VIRTUAL REALITY &
MENTAL HEALTH

Persona C is a 21 year old college student who is currently working towards a degree to be a psychiatrist. He values the importance of mental health and often discusses it with others, despite being raised in a family who did not take his mental health as seriously because they felt he should just “man up”. He also has 3 siblings that he gets along well with but sometimes feels that his parents make sure their needs are always met instead of his own. He enjoys going outdoors and feeling in touch with nature, and often goes on long strips backpacking with just him and his dog. Persona C is very in touch with his emotions and acknowledges what he needs to have good mental health, like social interactions and good relationships, however he struggles with letting others know what he needs from them and is a bit shy, which leads him to not be able to get the social interaction he requires all the time. Persona C plays video games often as a coping mechanism to unwind, however he tends to individual games rather than multiplayer ones. Because he doesn’t always have the confidence to let others know how he is, he sometimes gets caught up in unhealthy coping skills to give him extra confidence, like drinking and smoking with friends. Persona C thinks that the future of mental health could greatly be enhanced by gamification and VR, although he also believes maintaining that aspect of calmness is also important that is sometimes lost in the excitement of playing a fun game.”