Mental Health Discussions on Stream
In this post I offer a discussion on the following academic paper.
An Exploration of Mental Health Discussions in Live Streaming Gaming Communities
Reesha Gandhi, Christine L. Cook, Nina LaMastra, Jirassaya Uttarapong, and Donghee Yvette Wohn
This paper discusses conversations centered around Mental Health that occur on Twitch.tv from the perspective of the viewer. It focuses on the thoughts and beliefs of viewers about the streamer and the hosted content. Their research used a small sample size of viewers (n=25), with an average age of 25 (SD = 5.484), largely male (16; 8 female; and 1 non-binary), and Caucasian (18; 2 Asian; and 5 Hispanic). Using direct interviews, they were able to gleam knowledge regarding their perspectives on mental health discussions; how they felt about them, what participation occurs, and how or why these discussions begin. They found a variety of origins for these discussions; cries for help from chat, moderated conversations by the streamer, in context conversations based on the streamer's presentation, and in some cases trolling. Their overall findings indicate that discussions of mental health are generally accepted if the streamer deems it appropriate for their community, as that streamer has set the tone and built their community personally.
In reading this article I reflected on my own experience with my mental health in relation to streamers. I’m a gamer myself and a regular participant in chat or viewer on Twitch.tv. At times I have participated in mental health conversations and shared details of my own mental health in chat. My personal experience aligns with the findings presented in this paper. I have found support for my own mental health struggles in recent years from other viewers and streamers alike. In line with the findings of this paper I know the specific streams where I can share my feelings and receive support like Tixee (twitch.tv/tixee). While other streams are more focused on gaming and less on personal conversation. On this platform, I have shared my own thoughts and feelings relating to my struggles with depression and anxiety and have only been met with warmth, compassion, and empathy. In my own process of healing these expressions of warmth and empathy bolster my self-esteem, resiliency, and ability to cope. Perhaps I have chosen the stream wisely or the community at large is more receptive to mental health discussion than older generations and platforms?
As a social worker I see great value in this type of research, streaming is now a major form of social media and community around the world. This unique and new type of community structure has broad implications for our culture both locally and globally. There is a growing cohort of researchers studying gaming communities. If you are interested in this or other scholarly topics many articles can be accessed for free at locations such as the Directory of Open Access Journals https://doaj.org/.
Thank you for reading this discussion.
Vincent Paolillo, Jr. MSW
gamertag; arceanHound
Citation; Gandhi R, Cook CL, LaMastra N, Uttarapong J and Wohn DY (2021) An Exploration of Mental Health Discussions in Live Streaming Gaming Communities. Front. Psychol. 12:575653. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.57565
