Finding Refuge: The Healing Power of World of Warcraft Communities.
In recognition of Mental Health Awareness week, running between the 13th to the 19th of May 2024, the Starship community and guild are proud to embrace a diverse array of personalities, cultures and life experiences from around the globe. Our members enter the World of Warcraft to find respite from the demands of everyday life and to safeguard their mental well being.
Individuals from all walks of life come together with a common goal to seek solace and enjoyment in the virtual realm of Azeroth. Whether it's a student facing academic pressures, a professional navigating work schedules, or a caregiver shouldering immense responsibilities, each person finds refuge within the friendship and events offered by our community.
People from different backgrounds come together, to overcome challenges in World of Warcraft.
The World of Warcraft serves as a safe place for many, providing a temporary escape from the stressors and uncertainties that follow our real life obligations. Engaging and collaborating with fellow community members fosters a sense of purpose and accomplishment, offering a much needed reprieve from daily life. Our community recognises the profound impact of mental health and prioritises the well being of all members.
In our Starship community, we prioritise collaboration with other gaming brands to foster a supportive and inclusive environment for mental health. Our partnerships with industry leaders such as Blizzard, Raider.IO, and Zygor enables us to commit to breaking down barriers and stigmas surrounding mental health while also offering valuable support and guidance to our community.
Did you know:
1 in 4 people experience mental health issues
1 in 5 have or will have suicidal thoughts over the course of a lifetime
Only a third of people with a mental health issue seek and receive treatment
Mental health support within the gaming community is an important issue that needs to be addressed. With the rise of online gaming and the prevalence of social interaction within these virtual environments, it is crucial to provide resources and support for individuals who maybe struggling with mental health. Gaming communities can play a significant role in promoting mental well being by opening the conversation and embracing the subject of mental health.
We in Starship are proud to partner with our charity, Safe In Our World who aim to foster mental health awareness within the video game industry, eliminate stigma surrounding mental health and to make it a natural topic of discussion.
We spoke to Rosie Taylor, Content and Community Manager from Safe in our World to find out more!
Can you share with us how Safe In Our World is contributing to mental health awareness within the gaming community?
Safe In Our World at its core is championing for mental health awareness, education, and wellbeing for both gamers and games industry professionals. We are creating opportunities for both through a variety of initiatives aimed at broadening mental health awareness as well as more tangible outputs through training and direct collaborations. Our website, SafeInOurWorld.org is a global hub of information, helplines, support, and stories connected to mental health and video games culture. We want gamers to be able to easily find information that is explained in a unique way, by using games as a vehicle to portray important messages and experiences.
In what ways do you believe the gaming industry can better prioritize mental health, both for players and creators?
One easy way for games industry companies to get more involved in wellbeing for their teams is to join our Level Up Mental Health programme. It’s free to join, and is a commitment to take mental health and wellbeing more seriously for their teams and player bases. By joining, Safe In Our World will work with you directly to bring you relevant resources, offer advice and support, consultation and training to create safer environments for employees and communities alike. We’re already working with over 160 companies worldwide, with more joining every week.
Another way that the industry can prioritize mental health is through the games themselves. We actively work with developers to create content warnings to better inform players on the potential triggers that could affect them in gameplay. We recommend that game developers actively pursue opportunities to collaborate with mental health charities, mental health professionals and folks with lived experience to truly tackle mental health representation and safety more seriously within video games. This extends to portrayal of mental ill health, language, stigma and resources for players during gameplay.
There are so many practical things companies can do to take steps towards prioritising wellbeing, but one of the most important steps is a more passive one; listening. It can be so easy to assume you know what people need or want. By providing spaces for feedback, actively listening to it, and implementing feedback-informed change can be a huge step in instilling more trust within your community and employees, which has a knock on effect on wellbeing culture.
How do you see the role of community managers evolving in addressing mental health concerns within gaming communities?
The role of the Community Manager is often endless. Constantly having to be on guard, listening and being the go-to person for a whole community of people is rewarding, but also exhausting. I’d love to see more support provided to Community Managers from leadership to provide them with opportunities to learn, take part in training and also switch off from their role. At Safe In Our World, we have a free Community Manager Toolkit to aid in this, but would highly recommend in employers investing in training to better equip their teams to deal with these sorts of things. We have a duty of care to players to signpost them to where they can get support, but we don’t have a duty to be personally responsible for those people’s mental health. Senior leadership has a duty to set these expectations and support Community Managers in setting boundaries in relation to this, so that Community Managers can handle these situations in a way that is safer for both parties. We have a guide on how to more empathetically signpost that should explain how we can do this in a responsible way.
Could you elaborate on any specific initiatives or strategies that Safe in Our World has implemented to support mental well-being in the gaming space?
We recently co-created the Good Game Playbook in collaboration with Ubisoft, which has been a great initiative targeting players who are either being impacted by toxic behaviour in-game, or players who are being toxic in-game. This is just the first step in learning how we can create safer online spaces for gamers, informing us of the real issues that gamers face and leading to solutions of how developers can better protect players from toxic behaviours.
We’re also now offering game consultation and content warning support to developers who want to get mental health representation ‘right’ in their game. By offering clinical support and lived experience perspectives, we’re creating a more honest environment for developers to learn about how best to represent certain mental health diagnoses or related issues in a non-stigmatising way.
What advice would you offer to gaming communities striving to create a more inclusive and supportive environment for individuals struggling with mental health issues?
I’d hugely recommend having a good signposting and peer support structure in place within community spaces. By being more open and non-stigmatising about mental health in general, people may feel more able to speak out about their feelings and wellbeing, as well as ask for support. Having these resources to hand as a community to equip individuals with the tools they need to access support is a huge step in the right direction.
One thing I’d also say, is that often the games communities that we foster represent those within them. As community managers, it is imperative to foster the environment you want to see, rather than expect for it to just show up. Sometimes that can mean having difficult conversations with community members and enforcing boundaries by protecting your community from unwelcome behaviours or attitudes.
Consider people’s feedback, especially if they’re from a group that is marginalised by society or underrepresented. There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ when it comes to creating an inclusive space and it will be an ongoing task as you learn more and grow as a community.
From your perspective, what are some common misconceptions surrounding mental health within the gaming industry, and how can we combat them?
One of the more common misconceptions relating to mental health in gaming for me is that games are inherently good or bad for your mental health. I think it’s clear (at least to me) that games have the power to create powerful experiences for players, tell important stories, share unique perspectives and foster incredible communities. There are also negatives that games bring that stem from toxicity and inability to manage emotions during play. I’d love for players to focus more on how they feel before, during and after they play games, and make more conscious decisions on how they can switch up their gameplay habits to adapt to their mood. For some, that might mean playing more FPS when they’re frustrated, and for some that might mean sitting down with a cosy non-violent RPG and settling in for the night. Those decisions look totally different from player to player, and that’s kind of the point; gaming is a unique experience that will evoke different feelings for different people. By embracing your own relationship to the games you play, you can create much healthier habits and celebrate the positives that games can bring more easily.
In your experience, what are some effective ways to encourage open dialogue about mental health within gaming communities?
Sharing stories! One of the things that always gets the room open to conversation (in my experience) is nonjudgmentally listening to others tell their experiences and share stories. More often than not, you see other people who have experienced something very similar who feel closer to other community members in that solidarity alone.
Sharing is not always simple or easy for people, so by fostering a community where talking about mental health is normal, and not shameful, can be a great start in setting that tone for others.
Looking ahead, what do you envision as the future of mental health advocacy within the gaming industry, and how can organizations like Starship continue to drive positive change?
Seeing more companies, individual communities and organisations really empower each other to do better, and have healthy competition in providing support to their teams and communities would be amazing. I want to see companies shouting about all the work that they do to support people, not have it as a one liner on a job description, or in the tiny text at the bottom of their website. Be bold about your work, listen to how you can improve, and make those changes transparently.
Resources:
If you are in the UK and need to talk to someone you can call the samaritans anytime on 116 123.
If you find communicating that way difficult or prefer to type you can text shout on 85258
If you are outside the UK you can try checking the lists below for a charity or support group in your area:-
Please note: Starship is not directly affiliated with any of the organisations mentioned below
To Donate to Safe in our World and support the awesome work they do. Head to our Twitch through the button below. You can donate directly through there!
