Making a game based on Schizophrenia.

[KRYTIKOS]

I would love to see a game based off of this, being a paranoid schizophrenic myself, sometimes the word can feel like a strange game. Just wondering if anyone else suffers from this, and maybe can chat about ideas for game play.

[DarknessFX]

I think the game Killer7 (Grasshopper/Capcom) has something to do with schizophrenia.

[A_Clever_Monocle]

what about setsunas sacrifice I think it was

[Screamin Soul]

You should try out Hellblade.

Also, Alan Wake (I think, it's hard to tell with that one.)

[Methpoodle]

I wanted to make a game based around unrelenting depression but Bethesda beat me to it.

[Firaphex]

Don't know about schizophrenia but Eternal darkness for the GameCube can make you question reality in unexpected ways. Still one of the more original games I've played. Might be worth looking into.

[JackofTears]

"Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice" was an incredible game, dealing with psychosis on many levels. As a person who suffers from schizoaffective disorder, I can tell you that the game does an excellent job capturing and conveying the experience of mental illness in a powerful yet respectful manner. Normally I'd never pay $30 bucks for an 8 hour game, but I gladly did so and then bought another copy for a friend.

[Astraea]

From the people with activated schizophrenia i've encountered during my lifetime i'd say you could do plenty of wacky stuff with that, not just from the perspective of the patient itself but also looking at them from third person. For one it seems they will respond very rapid in conversations as if they already know what's going to be said. I haven't studied enough about it to know what that was all about in real life, but you could use it as a basis for saying they are in some sort of psychic twilight mode

[Inside_Smoke]

I don't have schizophrenia, but have you played Observer? there are parts of that game that really challenged me mentally, i've never experienced anything like it

[bobcast]

Schizophrenia is a hell of a disease. Not only do these people have to deal with auditory and/or visual hallucinations but the also have rapid and early onset of dementia. The meds used to treat this disease are no walk in the park either. I truly empathize with these people.

That being said, a game done well exposing payers to the experience of being schizophrenic could be done. Imagine the set up, the player is set into some kind of fantasy world. The player goes though the levels where the original fantasy level starts to blur with a modern world. The game makes it appear that the fantasy is the "real world" and the "modern world" is some kind of vision or dream. As the game progresses the attachment to the fantasy world lessens and the attachment to the modern world grows. In the end it is revealed that the whole game was the player emerging from their schizophrenia delusions back into reality.

[SckizoBoy]

Apologies in advance if, this seems patronising. I had initially written out a whole spiel, but it came over as tremendously preachy, disjointed and accusatory.

But one thing I did want to address is that schizophrenia is not a disease, nor should it be called or considered one, as it incorrectly implies (or defines in some circles of the lay) infectiousness or contagiousness which it most definitely is not. First and foremost, it is a condition and disorder, and depending on the individual case (because the symptoms of schizophrenia, the course of schizophrenia from first manifestation to remission (if or when that happens) and co-morbidities can vary greatly) treatment can vary greatly.

[bobcast]

1) I'm a medical doctor.
2) Schizophrenia is absolutely a disease.

The definition of disease is as follows:
A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of part or all of an organism, and that is not due to any external injury. Diseases are often construed as medical conditions that are associated with specific symptoms and signs.

Schizophrenia clearly affects the central nervous system, with measurable changes in the brain structure. These changes are detectable via imaging. The evidence in the cause of the disease points to genetics as the cause, with maybe some environmental component contributing. Schizophrenia also has a classic constellations of symptoms, i.e. audio/visual hallucinations, disorganized speech or behavior, etc. So by definition, schizophrenia is truly a disease.

[JackofTears]

I don't really think it's worth getting in an argument over semantics, nobody hears schizophrenia called a disease and mistakenly believes it must then be transmittable. As someone who suffers from schizoaffective disorder, I certainly take no offense over the terminology - the language doesn't change the nature of the illness and nobody who suffers from schizophrenia (I've known several) is spending a lot of time worrying about terminology unless that's part of their psychosis. People who fear and misunderstand mental illness aren't fixated on the language, either, it's the people and idea of mental illness they fear.

At least in my experience.

[buckallmighty]

Fuuuuuuuuck that. I've lived through enough "was it the schiz, was it a stroke, or was it the drugs" moments myself. Last thing I would want in a game. Especially if it was snuck in.

On the other hand, if a developer could truely represent the experience well and dedicate an entire game to it, I would enjoy watching some of my friends that don't have the same concerns try to play it.

[JackofTears]

I could only play the game for a few hours at a time because some of the recreations of symptoms were actually triggering my own issues.

[Ryan]

That's exactly what Hellblade is about. They went to great lengths with the medical community to replicate the illness.

[ISP]

Pretty sure Markiplier played a game with this exact premise.

I think this one:
https://youtu.be/Ua4jVdw5rEI?t=949

And here is another one that came up with search but I don't think I've seen:
https://youtu.be/_Fj6Sl-h19I

[The Chosen One]

“Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?” .... 🐰