Sparking Change with Dil

#28 | Video Games for Anxiety, with Owen Harris

By Dil Wickremasinghe

On this episode of Sparking Change, Dil speaks to Owen Harris – game and Virtual Reality designer – about his VR experience, ‘DEEP’, and how ordinary board games also help him to take care of his mental health.

Owen has dealt regularly with anxiety and depression over the years, and DEEP was originally his safe space; an underwater world he built, where he could go to meditate when things got hard. Not only is it visually stunning, but the game’s controller is slow, full breaths – like in yoga, or scuba-diving – and the more controlled your breathing, the more control you have in the game.

With mental health issues and anxiety skyrocketing around us, it’s always important to seek help when you need it. DEEP is not a replacement for conventional therapies, but a complementary experience that could help put out the fire before it starts.

Dil Wickremasinghe 59 posts 0 comments

Dil is an award-winning broadcaster and journalist, but she is also a social entrepreneur, stand-up comedian and actor. In 2011 with her wife, Anne Marie, she Co-Founded Insight Matters, a mental health service. With a team of 45 therapists they support over 300 clients per week. In 2014, Dil was honoured with the Frederick Douglas Award as part of the Lord Mayor’s Awards for her outstanding contribution to Dublin civic life.

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