{"id":28436,"date":"2021-07-27T12:03:53","date_gmt":"2021-07-27T16:03:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=28436"},"modified":"2021-07-30T09:14:41","modified_gmt":"2021-07-30T13:14:41","slug":"digital-media-student-raises-mental-illness-awareness-through-video-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/digital-media-student-raises-mental-illness-awareness-through-video-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital Media Student Raises Mental Illness Awareness Through Video Game"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Emilia Hernandez<\/p><\/div>\n

A video game developer is drawing awareness to mental illness and sexual assault by incorporating them into her video games.<\/p>\n

Digital Media student Emilia Hernandez has participated in three video game creation competitions where her projects focused on meaningful and serious topics, including sexual assault and depression.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it’s important to discuss mental health and other issues through all sorts of media because it has the potential to get a lot of reach. It’s easy to share,\u201d said Hernandez, who is part of UCF\u2019s Association for Computing Machinery \u2013 Women in Tech.<\/a><\/p>\n

Hernandez incorporates the discussion of sexual assault into her video game \u201cHer Bedtime Stories\u201d<\/a> by telling the story of a young woman who was sexually assaulted and how she deals with the trauma. Players can expect to experience quick glimpses of the life of someone who has not completely processed trauma. The six dream-like levels give a glimpse of a victim\u2019s common feelings and memories. Hernandez normally finishes her games on a positive note to spread the message that things can get better.<\/p>\n

Part of the reason Hernandez created these video games is because she has dealt with mental illness herself. According to Pew Research Center<\/a>, about 21 % of U.S. adults have experienced high levels of psychological distress with nearly 28% of those who say the outbreak has changed their lives in \u201ca major way.\u201d Hernandez found her art as a useful form of therapy. \"\"<\/p>\n

Hernandez hopes the project not only offers a glimpse into what how people cope with trauma, but discourages future sexual assault when a potential offender understands the long-term impact of their actions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s important for people to use their voice. I think in my case this way was the best way I could express myself,\u201d Hernandez said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A video game developer is drawing awareness to mental illness and sexual assault by incorporating them into her video games. Digital Media student Emilia Hernandez has participated in three video game creation competitions where her projects focused on meaningful and serious topics, including sexual assault and depression. \u201cI think it’s important to discuss mental health […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":134,"featured_media":28437,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[38,13,37,28,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-news","category-communication","category-top-news","category-undergraduate-student-news"],"yoast_head":"\nDigital Media Student Raises Mental Illness Awareness Through Video Game - College of Sciences News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/digital-media-student-raises-mental-illness-awareness-through-video-game\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Digital Media Student Raises Mental Illness Awareness Through Video Game - College of Sciences News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A video game developer is drawing awareness to mental illness and sexual assault by incorporating them into her video games. 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