085 Breaking Down Mental Health Barriers with Esports and Gaming w/ Oliver Parsons

Got Your Six with Tony Nash

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:

LinkedIn

Instagram

Twitter

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Connect with Tony Nash:

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