The Impact of Unstructured Games of Fantasy and Role Playing on an Inpatient Unit for Adolescents

Abstract

Games of fantasy and role playing such as Dungeons and Dragons (1983) have become increasingly popular among adolescents and young adults. This article reviews the negative impact of such games on an adolescent inpatient treatment setting. The unrestricted play of such games contributed to the disruption of a treatment setting, resistances to treatment, reinforcement of character pathology, disruption of individual treatments, and to the normalization of violence. When such games begin to be played on a psychiatric inpatient unit or are prominent in discussions of individual patients, treaters should examine them in the context of their potential to reinforce and foster resistance and maladaptive patterns of relating to the environment. Treaters are also encouraged to attempt to understand the meaning and risks of such games in the context of an individual patient's psychiatric difficulties and of group dynamics, both within the patient group and between patients and treaters.

Therapeutic Use of Role-Playing Game (RPG) in Mental Health: A Scoping Review

“…Of the five opinion pieces, Ascherman (Ascherman, 1993) highlights the potential negative effects of the use of unstructured TRPGs in hospitalized adolescents. Hawkes-Robinson (Hawkes-Robinson, 2008, 2016) and Franco (Franco, 2016) commented on the benefits of using different forms of RPG for demands in recreational (Hawkes-Robinson, 2016) and narrative therapies (Franco, 2016).…”

The Rise of the Use of TTRPGs and RPGs in Therapeutic Endeavors

“…TTRPGs are not as well studied as video games (Ascherman, 1993 D&D's reputation never fully recovered from the Satanic Panic, but today we have better research. Dozens of case studies, and pilot programs have shown the benefits of TTRPGs on developing minds, particularly when the GM is familiar with the game's rules and its therapeutic potential.…”

Gry narracyjne w diagnozie i terapii psychologicznej. Możliwości i ograniczenia w stosowaniu

“…Ponadto gry narracyjne wydają się niewskazane dla osób z defi cytami poznawczymi, gdyż rozgrywka może się okazać dla nich zbyt obciążająca lub za trudna. Nie zaleca się również stosowania gier narracyjnych u osób z niektórymi zaburzeniami psychicznymi i zaburzeniami osobowości -takimi, które utrudniają lub uniemożliwiają oddzielenie świata gry od świata rzeczywistego (Ascherman, 1993). Należy jednak podkreślić, że sytuacje pełnej identyfi kacji gracza z postacią zdarzają się także u zdrowych osób -w sytuacjach o osobistym dla gracza znaczeniu.…”