"Stepping Through": Participatory Interactive Storytelling for Shared Experiences in Mental Health

The talk proposed illustrates how non-linear storytelling (characterised by multiple viewpoints and perspectives coexisting within the same stories), typical of interactive media, can be co-created with people who have lived experience of mental illness in order to allow them to shape personalised accounts of their experiences, especially when those experiences are complex and nuanced, and can be only superficially tackled by traditional linear storytelling. Non-linear storytelling can also support participants in creating modalities of audience involvement that favour self-reflection and empathy.



These creative possibilities will be illustrated through the case study of an interactive poetic documentary called Stepping Through, which was written, directed, and produced by five men who experienced mental illnesses. The film explores multiple perspectives on recovery where viewers can choose resonant feelings to explore participants' experiences of mental illness while also reflecting on their own wellbeing. Stepping Through was evaluated by audiences with varying levels of mental health awareness and showed potential for this type of storytelling to be applied to support and therapy, to mental health training, to service evaluation, and to campaign for stigma reduction in general audiences. 



This research was carried out at the Digital Creativity Labs, University of York (UK), in collaboration with community partner Converge, a provider of educational and creative courses for people with mental health problems. The research outcomes are currently being disseminated through a follow-up yearlong project at the Institute of Mental Health Research, University of York. 



The talk will illustrate the main research phases, methods, and outcomes. As part of this live talk, some segments of Stepping Through and its interactive features will be shown.