Players in North America have repeatedly told us that “good mental health and wellbeing” is the social value most important to them. And we agree. That’s why we’re partnering with The Public Good Projects, a public health nonprofit that uses science, technology, and evidence-based strategies to create measurable health outcomes to tackle today’s most pressing public health issues in communities large and small. PGP's expertise ranges from decreasing mental health stigma to tackling the opioid epidemic and countering vaccine misinformation.
We worked together to design a free mental health advocacy guide for content creators, streamers, and moderators in North America. Starting today it’s available to anyone who wants to understand how to support their viewers, fans, and friends who may be struggling with mental health conditions.
Mental Health and Play
Improving mental health outreach and support has been one of our key focus areas for a while. Unfortunately, the added stress of the global pandemic has taken a toll on people’s mental health—young people in particular. And players have increasingly turned to content creators for mental health support.
We know that responding to players’ mental health struggles can be challenging. Last year we took a step towards this by partnering with Crisis Text Line to offer free crisis mental health support. Our partnership with PGP expands upon that work, and provides a new online resource with mental health advocacy content for mods and content creators, and it’s free to use.
In this guide users will find information, resources, and best practices from top mental health organizations aimed to help guide streamers and mods through conversations around mental health, and, if needed, how to connect their viewers to professional services.
What’s Next
Over the next year, we’ll continue working with PGP to learn more about the knowledge, behaviors, and attitudes around mental health in the gaming community. We’ll also gather feedback from streamers and mods to identify additional resources and methods we can help support gamers’ mental health.
We can all play a role to provide meaningful support to players struggling with mental health conditions. We’re eager to learn and grow with the gaming community to make our community a safer, healthier place.
