Over the Thanksgiving holiday I read the book "The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness" by Elyn R. Sacks. Ian grabbed it from the library because of its cool cover and its reference to a W. B. Yeats poem.

Turns out it was a very good choice.

It is the story of Elyn's life long battle with schizophrenia. Most of the time people think of schizophrenia as depicted by Hollywood or mass media: the gibbering lunatic that's a danger to themselves and others. It's usually sensationalized because it is hard for us to understand mental illness from the outside. How does a "healthy" brain comprehend the workings of a "sick" one?

This book does not sensationalize at all and takes us along on Elyn's personal journey, letting us in to see what life is like for someone with mental illness. The book's message is this: I a human being. These are my struggles. This is my life.

On that merit alone, I suggest you read this book. But then I thought about games. We tend to use games as a fantasy escape vehicle. We go into games so we can be better versions of ourselves, or do things that we'd never get to do in real life. I wonder, could we make a game version of this book, allow people to step into the shoes of someone mentally ill… and not make it seem sensationalistic or exploitative?

That's the real challenge. First person shooters are nothing but giving you a window into a world that is definitely not real, but could we pull off a game where you are having hallucinations? Possibly. But make it not a cheap thrill?

I don't know. I hope someone tries sometime though. It's a game I would like to see.