resonance that its products have regarding players' understanding and feelings about mental health themes. The video game industry has tended to attract less attention than for example film, television or the press yet nonetheless having a strong influence upon attitudes and understanding about mental health. It is a richly expressive and creative medium with a powerful potential for health promotion, although largely depicting stigmatizing and misleading notions reflecting what is seen with other media source types (Morris ). It is the more‐commonly portrayed negative associations which health promoters/educators have to compete against and a specific example Batman: Arkham Asylum will be reviewed with comments made about its ambiguous and discriminatory notions of mental health. This is examined with regards to game players' interactive experience and ways in which negative messages and associations are conveyed. A contrast will be provided by some of the educative and health‐promotional games available and their impact upon game players' attitudes and http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Psychiatric & Mental Health Nursing Wiley

Wham, S ock, K apow! Can B atman defeat his biggest foe yet and combat mental health discrimination? An exploration of the video games industry and its potential for health promotion

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References (21)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
ISSN
1351-0126
eISSN
1365-2850
DOI
10.1111/jpm.12055
pmid
23964592
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Introduction There are a vast number of media products portraying mental health content carrying both positive and negative messages. While addressing these issues with regards to the media as a wider entity, this article is concerned with video games and the communicative resonance that its products have regarding players' understanding and feelings about mental health themes. The video game industry has tended to attract less attention than for example film, television or the press yet nonetheless having a strong influence upon attitudes and understanding about mental health. It is a richly expressive and creative medium with a powerful potential for health promotion, although largely depicting stigmatizing and misleading notions reflecting what is seen with other media source types (Morris ). It is the more‐commonly portrayed negative associations which health promoters/educators have to compete against and a specific example Batman: Arkham Asylum will be reviewed with comments made about its ambiguous and discriminatory notions of mental health. This is examined with regards to game players' interactive experience and ways in which negative messages and associations are conveyed. A contrast will be provided by some of the educative and health‐promotional games available and their impact upon game players' attitudes and

Journal

Journal of Psychiatric & Mental Health Nursing – Wiley

Published: Oct 1, 2013

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