Summary of research

During phase one, I research four topics that I felt I connected with and those were addiction, rollercoasters, social stigma and safe spaces. Three out of four of those topics influenced the exploration of mental health and illness, clearly indicating that I want to produce ideas and outcomes that are meaningful and have a purpose that matters to me. That purpose is to create something with the function to help others who are struggling with mental health.

Out of the four topics researched in phase one, safe spaces was the most significant, and the research I came across in that topic is what has excited and interested me the most. I have a great love for exploration, mindfulness and making the absolute most of the time we have on this planet. How can we do that if we are unable to find room to really feel and think deeply? The scientific and social research avenues I explored were incredibly stimulating and inspiring to me, so I knew I was heading in the right direction.

In phase two, I researched both the physical and mental aspects of safe spaces. This includes what influences the feeling of being safe and how our body and mind responds external stimulus. I separated my research avenues into four groups, to organise my thoughts, which were sense & stimulation, technology, music and sound, and the idea of a comfort zone. From this deep research, I came across so many variables that may influence what a safe space is and how objects and stimulation influence the human mind and body. I realised that safe spaces was an incredibly broad subject and have now filtered down my intentions.

<aside> 🧠 I have decided on my project focus: How sense and stimulation can provide the experience of immersion as a tool for emotional regulation.

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My intentions

The skills I have learned and am leaning on this Games Design course are providing me with the ability an opportunities to make my difference in the world. I have a strong ambition to do my part, in helping to create strategies and resources to support mental health as well as raise awareness. And I believe that games are one of the greatest medium to achieve this.

My intentions for this year are to create a game that will raise awareness of mental health issues, as well as providing a resource for emotional regulation that will support the management of peoples mental health.

UN Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being." Currently, the world is facing a global health crisis unlike any other — COVID-19 is spreading human suffering, destabilising the global economy and upending the lives of billions of people around the globe."

Unfortunately action for mental health was not included in the UN's Sustainable Development Goals this year so I instead, I have looked into the World Health Organisation’s Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan.

Their targets are as follows:

• more effective leadership and governance for mental health;
• the provision of comprehensive, integrated mental health and social care services in community-based settings;