Can games change how we understand mental illness in young people?
What if a game could help young people understand why they feel unwell?
That was the idea that sparked something in Lars Klintwall, a child psychologist at BUP and associate professor at Karolinska Institutet. By combining psychology and games, he wants to shift the focus from diagnoses to the individual’s unique network of problems, and give patients tools to recognize how negative spirals emerge.
Today, many children and young people struggle with mental health issues, and these problems are often described through diagnoses and labels. But according to Lars Klintwall, such labels risk oversimplifying complex problems. Two people with the same diagnosis can have completely different needs, difficulties, and underlying causes — something that current healthcare does not always capture.
“My research focuses on understanding and treating mental illness from a systemic perspective, where an individual’s problems are seen as a network of interacting factors rather than isolated diagnoses,” says Lars.
He also believes that clinical environments often feel outdated.
“Today, much of the work relies on physical questionnaires and static methods. A digital and interactive interface could meet young people in their everyday lives and make the process more relevant and engaging,” he says.
The hope is that the solution can both contribute to the debate around diagnoses and modernize the treatment process.
An early interest in child psychology
Lars’ interest in child psychology began early. While working in preschool, he met a girl with an autism diagnosis — an encounter that would shape his future career choices and eventually lead him to become a child psychologist and researcher.
“When I met other children with the same diagnosis, I found it strange that they were so different from the girl I worked with. The diagnosis didn’t seem to say very much about the specific challenges and needs the different children had.”
Today, Lars applies his research in his daily work at BUP, where he works together with young people to untangle complexity and identify interventions that can have the greatest impact on several problems at once.
From research to game prototype
Through Press Start Game Hub and internal collaboration funding at Södertörn University, a collaboration was initiated with Sergej Kuzmin, programme director for the university’s Game Design Programme, to explore how game design methods could be used to communicate the complexity of mental illness in an interactive format.
Together, they developed a prototype for a game intended to visualize and explain the systemic complexity of mental illness. The project also involved students from Södertörn University’s Game Design Programme and received additional support through the regional games initiative Press Start Game Hub.
“We have developed a prototype for a game designed to visualize and explain the complexity of mental illness. Once completed, the game should function as a tool for communicating a systemic perspective. The goal is to identify negative spirals and find where they can be interrupted in order to affect several problems simultaneously.”
Lars explains that Sergej Kuzmin’s expertise in game development and game mechanics, together with the contributions from students at Södertörn University, was crucial in shaping the idea into an interactive prototype.
“I was forced to really think through the game mechanics and what the player is actually supposed to do, which has been a new experience. The game is intended to provide a visual and interactive experience of how these networks function, which may be more effective than traditional teaching or conversations and help both patients and therapists understand and discuss treatment strategies.”
From prototype to further development
Looking ahead, Lars sees several possible directions for the prototype. For him, the next step is not about creating a finished game, but about exploring how the tool can be used and further developed in different contexts.
“Right now, the focus is on understanding how the prototype is perceived and how it can become more useful. It’s about further development, feedback, and seeing which contexts it could actually fit into. The goal is for my patients at BUP to be able to test it,” he says.
The work has also led to new collaborations. Through Press Start Game Hub and the collaboration with Södertörn University, Lars has been able to work in an environment where academia and game development meet.
“Press Start and the gaming initiative in Flemingsberg have given me a context where my psychological research can meet game development expertise. At that intersection, it has become possible to take the idea from a theoretical concept to something more concrete,” Lars concludes.
The collaboration was funded through internal collaboration funding at Södertörn University, aimed at supporting projects and initiatives involving collaboration with non-academic partners.
