Us gaming nerds here at Checkpoint Gaming aren’t the only Checkpoint in town doing something good for the people, as CheckPoint (not affiliated with us, great name though!), have launched a card-based system for coping with mental health and well-being.
CheckPoint offers a “Coping Companion” in the form of a deck of cards aimed at gamers, but the advice is universal for anyone. These cards are reminiscent of trading cards like Pokémon and all have delightful little illustrations accompanied by a short paragraph relating to dealing with various forms of stress and anxiety.
This is an absolutely awesome tool for many people as the daily struggles of life can start to take their toll, affecting people in various ways. So having bite-sized pieces of support and information is very handy.
I love that these little cards are not only a joy to look at thanks to the various artist’s Checkpoint have teamed up with, but offer some extremely useful advice for times of overwhelming pressure. Simply pick up a card and read the piece of advice to help calm your soul and centre yourself.
The cards range from offering advice on planning ahead, walking in someone’s else’s shoes to avoid conflict and visualising yourself on a river to aid in picturing a calmer environment. There are five categories of cards, which are colour-coded: Grounding and Mindfulness (green), Everyday Basics (orange), Mindful Mantras (dark blue), Thought Exercises (turquoise) and Problem Solving (yellow).
For someone like me who works in a very high-pressure and demanding environment that is very stressful, I cannot overstate the usefulness these cards can provide in an easy-to-digest form.
The deck retails for $29.99 AUD, which contains 55 unique cards and can be purchased here, while on the site be sure to look around as CheckPoint has a mission to “raise awareness for mental health issues, reduce stigma, and improve well-being in our community.”
It is great to see a charity so focused on the gaming community that is insistent on dealing with mental health and supporting those of us who may be suffering from the various ways it can impact daily life.
We also had the wonderful founder of the organisation, Dr. Jennifer Hazel, on our show to talk about gaming and mental health, and you should also see their web series discussing mental health, which you can read about here.
About the Author
Justin White
He/Him
Justin is known for being the clown of any group and has spent his entire life playing and collecting video games. When he is not playing video games he is usually hanging out with his two American Staffies named Django and King (after Django Unchained characters) or his son Shia (yes, after Shia Labeouf).
