Mental health in games

[Doclector]

I've been playing both alice games extensively recently (both are brilliant, even though the original has not aged well in terms of game design) and it got mr wondering about how few game characters suffer from some kind of mental illness, and how even fewer games handle it well. Alice is hardly a good example of how to deal with a mental health problem, but that of course, is not the purpose of the game. Many of the silent hill characters suffer from some form of trauma, but again, it's not exactly a positive example.

Rapture's splicers? Definately not. Red dead redemption's Seth? No, no. Black ops' Mason? Now I'm just getting silly.

I think the only near positive or well handled mental health stories in videogames is in mass effect 2, with

Spoiler

garrus seeming to have some form of post traumatic stress

and that wasn't even in detail.

Anyway, can you think of any good examples? What's your opinion on depiction of mental health in games? I think perhaps it is an issue that, whilst interesting to explore in videogames, such as in games such as Alice and psychonauts, but as a serious issue to be tackled, it always seems to be doomed to either serve as some gameplay feature or gimmick in main characters, or to be merely skimmed over in secondary characters. Maybe this is just one for film to handle.

 

[ravendna]

Its my belief that the suffering was a great depiction of paranoid delusions and psychosomatic disorder

 

[Bajinga]

As much as I hated the game, Dead Space 2 was relying on the player to be drawn in by the dementia that Isaac had.
It is a good mechanic, so long as it is used wisely.

 

[ravendna]

As much as I hated the game, Dead Space 2 was relying on the player to be drawn in by the dementia that Isaac had.
It is a good mechanic, so long as it is used wisely.

i have to disagree with dead space 2 they called it dementia but it was really Retrograde amnesia but good point however amnesia is used to offer because the writers are to lazy to give a back story

 

[Bajinga]

i have to disagree with dead space 2 they called it dementia but it was really Retrograde amnesia but good point however amnesia is used to offer because the writers are to lazy to give a back story

Yes, is suppose it was amnesia, but at some points, you could tell that they were trying to put in a medias res style to the game. They never succeded.

 

[SsilverR]

I remember they had a mental health guage in Fahrenheit ... ir indigo prophecy as ze yanks call it

 

[Waffle_Man]

To be honest, it's mainly because most developers can't be bothered to write well rounded characters. Mental illness is generally just an excuse to justify irrational action, thus moving the plot along.