085 Breaking Down Mental Health Barriers with Esports and Gaming w/ Oliver Parsons
Got Your Six with Tony Nash
English - November 21, 2022 10:00 - 19 minutes - 35.2 MB - ★★★★★ - 1 ratingSociety & Culture Health & Fitness Mental Health Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
6ers, while the gaming community suffers from a bad rep of gamers predisposition towards social isolation and boredom, we have fellow military members and veterans that are doing a great effort to turn this around and make this shared interest in video games as a basis for building camaraderie and community.
This week, Tony Nash is joined by Oliver Parsons, US Air Force Airmen, founder of Air Force Gaming, Chief Esports & Sports of USAF Services, and co-founder of Space Force Gaming. He is passionate about building high-performance teams to achieve breakout success and believes in gaming can be a tool to improve mental health within the USAF rank and file.
You will learn that as soldiers are often far away from home and their social network, they need something to turn to and video gaming is far from the worst things they can do. While excess gaming and isolation is also a problem, this shared interest can also be a powerful tool for them to be vulnerable.
As a result, you’ll understand that acknowledging the power of shared interest can be a great opportunity to check up on your battle buddies. Let’s be clear that there is no substitute for professional therapy and assistance for those suffering mental health issues but sometimes it takes a little nudge from people you have formed camaraderie with to seek the help you actually need.
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01:22 - How gaming breaks down barriers despite
02:41 - Social gaming and building communities to create meaningful relationships
03:36 - Anyone’s success becomes everyone’s success
05:22 - How the gaming community can help strengthen resiliency and community connection
06:26 - Becoming more persuasive and learning how to frame and pitch ideas around a story
08:01 - Gaming as a place to tell personal stories and make it easy for others to be vulnerable
10:02 - Having a common mission and purpose that builds esprit de corps at a smaller version
13:15 - Failures from not being able to stick to a path
14:52 - Hitting his lowest point in mental health and how he got help
16:30 - Real connections and positive experiences around the community as a way to better yourself
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Here is how to connect with Oliver Parsons:
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Connect with Got Your Six podcast:
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Connect with Tony Nash: