MORE THAN JUST FANTASY
In the fall of 2019, the Counseling & Mental Health Center launched the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) Suppor tive Community to combat a loneliness factor they believed could be af fecting cer tain groups of TCU students. In less than a week, the D&D Suppor tive Community was full, and a waitlist created. Dr. Eric Wood, Director of Counseling & Mental Health, explained. “Our Support Communities is a new initiative to bring together like-minded students to combat the negative effects of social isolation and loneliness. Many students who are gamers report a perception that they don’t fit into the mainstream campus culture. This perception creates a risk for mental health problems, as well as threats to school retention. We’re already seeing overwhelming positive results in terms of attendance, community building, and excitement from the students.”
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Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy tabletop game that first came out in 1974. According to Wizards of the Coast, the publishers of D&D, there are currently an estimated 13.7 million active D&D players worldwide. And with D&D becoming more mainstream, in part thanks to it being featured in the Netflix hit Stranger Things, projections are that the number of D&D players will continue to rise. In D&D, you play as a group with each player creating a character with different skills and personality traits. Everyone in the game goes on an adventure together. D&D forces players to work together to find creative solutions to unpredictable problems.
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