UK-based startup developing a game to identify and monitor depression

**This story about addressing mental health through games, boiled down, in 1:17 minutes.**

What's the fuss?

A UK-based tech startup aims to develop a smartphone game that will identify and monitor symptoms of depression in players. This may be one of the most important mobile games ever made.

The situation

A failed suicide attempt from a close friend inspired neuroscientist Dr. Emilia Molimpakis and theoretical physicist Dr. Stefano Goria to start Thymia, with the mission to better address mental health conditions than clinic questionnaires.

Dr. Molimpakis's previous experience included assisting a gaming company make subsequent levels in their game harder through her specialization in neuroscience.
Soon after, she came to the realization that these video games can be tweaked to help target depression.

With the aid of $1.1m in seed funding, Thymia is currently developing mobile games to do just that.

These games present the player with a series of different challenges, such as clicking bumblebees to test memory or verbally responding to a video to analyze acoustic waves.
While the the player is engaged, the game captures the visual/audio data that could signal when a patient is exhibiting symptoms linked to the behavioural patterns of someone with depression.

Boiling it down

Despite how fortuitous someone may seem, absolutely no one is immune to depression.

In fact, more than 264 million people suffer from depression worldwide, with adolescents aged 12 to 17 having the highest rates of mental depressive episodes.
Given that there are 2.8 billion gamers worldwide with 21% of them between the ages of 18 and 34, there is certainly the potential of perceived overlap.

Modern games have greatly matured, delving into hard topics such as dealing with loss and emulating disorders.

Although not scientifically optimized, these games have a worthwhile message to share for people willing to listen.

Thank you so much for reading! Please consider subscribing if you enjoy stories like this delivered directly to you every Tuesday and Friday morning!

Any and all feedback is valid and welcome.