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  • Re: Study: Dungeons and Dragons may improve mental health

    From Justisaur@21:1/5 to Kyonshi on Sat Apr 13 08:36:54 2024
    XPost: rec.games.frp.dnd, rec.games.frp.misc

    On 4/13/2024 12:03 AM, Kyonshi wrote:
    Source: https://www.jcu.edu.au/news/releases/2024/april/dungeons-and-dragons-may-improve-mental-health

    Researchers have found that people who play the game Dungeons and
    Dragons (D&D) show improvements in their mental health.

    They played eight one-hour sessions of D&D over eight weeks before their mental health was measured again.

    Ugh, I tried running some one hour sessions on roll20. It's just not
    long enough, one person has to go eary, or is a bit late and you've lost
    a good deal of time. I've run and played some 2 hour sessions in roll20
    and even that feels very short, but it was just barely enough. I had
    some 3 hours live sessions which were supposed to be 4, and even that
    felt like it wasn't long enough even minimizing the social niceties of
    catching up and goodbys. 4 felt like the real minimum it works for. I
    used to run 6 hour sessions, but I just don't have the stamina for it
    anymore.

    I have to wonder if those were online or in person, as I strongly feel
    the in person games feel more therapeutic.

    I feel like generally computer games are the opposite for mental health,
    no studies to go off of, and I love my computer games, but I can tell I
    feel worse both mental health and physically after a longer session.
    Better than watching TV though, as at least it's still good for your
    reactions and staying sharp mentally.

    Link to paper here: https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/81119/1/JCU_Merrick%20et%20al%202023%20AAM.pdf


    I always used to say D&D keeps me sane. I haven't played a live game
    since covid (well maybe 1-3 sessions total) and the last online was over
    a year ago. I'm sure the covid lockdown wasn't good for mental health
    and I feel far more anxious and depressed than I have perhaps ever (well
    no, my mid-late teens/early 20's were worse, combined with life changing injuries and even more isolation.)

    I'm hanging on but I really need to get some D&D or RPGs going. I've
    done a bit of soloing in the more distant past, but I don't feel it has
    any or much positive mental effect either.

    I suppose I should try to get back to the meetups or something, but I
    had negligible interest in non 5e last time I tried, which I really
    dislike. What I'd really like to see from D&D is a much simplified
    current version like the basic sets. (I know there's basic 5e, but it's
    still the same rules just with a lot of player options dropped, only 4 classes/races, which isn't the problem.)

    --
    -Justisaur

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  • From dozens@21:1/5 to Kyonshi on Sat Apr 13 09:51:30 2024
    XPost: rec.games.frp.dnd, rec.games.frp.misc

    On 4/13/24 1:03 AM, Kyonshi wrote:
    Source: https://www.jcu.edu.au/news/releases/2024/april/dungeons-and-dragons-may-improve-mental-health

    Researchers have found that people who play the game Dungeons and
    Dragons (D&D) show improvements in their mental health.

    Came here to post this. Got scooped by Kyonshi. Typical day :)

    Good find though. When I was going through tough times (coincidentally
    around the start of the pandemic) I could tell that ttrpgs were a very important part of my mental healthcare strategy. Even without a
    scientific study to prove it. Stories of empowerment, and just feeling something other than trauma for a little while, made a huge difference
    for me.

    Highlights:

    A typical leisure playing session of D&D lasts between 3 to 8 hr. The
    current study split up the typical session of eight hours into eight 1
    hr sessions over 8 weeks.

    My longest regular sessions used to max out around 4 hours. My shortest
    regular sessions run 2 hours. 8 hours sounds unimaginable to me! I have
    to assume there would be tons of breaks baked in. But still. Also, 1
    hour seems like it would be very challenging to pull off and still get
    the feeling of having played a "complete" session.

    A D&D module was specifically developed for the current study. It was
    written by two of the aforementioned DMs [...] This quest involved
    players tracking a goblin who had stolen a town’s belongings through a
    cave system (PCs found themselves facing monsters and traps as part of
    this pursuit). The quest culminated in a social dilemma, in which the
    goblin confessed to stealing the town’s items to feel as if they fit
    into regular society. Through their combined effort, PCs were able to
    resolve the conflict with the goblin and return the missing items to the
    town, where they were heralded as heroes.

    I wonder if the author(s) would be willing to publish the module. I'd be interested in reading it at the very least for the sake of novelty.
    Maybe even playing through it!

    D&D is an example of play. Play has been defined as an unproductive
    activity, governed by rules and facilitated using make-believe

    I think the existence of this study challenges this definition! What is unproductive about significantly decreasing depression, stress, and
    anxiety; and increasing self-esteem and self-efficacy?

    Given that play facilitates escapism in a form that is usually
    positive and enjoyable, it may therefore lead to flow

    The whole section on flow, starting on page 10, is really good.

    The conclusion makes me wonder whether D&D has decreased efficacy
    compared to other ttrpgs. Specifically ones that aren't so heavily
    focused on combat and violence. On the other hand, D&D does tend to have
    very clear and accomplishable goals, which can feel very good when one
    is otherwise experiencing a lot of hopelessness and feeling overwhelmed.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Justisaur@21:1/5 to dozens on Sat Apr 13 10:00:02 2024
    XPost: rec.games.frp.dnd, rec.games.frp.misc

    On 4/13/2024 8:51 AM, dozens wrote:
    On 4/13/24 1:03 AM, Kyonshi wrote:
    A D&D module was specifically developed for the current study. It was
    written by two of the aforementioned DMs [...] This quest involved
    players tracking a goblin who had stolen a town’s belongings through a
    cave system (PCs found themselves facing monsters and traps as part of
    this pursuit). The quest culminated in a social dilemma, in which the
    goblin confessed to stealing the town’s items to feel as if they fit
    into regular society. Through their combined effort, PCs were able to
    resolve the conflict with the goblin and return the missing items to the town, where they were heralded as heroes.

    I wonder if the author(s) would be willing to publish the module. I'd be interested in reading it at the very least for the sake of novelty.
    Maybe even playing through it!

    I'd love to try some specifically 'theraputic' modules.

    D&D is an example of play. Play has been defined as an unproductive
    activity, governed by rules and facilitated using make-believe

    I think the existence of this study challenges this definition! What is unproductive about significantly decreasing depression, stress, and
    anxiety; and increasing self-esteem and self-efficacy?

    Yes. Of course what really needs to happen is a larger study with a
    control group. Of course finding other activities that don't have any
    impact one way or another may be difficult. Is it better than an hour
    of yoga, meditation, acupuncture, prayer, reading, playing a CRPG etc.

    Given that play facilitates escapism in a form that is usually
    positive and enjoyable, it may therefore lead to flow

    The whole section on flow, starting on page 10, is really good.

    I hadn't read the paper, I just saw a lot of formulae and numbers early
    and decided it was above me. Thanks for pointing that out. Some good
    quotes:

    "If a D&D game’s challenge level is too high, players are likely to feel anxious. If the challenge level is too low, players may feel bored."

    People have different levels of that though and it can be hard to get
    into a game that has the right level for you. It's not just that
    though. I feel like 5e is too mechanical and slow and leads to boredom.
    My own system ended up too fast on the other hand, which I didn't
    think was possible before making it. I over-optimized for speed of play
    which I didn't have an answer for. It's also hard to know as I was the
    one running it, was that just because I was so familiar with it?

    I feel like Dungeon Robber (which I partially based it on) may go that direction for live play as well (while it feels a bit slow playing the
    CRPG version.)

    The conclusion makes me wonder whether D&D has decreased efficacy
    compared to other ttrpgs. Specifically ones that aren't so heavily
    focused on combat and violence. On the other hand, D&D does tend to have
    very clear and accomplishable goals, which can feel very good when one
    is otherwise experiencing a lot of hopelessness and feeling overwhelmed.

    It sounds like the adventure they did may not have had much if any
    combat in it though as it talks about tracking down a goblin who stole
    things and finding out the goblin just felt like it didn't fit in, and
    stole things to feel like it did (no mention of how the PCs reacted or
    solved it at that point.)

    That may go toward that balance though, Even back in 2e I felt that
    about half non-combat activities and half combat was a good balance.
    All of the 5e I've played has been far on the side of combat,
    exacerbated by the slow and prolonged combat system, and even skills
    being mechanical resolutions.

    --
    -Justisaur

    ø-ø
    (\_/)\
    `-'\ `--.___,
    ¶¬'\( ,_.-'
    \\
    ^'

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