Forum on Video Games for Mental Health

Over the recent years, mental health has become a major disease burden globally [28]. Untreated mental illness has serious consequences for the individual, resulting in lower quality of life [21] and has severe negative effects on the global economy. Accumulated, the tangible and intangible costs of depression and anxiety alone are estimated at $1 trillion USD per year [5]; projections suggest that similar costs can be expected for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's [26]. A dire situation which requires creative, flexible, and scaling solutions. According to the WHO Mental Health Atlas [25], in many low and middle-income countries standard of care mental health services are not available, inaccessible, or financially out of reach. Even in higher income countries where access to mental health care has improved, there are still long waiting times, systematic stigmatisation, and high costs preventing effective treatment for all in need of services.