Mental Illness in Video Games: Doki Doki Literature Club and The Cat Lady

Mental Illness in Video Games: Doki Doki Literature Club and The Cat Lady

Content warning for discussion of depression, self-harm, and suicide. This article is dedicated to Marissa, who kindly gave me the games.

Mental illness is a complicated thing. People affected by it don’t need me to explain that. As society is becoming more open about discussing mental health issues, it’s important we look at another facet: the portrayal of mentally ill people in media. Often, it’s not great. Instead of being compassionate and accurate, we get harmful stereotypes and misinformation about certain illnesses. Luckily, there have been good depictions in media recently, such as Ilana from Broad City finding unique (and humorous) ways of dealing with her seasonal depression. (more…)