Suicide Prevention and Peer support on Discord
In this post I offer a discussion on the following academic paper.
Community Case Study: Stack Up’s Overwatch Program, an Online Suicide Prevention and Peer Support Program for Video Gamers
Michelle Colder Carras, Mathew Bergendahl, and Alain B. Labrique
In this community case study published in Frontiers in Psychology in 2021, the authors detail a non-profit program called Overwatch by Stack Up. This program is working to decrease suicide risk among gamers with an emphasis on veterans. The Overwatch program is run by Stack Up, a non-profit started by a veteran in 2015 and is hosted on Discord an online community platform originally created for gamers. The Discord server is public and open to all. The program was partnered with the PsychArmor Institute (http://psycharmor.org) which provided standardized training to their volunteers. Upon completing training volunteers join the StOP team who participate in the chat discussions as well as provide one on one discussion and intervention when needed or in the event of an imminent threat to life. Additionally, in 2020 Stack Up partnered with wargaming.net’s World of Warships to offer Operation Lifeboat to it’s 1 Million users. This program provides a one-click button access to Overwatch resources. At the time of the above article the StOP team consisted of 25 volunteers and the Discord group averaged approximately 2700 members.
The structure of this program is very impressive, in 2018 they were selected for the CDC Veteran Suicide Prevention: Evaluation Demonstration Project. Completing this framework gave them a tangible structure in which to evaluate and iterate upon their projects (see Figure 1 in the article attached). The channels for communication have developed into the following. Outside referrals come in from Stack Up’s website, streams by Stack Up or on Twitch, Operation Lifeboat, and others. Then they flow through the Discord #general channel into the #the-overwatch-program, and into a private voice or text chat channel with a StOP team member for Assessment and Crisis Intervention as needed.
In reading this article I was struck by the feeling that I could use this channel of communication myself. As a gamer and someone who at times struggles with my mental health, Discord is very much a new part of my life. The rich text, GIF, and Meme format of the channel discussion is fresh and inviting. While channels designed for deeper discussion and video, or voice chat can feel very intimate and safe. I have met new friends, deepened existing relationships, and expressed myself in new and surprising ways. So, if you or someone you know is struggling with their mental health, I encourage you to checkout Stack Up’s Overwatch program on their Discord server #the-overwatch-program. You never know what the thing will be that will pull you or someone you love back from the edge.
Thank you for reading this discussion.
Vincent Paolillo, Jr. MSW
gamertag; arceanHound
Citation: Colder Carras M, Bergendahl M and Labrique AB (2021) Community Case Study: Stack Up’s Overwatch Program, an Online Suicide Prevention and Peer Support Program for Video Gamers. Front. Psychol. 12:575224. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.575224
