Skip to main content

Watch: PTSD and video games

Low Batteries episode 3.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, is a multifaceted mental disorder that doesn't seem to get discussed very often; oftentimes it seems like one of those things that only happens to other people.

However, video games are full of people suffering from PTSD - even if those people are largely undiagnosed by merit of being fictional characters. In the third episode of Low Batteries, our series on games and mental health, I decided to look at the portrayal of PTSD in video games and ask whether it's really helping raise awareness, or if it's using a complex mental disorder as a convenient plot device.

You can watch the episode below. Please feel free to suggest topics for future episodes in the comments.

Watch on YouTube

If you think you or someone you know may be suffering, please don't do it in silence.

In the UK:

You can call the Rethink advice and information service on 0300 5000 927 (10am-1pm).

Also the Depression Alliance, a charity, has a network of self-help groups.

Samaritans offers a 24-hour confidential helpline: 116 123

In the US:

You can call the Crisis Call Center on 1-800-273-8255 at any time of the day.

If you're more comfortable talking via text than on the phone, 7cupsoftea.com offers an anonymous chat service.

Read this next