Video Games That Deal With Mental Illness

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.

Related

Best Games To Play On A Rainy Day

Are you bored on a gray day? We got you covered with the best games to play at home while it rains!

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

Your changes have been saved

3.5/5

Survival Horror

Horror

Adventure

Action

Systems

Released

October 8, 2024

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Language, Sexual Themes, Violence

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

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.

24

Spec Ops: The Line

PTSD, Trauma

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

Your changes have been saved

4.5/5

Released

October 15, 2019

Publisher(s)

ZA/UM

Developer(s)

ZA/UM

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ due to Blood, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs, Violence

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.

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

Your changes have been saved

3.0/5

Released

February 16, 2016

Publisher(s)

Aspyr

ESRB

m

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.

Related

10 Best Real-World Painting In Layers Of Fear 2023

Art imitates… art.

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 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 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.

Related

Best Indie Games That Tug At The Heartstrings

These heartwrenching indie games are worth the tears.

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.

16

Lost Words: Beyond The Page

Grief

Dealing with the loss of a loved one can be tough, and even more so for the delicate mind of a child. This game creatively deals with the crucial coping mechanism of a grief-stricken little girl who yearns to escape to her fantasy world.

This inventive platformer shifts between her imaginative land of Estoria and her literal diary pages. The latter is full of sketches and phrases that document her life events and convey her whirlwind of emotions as she deals with the prospect of losing her bedridden grandmother. Beyond the Page is a majestic ride rife with clever puzzles, vibrant locales, and tear-jerking emotional moments.

15

We Happy Few

Addiction, Depression

Take a survival horror with hostile foes and fuse it with a drug-fueled dystopia, a la Brave New World, and We Happy Few might be the result. This one takes a unique approach, not just from a gameplay standpoint but with regard to mental health. It hones in on mental instability and delirium through the warped filter of mind-altering drugs.

Related

17 Romance Games With The Best Storylines

Here are some of the best games that skillfully combine romance and a great storyline. Let them tug at your heartstrings!

The kicker? These drugs are actually mandated by the new oppressive government of England, which forces its citizens to take the feel-good opiates to blind them to the dark, gritty truth of a war-torn land. While the actual gameplay is pretty rough around the edges, the atmosphere and plot are delightfully twisted and compelling enough to keep you fighting through this 22-hour trip.

14

Change: A Homeless Survival Experience

Addiction, Trauma

While many survival romps thrive with loads of action or ample gore, this emotional journey from Delve Interactive shines by doing the opposite. In fact, it’s the gritty realism of this homeless simulator that makes it so captivating and intense.

Just like in real life, you are given one chance in this roguelike to emerge from the depths of homelessness and earn a degree of success and stability. And you’ll do this by begging for cash, sifting through trash, searching for a job, and generally doing anything possible to scrape by and literally survive. What’s key here is that both your physical and mental state must be tended to. Change is both a somber and educational journey, all in one measure.

13

Life Is Strange: Before The Storm

Depression, Psychosis

Graphic Adventure

Interactive Narrative

Mystery

Systems

Developer(s)

Deck Nine

Released

August 31, 2017

ESRB

M for Mature // Blood, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and Alcohol, Violence

Fans may recall this title from the 2015 graphic adventure featuring a unique heroine that can rewind time. Unfortunately for her friend Chloe, however, she is absent from this convenient tool — and deprived of much else to boot. Instead, this troubled lead is equipped with little more than her own wits and an artistic sensibility. The latter is conveyed through her frequent bouts of marking the walls with graffiti.

This prequel features a choose-your-own narrative that hones in on a rebellious protagonist. She is bogged down by depression, fueled by her brushes with abandonment, loss, isolation, and betrayal. Unlike its quasi-sci-fi predecessor, Before the Storm stresses a more emotional core for its depth and intrigue. Combined with some clever puzzles and solid writing, this makes for a truly gripping tale.

12

Gris

Grief, Depression

Gris, meaning gray in Spanish, is about a girl going through a personal loss. She journeys through the five well-known stages of grief as she attempts to find her voice (literally). The world of Gris is drop-dead gorgeous and comprises stages and moments that represent the grief that our protagonist is moving through.

Related

10 Things Everyone Completely Missed In Gris

Grief is the main theme of the game. But there are many other details to discover here.

As she journeys, she is pursued by a black, amorphous, inky creature that takes several monstrous forms throughout the game, a metaphor for grief and depression’s ability to appear as anyone or anything, unexpectedly and at any moment. She must survive this thing, lest it devours her and drowns us in inky blackness. This metaphor is very on-the-nose, but the way it is presented through the game’s art is staggering – and that staggering effect is what makes the game so perfect.

11

Child Of Light

Depression, Grief

In this darling little 2D indie RPG, Aurora, a princess, falls into a cold sleep after the death of her mother and the re-marriage of her father. In this state – an allegory for depression and grief – she arrives in a dreamlike fairy-tale world where she must learn, love, grow, and battle grief. The game is a great exercise using storybook style, mood, tone, and atmosphere to deliver a unique experience that blends real-life fairy tales with video game mechanics.

The world is pastel bright and charming, and its animation is gorgeous, but its tone is dark, and its metaphors convey deep adult themes. This is the kind of game that can be enjoyed and appreciated by all ages. Yet, it particularly holds a message for kids and grown-ups alike about the power of depression and grief and how people can cope with it.

10

Celeste

Anxiety

Celeste is about a trans girl called Madeline. Why is she trying to climb a mountain (which bears the name of the game’s title)? Because Madeline suffers from anxiety and has reached a crisis point in her young adult life where she doesn’t know what path she should be taking. She seeks a sense of challenge and accomplishment and so has come to conquer Celeste.

As the game progresses, you’re introduced to Madeline’s self-doubt and anxiety in the form of a sardonic, cruel version of herself who mocks her and knocks her confidence. Her anxiety manifests as panic attacks, and there are moments when you must help her reach an inner calm by balancing an on-screen feather. Many fans have pointed to this memorable moment — among others — as resonating with them.

9

Night In The Woods

Depression, Disassociation

Mae, 20 years old, drops out of college and returns to her quaint, dull hometown. Her loss of place in the world is clear from the beginning, as she feels dislocated, lost, and wandering through life without purpose. She avoids questions, and her parents welcome her with open arms without making much fuss at first. As the story progresses and things get weirder, you learn just how deep Mae’s dissociation goes, internally and externally.

Related

25 Cozy Games To Cuddle Up On The Couch With

These cozy games are the perfect way to unwind and relax.

It’s a complicated story where nothing much seems to be happening, much like the life of a person dealing with depression or anxiety. These people can be reclusive, avoidant, disillusioned, and somber. They need help but don’t reach out. Mae is all of these things. Night in the Woods is a smart game at its core and has much to teach about the many forms depression and anxiety can take.

8

The Last Of Us / The Last Of Us 2

Depression, Survivor’s Guilt, Trauma

Your changes have been saved

Systems

Released

June 14, 2013

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language

The Last of Us is a survival game about zombies based on real-life spores that burrow into the brains of ants and take control of their motor functions. It’s also an incredibly poignant and intimate story of grief. In the game’s opening prologue, protagonist Joel loses his teenage daughter in an event that ruins the modern world. He has existed since then as a survivor, and the game makes it very clear through his tone, dialogue, and body language that he is surviving in the same way that any instinct-driven animal does.

When Ellie, a girl who reminds him of his daughter, enters his life and gives him a renewed purpose, his grief begins to subside. The darkness that’s been growing inside him for all these years has turned him into a complex character far from altruistic — leading to a truly memorable ending. This works to point out that grief cannot simply be fixed, but it can be treated.

7

Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus

Trauma, Self-Image Issues

This may seem an odd choice at first, but Wolfenstein 2, the game about killing Nazis in an alternate timeline where the Allies lost World War 2 and are fighting to take back the US and Europe, has much to say about PTSD. In the early moments of the game, you’re given some powerful background information on protagonist BJ Blazkowicz: growing up as a half-Jewish boy to an abusive father and a poor immigrant mother, BJ suffered through a childhood filled with fear and domestic abuse.

He’s thus been traumatized, which has long fueled him and spurred him to become a soldier in the war. The relationship between him, his mother, and his father is explored more as the game goes on, and the intensity with which the story is told is commendable. It’s honest and brutal, and when a campy, gory video game about killing Nazis puts out such a powerful message about toxic masculinity, that is a wonderful thing.