Discord’s mission is to be the best place for players to talk and hang out before, during, and after gaming. People deserve a safe and welcoming online space to explore their interests and connect with friends. We’re deeply committed to helping bridge the gap between our users and the mental health resources they deserve by meeting them where they are.
From the start, we aim to design our products to allow Discord users to be in control of their experience: they decide with whom they interact and what communities they join. Discord is not a platform designed to maximize engagement. We try to ensure that our platform emphasizes real-time interaction and connection among friends. In addition to our platform’s design, we are committed to continuing to evolve and improve so that we can better support our users.
World Mental Health Day
First observed by the World Federation for Mental Health on Oct. 10, 1992, World Mental Health Day raises awareness on a global scale, mobilizes efforts, and champions those efforts to foster mental health and well-being.
Over the past year, our team has focused on conducting research, offering more resources for users, and supporting activities centered on the intersection of mental health and games. This World Mental Health Day, we’re excited to share what we’ve been working on!
Foundational Mental Health Research
Mental health work is innovative and iterative, which holds true for Discord’s Mental Health team. For the past five months, we’ve worked with BSG, a leading research organization, to better understand our users' mental health sentiment, which features in Discord currently best support their mental health, and where we can improve. Our research included over 1200 participants ages 13-35+ in the United States, with sentiment captured through qualitative and quantitative methods. Participants in our surveys shared the following with us about their perceptions and beliefs:
Participants see “playing games online” and “social media” as two different things, and they believe playing games online is more favorable for mental health.
The highest-chosen activity for supporting the mental health of participants is “playing games online.” This is followed by “playing sports or exercising,” “face-to-face connection with family & friends,” “creative outlets,” and “connecting with family & friends online.”
Survey participants view Discord’s unique tools and features, such as moderators, blocking, muting, and reporting, as positively supporting their mental health.
Participants are interested in more proactive mental health tools from the industry as a whole.
Survey participants see Discord as caring for our users’ mental health, and there’s more work to be done.
This research helps us better understand our users and their well-being. We intend to use the findings to inform our policies, product design, and development, and to guide us as we establish new, meaningful partnerships in the space.
You can view the full report on our findings here.
Resources for Our Users
In our commitment to mental wellness for everyone, we’re thrilled to announce a partnership with ThroughLine Care, a global network of vetted helplines.
With a directory of crisis support in over 100+ countries, users can go to discord.findahelpline.com to find free, confidential support in their country via chat, text, or phone. Available in 11 different languages, users can search for available helplines catered to specific topics, see their operating hours and contact information, and be connected directly depending on their device’s capabilities.
In addition to ThroughLine Care, users in the United States can text DISCORD to 741741 to be connected with a live volunteer Crisis Counselor at Crisis Text Line: a free, 24/7, confidential text-based mental health support service in both English and Spanish. Check out last year’s post on our partnership with Crisis Text Line here.
We know the word “crisis” can cause some alarm. But to us, a crisis is not limited to life-threatening situations. It can be any difficulty you or someone you care about may be going through, whether that’s challenges at school, being in a tough relationship, or due to general anxiety or stress. Our goal through these partnerships is to provide support in any aspect of our users’ lives that’s causing them stress or discomfort.
Mental Health x Gaming
In addition to our research above, industry research shows playing video games in-person and online has a positive effect on mental health. It can help people lift their moods, build social connections and community, provide them with a healthy outlet, and accompany them as they navigate difficult times.
Safe In Our World is a global organization whose mission is to foster positive mental health and well-being for those within the video games industry, including players, developers, publishers, and more. The Mental Health Game Dev Champions event aims to empower gamers and developers to create intimate and personal video games based on their lived experiences surrounding mental health. During the event, our team will host a master class on building healthy communities in the Safe in our World Discord server on Oct. 17, 2024.
If you’re a regular on our blog, you might remember we recently spotlighted Hero Journey Club, a service that provides emotional support through games on Discord. In conversation with Brian Chhor, CEO and Co-Founder, and Derrick Hull, Chief Clinical Officer, we learned of the ways Hero Journey Club uses games like Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, and Final Fantasy to help facilitate conversation or use in-game activities to help track emotions.
Last month, we partnered with Xbox Game Studios’ Gears of War to support their Never Fight Alone Initiative for Suicide Prevention Month. This year’s efforts raised money for both Crisis Text Line and Aqui Estoy Chat, an international organization dedicated that provides peer-to-peer mental health support through a live chat with trained and supervised volunteers, tailored for Spanish-speaking communities. The campaign runs through the end of October, and those interested in donating may donate here.
Discord is committed to supporting our users’ mental well-being and working hard to help them uplift each other and their communities. We are proud of our work thus far, but we know there’s more to be done. Stay tuned for updates as this important work progresses!
For safety resources available year-round, visit the Discord Safety Center or share it with someone who may be interested.
