edit 10/10/16: Monday the 10th of October is World Mental Health Day and the fortnight from the 10th to the 23rd is, here at least, Mental Health Awareness Weeks. as a result I intended to resurrect this thread a few weeks ago with some new giveaways in preparation but life has been very busy and finances very unstable (many sarcastic thanks to the Department of Works & Pensions who offer employment opportunities exclusively for the incompetent, the lazy and the sadistic) so this is a tad late
I will however be launching a short train of bundled games soon which I'll tie into this somehow

InstruMental Health will be performing in a few Nottinghamshire locations, if anyone happens to be in the area and interested then the events open to the public are at Middle Street Resource Centre's Open Day on Friday the 14th in Beeston and at Renew 37 in West Bridgford on Monday the 17th

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the 16th to 22nd of May is Mental Health Awareness Week in UK (there's also an International one in October) and, with my current batch of giveaways, public this time so no thread for them, ending on friday the 13th (how could I resist?) I'm thinking about trying to do some special giveaways on the theme for that week

any suggestions of games with a strong connection (or even a vague one if you feel it's noteworthy) to mental health would be appreciated, both as giveaway ideas as well as for my own curiosity. my finances are limited so I can't promise a lot, but still feel free to suggest games of any price range anyway for completions sake

if it doesn't mean spoiling the game, please try to give some details on the issues addressed in the games as well. I'll be editing suggestions into this post as time (and internet connection) permit

I'll also be doing a performance as part of the band InstruMental Health on the Monday and plan to 'officially' open our youtube channel that day as well with some of our pieces so I'll throw a link to that around too :P

edit 20/5/16: it took a little longer to get the youtube channel up and running but it's done now :D

edit June 2016: I plan to add more giveaways in October for the World Mental Health Awareness Weeks. In the meantime don't be afraid to add more suggestions for the list or even some giveaways of your own.

mental health related games list thusfar

Game Mental Health Issues addressed Giveaway?
Actual Sunlight depression maybe later?
Alice: Madness Returns ? maybe later?
Always Remember Me ? maybe later?
Anna - Extended Edition ? maybe later?
Anxiety Attacks anxiety FREE
The Archetype schizophrenia maybe later?
Asphyxia ? ENDED
The Average Everyday Adventures of Samantha Browne social anxiety FREE
The Beginner's Guide anxiety, depression maybe later?
Cahors Sunset ? ENDED
The Cat Lady suicide maybe later?
The Consuming Shadow hallucination, suicidal impulse maybe later?
Cry of Fear depression FREE
The Darkness II depression-ish maybe later?
The Deed ? ENDED
Depression Quest depression FREE
Disorder ? maybe later?
Downfall ? maybe later?
Dream ? maybe later?
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey 2 depression maybe later?
Dreamfall Chapters depression maybe later?
Edna & Harvey: The Breakout schizophrenia, depression ENDED
Edna & Harvey: Harvey's New Eyes schizophrenia, delusion ENDED
Elude depression FREE
Enola ? maybe later?
Ether One ? maybe later?
Euclidean ? maybe later?
Face It - A game to fight inner demons ? ENDED
Forgotten, Not Lost - A Kinetic Novel ? ENDED
Fran Bow psychosis, hallucination maybe later?
Gone In November suicidal depression maybe later?
Hatred sociopathy, misanthropy maybe later?
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice hallucination, psychosis not yet released
Her Story ? maybe later?
Higurashi When They Cry Hou - Ch.1 Onikakushi ? maybe later?
Higurashi When They Cry Hou - Ch.2 Watanagashi ? maybe later?
The House in Fata Morgana ? maybe later?
Hypnosis ? maybe later?
I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, suicidal depression, amnesia maybe later?
Inner Vision suicidal depression, addiction FREE
Insane Decay of Mind ? maybe later?
Kairo ? maybe later?
Knock-Knock insomnia, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder maybe later?
The Lady ? maybe later?
Life Is Strange suicidal depression maybe later?
Limbo ? maybe later?
Locked-in syndrome locked-in syndrome maybe later?
Masochisia psychopathy maybe later?
Max Payne suicide, depression, paranoia, addiction maybe later?
Max Payne 2 The Fall Of Max Payne suicide, depression, paranoia, addiction maybe later?
Moirai ? FREE
Neverending: Nightmares depression, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder maybe later?
Nevermind ? maybe later?
Papo & Yo ? maybe later?
The Park ? maybe later?
Pneuma ? maybe later?
Princess Remedy in a World of Hurt wide variety maybe later?
Psychonauts ? maybe later?
Remember Me amnesia maybe later?
The Rivers of Alice - Extended Version ? maybe later?
Sanitarium amnesia maybe later?
Selfie : Sisters of the Amniotic Lens ? maybe later?
Shrouded in Sanity ? maybe later?
Sickness ? maybe later?
Silence Of The Sleep ? maybe later?
Silent Hill Homecoming ? maybe later?
The Static Speaks My Name depression FREE
Soul Gambler ? maybe later?
Sym ? maybe later?
That Dragon, Cancer depression maybe later?
To The Moon autism or asperger's ENDED
The Town Of Light ? maybe later?
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines Malkavian clan covers a wide variety maybe later?
Winged Sakura: Mindy's Arc amnesia maybe later?

borderline or debatable entries

Game Mental Health Issues addressed Giveaway?
every single game with an inventory system ever kleptomania not bloody likely
Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs ? maybe later?
Amnesia: The Dark Descent ? maybe later?
Beyond Eyes ? maybe later?
The Binding of Isaac ? maybe later?
Darkness Within 1: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder ? maybe later?
Darkness Within 2: The Dark Lineage ? maybe later?
Dead Space ? maybe later?
Dreaming Sarah ? maybe later?
The Eigengrau Menagerie ? maybe later?
Far Cry 3 ? maybe later?
Hotline Miami ? maybe later?
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number ? maybe later?
Kane and Lynch: Dead Men ? maybe later?
Layers of Fear ? maybe later?
The Long Dark ? maybe later?
Mad Max ? maybe later?
Max Payne ? maybe later?
MIND: Path to Thalamus Enhanced Edition ? maybe later?
The Old City: Leviathan ? maybe later?
Our Darker Purpose ? maybe later?
The Path ? maybe later?
Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds ? maybe later?
SOMA ? maybe later?
Spec Ops: The Line ? maybe later?
Stick it to The Man! ? maybe later?
Stray Cat Crossing ? maybe later?
The Swapper ? maybe later?
The Talos Principle ? maybe later?
This War Of Mine ? maybe later?
Trauma ? maybe later?
Yesterday ? maybe later?
8 years ago*

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8 years ago
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+1 Sanitarium

8 years ago
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The beginner's guide ( http://store.steampowered.com/app/303210/ ). I remember watching a gameplay video of it and it was pretty deep, and the store page states "it tells the story of a person struggling to deal with something they do not understand."

8 years ago
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8 years ago
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last night (this morning?) I've finished Fran Bow, in like one sitting! :P yeah took me around 10 hours and I kept playing it to the---end--?
paused for basics only and just kept going!

I can't really name others because at this time I only remember finishing that one, I've tried Slender ones, oh yes and the following: Outlast (base, don't own DLC), Obscure (the one with the black goo and the flashlights, imagine a deadrising but with darkness :P) and one of the Amnesia, think the 1st one..

Started system shock but didn't finished. I've see some I've tried in the comments, but I'd say they are grim or bleak, not just depressive or something.. The Swapper was good too

Dead Space, specially the 1st one. The Binding of Isaac? think it counts! Alien Isolation, ohh and the asian ones for console, Tower, Photograph, there's plenty of those, girl with a camera shoting ghosts, and others just pretty darn disturbed to even read about them..

8 years ago
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Did someone mention Asphyxia?
http://store.steampowered.com/app/386990/

8 years ago
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The Walking Dead from Telltale games was pretty depressing from me. Superb game but a bit depressing.

8 years ago
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A game that comes to my mind and hasn't been mentioned yet is Cry Of Fear

It probably wasn't mentioned because it is not that popular.
Cry Of Fear was originally released as a Half-Life 1 mod. However, a year later it war released as a standalone game on Steam for free.
Cry Of Fear is a psychological horror game with a very intersting story. It tells the story of Simon Henrikkson, a teen who was put in a wheelchair after an accident, and became very depressed. The main story is about 7-8 hours to complete, but if you already played it and know a thing or two about it, it can be beaten in 2-3 hours. What very interesting is that it curently has 8 different endings (5 of which are main story endings, the others are the co-op mode edning and a special mode ending), and a lot of unlockables, which increase the replayabilty of the game by a lot. Also, the soundtrack is a very good one, one of my favourite soundtracks.

8 years ago
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now with Edna and Harvey giveaways!

8 years ago
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Mountain

8 years ago
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I Have no Mouth and i Must Scream
Has characters like: A girl that has absolute phobia of color yellow(due to some spoilery things), a nazi scientist with amnesia(who now has completely different perception of his acts), and other people with different issues are trapped inside of a sadistic supercomputer that uses their worst fears against them.

"Sickness":
Game is pretty vague about it, but maybe another plot update will reveal some more. The main character suffered some kind of injury which seems to now cause him to have "dark impulses" - violent thoughts that overtake him and push him towards murder, incest and other things he wouldn't have done before.

"The consuming Shadow":
Lovecraftian madness. Player characters faced with unspeakable horrors permanently lose sanity, which leads to annoyances in game mechanics, hallucinations, can trigger a minigame where you have to stop yourself from commiting suicide... and ultimately, if an insane person somehow manages to win, he gets a bad ending.

The Archetype:
As much as i hate it's pretentiousness, and gameplay and many other things, it's supposed to show a schizophrenic boy's perception of a world around him... and it sort of does, but i can't enjoy it due to choices in gameplay mechanics and its tone. Reviews are few and mixed.

Higurashi When They Cry series - it's hard to tell you the true answer to "how this realtes" to psychological disorders without spoiling the big twist that the steam available novels didn't get to yet, but let's just say that it's related to psychosis and hallucinations and i'll be pretty correct.

Those were all i could think of at the moment - might add another comment with more, later.

8 years ago
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I think I got everything from the replies in the list now :) if I missed anything then feel free to give corrections and mockery
I've put up giveaways for both Edna & Harvey games as well as The Deed and I may still be able to add some more before Mental Health Awareness Week ends but I'll very likely reuse the list for Octobers World Mental Health Awareness Weeks too

thanks for all suggestions and info so far

8 years ago
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i like how games with inventory system are under 'kleptomania' :D
games with inventory management that force you to play tetris with your items could be but under OCD if that's the case xD

8 years ago
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Great list and great cause so have a bump, and good luck with the performance.

8 years ago
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Awesome initiative. I have a gift copy of Face It, if you accept contributions.

8 years ago
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sure, just create a giveaway for it and I can edit it into the list. thanks

8 years ago
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It was free at some point, so we'll have to come up with a more creative way of giving it away.

8 years ago
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maybe a brainteaser or jigsaw with the key going to either first to complete or fastest completion time after a set time period?

8 years ago
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I have a few more keys to give away from your list: Cahors Sunset, Asphyxia and Forgotten, Not Lost.
What about this: I create giveaways for them, and people can comment about their inner deamons and how they did/will/should face them, then I can pick one of the comments and send them the "Face It" gift on Steam.

8 years ago
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sounds great! if you give me the urls for the giveaways I can edit them into the list (crediting you of course) and if you make a reply setting out the rules for the Face It inner demons then I'll put a link to that post into the list for that one

8 years ago
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got them all in the list now, thanks

8 years ago
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The Cat Lady is about suicide.

Fran Bow about psychosis.

8 years ago
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Fran Bow - psychosis, hallucination
Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds - youngster gangster, mind control
Winged Sakura: Mindy's Arc - amnesia
Yesterday - I think that the characters in the game are crazy

Thank you for the list. There are some free interesting games. :)

8 years ago
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POSTAL
POSTAL 2
POSTAL III
Hatred

8 years ago
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do any of those touch on the psychology? I've not played any of them but from what I had heard I'd assumed they were just killing. not that there's anything wrong with violent games of course (much as some media would like to convince us otherwise)

8 years ago
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I'm not sure about the POSTAL games, but I'm pretty sure that Hatred deals with subjects like sociopathy and misanthropy.

8 years ago
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It doesn't "deal with it." It's just running around killing people.

8 years ago
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8 years ago
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Great table, thanks for organizing all those!

8 years ago
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I'd Like to add- resident evil 4 - OCD, my inventary box has to look perfect always! the striker must have exactly 100 bullets at the end of the games and everything needs to be in categorical order from left to right: weapons, weapon mods, ammo, healing items.

getting the free rocket launcher half way through the game with not enough space still haunts me to this day...

8 years ago
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(grenades go in between ammo and healing going green, red, blue . :P)

8 years ago
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Are there any games related to Bipolar disorder?

8 years ago
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none that I'm aware of unfortunately

8 years ago
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Max Payne (At least 1 and 2) deals with Suicide, depression, paranoia and addiction.

You can tell from the writing of his suicidal tendencies caused by the depression which is reason behind his addiction which fuels his paranoia, although the games don't necessarily address these head on. You don't need to do a lot of digging to see there is something messed up going on here.

View attached image.
8 years ago
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I'm pleased to report that Princess Remedy in a World of Hurt covers all possible illnesses, including mental ones such as Believing You Are Real When You Are Actually Not.

8 years ago
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Nevermind could be one such game. You explore the minds of patients who've had various traumatic experiences.

8 years ago
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Vampireยฎ: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. Remembered it when somebody mentioned bipolarism.

The Malkavians are one of seven playable clans in Vampire: The Masquerade โ€“ Bloodlines. Malkavians are all clinically insane; the mental illnesses they suffer range from schizophrenia to near-catatonia.

8 years ago
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