WCSE

LOST: The Search For One’s Self (A Rhythm-based Application that Promotes Awareness on Depression)

Abstract— With the fast-paced growth of technology in our generation today, a lot of different applications has been developed in order to make people's lives more convenient and comfortable. However, due to the people's attachment to these technology, they have grown more and more sensitive with what they read from the internet (especially social media) — this in return takes toll on their mental health capabilities and provides problems for them and their families. This study aims to promote the presence of a mental health issue that has been frequently discussed by a lot of people through the years — this disorder is known to be depression. The researchers’ aim in this study is to develop a game that can aid people in understanding how depression affects the character through the said game's story — and help alleviate some possible factors that saddens or disrupts the player's mind from the gameplay and music. One of the main elements from this study is that interviews from psychologists, psychiatrists, and guidance counselors would be conducted and analyzed in order to know the possible problems that the target audience of the project may or may not face in their own lives — the researchers would then conduct a survey accompanied with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8) in order to test the game's effectiveness and enjoyment. Based from the overall results of the study, the researchers were able to analyze the gathered PHQ-8 survey and has successfully rejected their null hypothesis — which means that the project has an effect on decreasing the severity of depression of the players. Overall, the researchers were able to satisfy their objectives which makes the project a step closer in developing an application that can be positively used for both entertainment and depression awareness in the future

Index Terms— Depression; Rhythm ; Video Game; Puzzle; 3D

Jeff Rodiel Alcasid, Mario Ryan Aljama, Mikki Orcel Diaz, Siao Ming Beninsig, John Heland Jasper Ortega, Maria Rona Perez
FEU Institute of Technology, PHILIPPINES

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Cite: Jeff Rodiel Alcasid, Mario Ryan Aljama, Mikki Orcel Diaz, Siao Ming Beninsig, John Heland Jasper Ortega, Maria Rona Perez , "LOST: The Search For One’s Self (A Rhythm-based Application that Promotes Awareness on Depression) ," 2021 The 11th International Workshop on Computer Science and Engineering (WCSE 2021), pp. 213-223, Shanghai, China, June 19-21, 2021.