Virtual Reality Video Game for Depression Awareness

Abstract

Depression is a mental disease that affects over 264 million people worldwide and is responsible for causing great suffering, work dysfunction, faulty education, family relationships and can lead to suicide. Depression stigma prevents over half of the people who suffer from major depression from seeking professional help. Stigma mostly results from a deficient understanding of the mental disease. Research indicates that first-hand experiences of the perceptions of an individual diagnosed with a mental disorder in a simulated virtual reality environment can increase empathy and positive attitudes towards the individual. Interactive VR experiences have been described as a human-computer interface that enables users to immerse themselves in a computer generated, multi-dimensional environment. This project aims at examining the impact of a VR-assisted experience on reducing stigma and increase empathy towards individuals with depression. Following a methodology based on well-established results from psychology about common depression misunderstandings, we present a VR experience that simulates some of the most common difficulties encountered by people diagnosed with depression.