Summary

  • Video games have evolved to portray mental health issues in a positive light with creativity and strength.
  • Titles like Silent Hill 2, Darkest Dungeon, and Spec Ops: The Line effectively depict trauma and mental illnesses.
  • Games like Disco Elysium, Omori, and Martha Is Dead explore complex mental health themes with deep narratives.

It has been a long and painful road for the topic of mental health, and for those who suffer from it, to get to where we are now: a place where depression, anxiety, PTSD, grief, and more are openly being discussed. Laws are changing, the discussion is opening up, and art is getting better at reflecting on life.

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Video games are a form of art that has, in recent years, gone from reflecting and discussing mental health in a harsh and damaging way to doing so in a positive light with incredible strength and creativity. It has even served as an avenue for helping those who suffer from a mental condition or illness. Even for those who don't — stories exist to increase one's level of empathy. If you wish to understand or get a clearer insight into the mental illnesses that others may suffer, you could do worse than try out some of these incredible video games.

Updated on December 14, 2024, by Zackary Wiggs: Art in any form is a great way to connect with people, especially when it comes with their struggles and mindsets. Mental health and the illnesses that stem from it are becoming more talked about in the open. Much of that is through TV shows, movies, and, of course, video games. Whether it's a character with a certain mental illness, or an entire story revolving around the themes of mental health, here are some of the best games that touch on the subject.

26 Silent Hill 2

Depression, Trauma

Silent Hill 2

Survival Horror Horror Adventure Action 3.5/5 Released October 8, 2024 ESRB M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Language, Sexual Themes, Violence Developer(s) Bloober Team Publisher(s) Konami Platform(s) PlayStation 5, PC Genre(s) Survival Horror, Horror, Adventure, Action Powered by Expand Collapse

There are few horror series as prevalent as the Silent Hill series, but fans of the game will tell you that they aren't just about jump scares and gore. Some, like Silent Hill 2, touch on some important mental health subjects.

Silent Hill 2 follows James as he not only deals with the monsters of the titular setting, but his own trauma and that of his missing wife's illness. In fact, most of the monsters in the game relate to James' own mental manifestations.

25 Darkest Dungeon

Trauma, Self-Harm

Darkest Dungeon

RPG Released January 19, 2016 ESRB T For Teen due to Alcohol Reference, Blood and Gore, Mild Language, Partial Nudity, Suggestive Themes, Violence Developer(s) Red Hook Studios Publisher(s) Red Hook Studios Platform(s) PS4, PS Vita, Xbox One, Switch, PC, iOS Genre(s) RPG Powered by Expand Collapse

Trauma and the mental health issues that come from it are something that doesn't get talked about a lot in video games, which is rather surprising considering all the incredible things the character of the average video game gets put through.

Darkest Dungeon turns that on its head. Every character that you take on a mission has a stress bar that will slowly fill up even as they walk around, which only makes sense in a cosmic horror setting. Push them too far and their stress will manifest into one of a series of different mental illnesses, influencing how they act and fight.

Each character also comes with a series of flaws and quirks, most of which are relatable to real-life mental illnesses.

24 Spec Ops: The Line

PTSD, Trauma

Spec Ops: The Line

Third-Person Shooter Released June 26, 2012 ESRB M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language Developer(s) Yager Development Publisher(s) 2K Games Platform(s) PC, PS3, Xbox 360 Genre(s) Third-Person Shooter Powered by Expand Collapse

For as many war games as there are out there, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and similar trauma-based mental illnesses don't come up much. This makes games like Spec Ops: The Line stand out that much more.

As you move throughout the warzone, your character, Walker, slowly succumbs to the horrors he's seen. These manifest as auditory and visual hallucinations, affecting his personality and his sense of reality.

23 Disco Elysium

Amnesia, Alchoholism

Disco Elysium

RPG 4.5/5 Released October 15, 2019 ESRB M For Mature 17+ due to Blood, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs, Violence Developer(s) ZA/UM Publisher(s) ZA/UM Platform(s) PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Stadia Genre(s) RPG Powered by Expand Collapse

Not your average detective game, Disco Elysium took the subject of mental illnesses in video games to new levels with a few characters, but none more so than with protagonist Detective Harrier Du Bois.

Or Detective Raphaël Ambrosius Costeau, depending on your choices

From the opening scene, we see the protagonist not only struggling with amnesia, but also rather severe alcoholism. The choices made from then on see the detective rise to the occasion and self-actualize, or sink further into his self-pity.

22 Layers Of Fear

Trauma, Bipolar Disorder

Layers of Fear

Horror 3.0/5 Released February 16, 2016 ESRB m Developer(s) Bloober Team Publisher(s) Aspyr Platform(s) Switch, PlayStation (Original), Xbox One, PC Genre(s) Horror Powered by Expand Collapse

Amnesia is a go-to for horror games (some are even named after it), but not all use it to show the connections of mental illness in a character like Layers of Fear. A struggling artist as your protagonist, you slowly unravel his own traumas, along with his story.

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Some of those choices are up to you, mainly through your attachment and reaction style to the ghost that haunts your now empty mansion. But regardless, the protagonist's history of addiction and violent outbursts are something that isn't touched on that much in gaming.

21 Martha Is Dead

Addiction, Trauma, Depression, DID

Martha Is Dead

Indie Games Adventure Survival Horror Released February 24, 2022 ESRB m Publisher(s) Wired Productions Platform(s) PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Genre(s) Indie Games, Adventure, Survival Horror Developer LKA Powered by Expand Collapse

Martha Is Dead is another disturbing and complex horror game dealing with a character's response to trauma and brings attention to an important mental condition known as Dissociative Identity Disorder. DID is when someone creates one or more alternate personalities to avoid feeling the negative impact of unbearable trauma, as the main character does in this case.

Set amid WW2 in Italy, the game leads you to believe that Giulia and Martha are twin sisters, and when the latter passes away, Giulia assumes Martha's identity. In actuality, Martha was horrifically abused at an early age by her addict mother in a Nazi household. Giulia became an extension of herself in coping with the trauma she experienced. Marionette puppet theater sequences are used throughout to convey this, as well as other hints.

20 Omori

Anxiety, Depression

OMORI

Horror RPG Released December 25, 2020 ESRB M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood, Strong Language, Violence Platform(s) PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S Genre(s) Horror, RPG Developer Omocat Publisher Omocat, Playism Powered by Expand Collapse

Omori is all about how a group of friends is individually affected by the profound loss of Mari, who is the titular protagonist's sister. You follow Omori through different worlds that were created as a result of trauma, some whimsical and others creepy, and each done in RPG Maker fashion. However, like with Martha Is Dead, not all is as it seems.

Omori is actually a kid named Sunny in the real world, and the White Space world is a means of escape through an alternate identity. Sunny is anxious, depressed, and consumed by eerie imagery and figures that represent his subconscious and repressed memories, trying to creep back into his reality and get him to confront his inner demons.

19 Actual Sunlight

Anxiety, Depression

Actual Sunlight is not as obscure as some of these other titles about addressing mental health. The game's themes revolving around suicide, anxiety, and depression couldn't be more overt in hitting the nail on the head. With a combination of 2D illustrations, an RPG Maker world design, and reading text-based screens, this game is pure emotional linear storytelling of a man struggling with living.

It's a raw portrayal of Evan Winters, a Canadian citizen struggling with his weight, waking up to the same dull corporate job, losing interest in many of the hobbies that once gave him joy, dealing with social anxiety, and contemplating suicide. During key parts of the story, you get fed pieces of Evan's troubled past displayed as text on-screen with a typewriter effect.

18 Depression Quest

Depression

Much like Actual Sunlight, Depression Quest is aimed at taking you through the realistic journey of a character struggling with severe depression in their day-to-day life. However, the gameplay is strictly a branching narrative text adventure with some visuals and is available to play for free online, which is a remarkable aspect.

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This game does exceptionally well in providing the context behind your current personal and professional life, including the current state of all your relationships with social circles and your significant other. It also includes text saying that you're not getting help and that your depression is leading you to be more withdrawn. Certain choices will, therefore, be deliberately crossed out as a result.

17 Aether

Anxiety

This unique flash game was designed by Edmund McMillen of Super Meat Boy fame, though the serene experience is a big departure from that grueling affair. In this atmospheric ride, you control a lonely boy along with an octopus-esque creature that he encounters. He swings, soars, and strolls across clouds and asteroids using the monster's elongated tongue.

He travels to various monochrome planets, which he must restore to glorious color by solving puzzles. The game plays with feelings of isolation, worry, and anxiety — acting as a visual representation of these emotions in the boy's head.