Trimbos Institute

Game makes depression a topic of discussion in secondary education

Challenge

Currently, mental health is not given enough attention in secondary education, although it is an important issue. If mental health symptoms are recognised at a younger age and appropriate help is provided, long-term outcomes are often better. How do we make sure that we make depression a topic of discussion in secondary schools?

In the game, you have to find out what is bothering your niece Lisa in order to help her in the best way possible.

Solution

IJsfontein developed Moving Stories on behalf of the Trimbos Institute. Moving Stories is a serious game whose main aim is to help young people help themselves, and each other, when they are not doing well. The game is designed to serve four sub-goals: identifying and discussing low mental health, offering action perspectives and reducing stigma. Moving Stories is a first person, single player game in the form of an app.

For a period of five days, all students in the class play for about ten minutes a day. After the fifth day, there will be a debriefing session with an expert from the field.

Impact

Moving Stories gets students talking about depression.The game has shown a positive effect in real-life situations. In 2017, two randomised controlled trials were launched with more than 3,000 students to further validate Moving Stories.