Week 16 Blog Post

Over time, video games have made a habit of shining a bad light on mental illness, usually portraying characters as 2-dimensional people who are only seen as victims of their illness, or a quick excuse for why someone is evil. This has impacted how many people view mental illness, especially in younger audiences, and has given the video game industry a bad reputation for being insensitive and disrespectful. This all changed in 2017 when a game called Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice came out. The main character of the story, Senua, is a Pict warrior from the 8^th century who must journey to Hellheim to redeem the soul of her dead lover Dillion. The twist, however, is that Senua has schizophrenia and psychosis, so many of the demons and apparitions you face in the game are manifestations of Senua’s own inner darkness. The developers also made sure that Senua was portrayed not only as a victim of her mental illness, but as a dynamic and relatable person, and as the hero of her own story. But what makes this game so groundbreaking is how it was able to accurately and respectfully replicate the symptoms of these mental illnesses, and how it was able to alter many peoples perception of mental illness and helped their audience better understand those who suffer from it.

(BTW I highly recommend checking out the video in this article, especially the last 4 minutes. It was a very heartwarming)

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