ORIGINAL RESEARCH published: 21 August 2017 doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01385 Edited by: Roumen Kirov, Institute of Neurobiology (BAS), Bulgaria Reviewed by: Francesco Sinatora, University Hospital of Padua, Italy Katie Moraes de Almondes, UFRN, Brazil *Correspondence: Adolfo J. Cangas ajcangas@ual.es Specialty section: This article was submitted to Psychopathology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychology Received: 21 May 2017 Accepted: 31 July 2017 Published: 21 August 2017 Citation: Cangas AJ, Navarro N, Parra JMA, Ojeda JJ, Cangas D, Piedra JA and Gallego J (2017) Stigma-Stop: A Serious Game against the Stigma toward Mental Health in Educational Settings. Front. Psychol. 8:1385. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01385 Stigma-Stop: A Serious Game against the Stigma toward Mental Health in Educational Settings Adolfo J. Cangas 1 *, Noelia Navarro 1 , José M. A. Parra 2 , Juan J. Ojeda 3 , Diego Cangas 3 , Jose A. Piedra 3 and Jose Gallego 2 1 Department of Psychology, University of Almería, Almería, Spain, 2 Department of Education, University of Almería, Almería, Spain, 3 Department of Informatics, University of Almería, Almería, Spain This paper presents the results from the application of a serious game called Stigma- Stop among a group of high school students with the aim of reducing the stigma toward mental illnesses. The video game features characters with various mental disorders (schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, and panic disorder with agoraphobia) and provides information about these problems. Additionally, the game asks players about whether they have ever felt the same as the characters, if they believe the characters are psychologically well, and if they think they could help these individuals. Similarly, a variety of reactions are provided for players to choose from when they encounter the characters with these problems. A total of 552 students between the ages of 14 and 18 participated in the study, and they were randomly assigned to either the experimental group, which used Stigma-Stop, or the control group, which utilized a video game completely unrelated to mental health. Both video games were used for similar lengths of time. Following the application of Stigma-Stop, a statistically significant decrease was obtained in levels of stigma toward schizophrenia, both in terms of stereotypes and, to a greater extent, its potential dangerousness. However, this was not the case in the control group. Results thus demonstrate the video game’s usefulness toward eradicating erroneous notions about serious mental disorders like schizophrenia. Keywords: stigma, virtual reality, psychological disorders, serious games, human factors INTRODUCTION In today’s world, one of the most important problems related to mental health is the stigma that is placed on individuals who suffer from mental disorders, which complicates both treatment and rehabilitation. In this regard, some of the most widespread misconceptions are that these people are aggressive, strange, unpredictable, weak, lazy, unproductive, incurable, guilty of their illness, and are people who cannot be reasoned with (Crisp et al., 2000; Byrne, 2001; Vezzoli et al., 2001; López et al., 2008, 2012). These misconceptions constitute one of the greatest obstacles for making progress in the recovery of these individuals, since, although effective psychological and psychiatric treatments do exist, social integration is complicated because of the social rejection toward people with mental disorders. This leads to terrible consequences when the time comes to find work or a home, or maintain relationships with either friends or a partner (Penn and Martin, 1998). Frontiers in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 1 August 2017 | Volume 8 | Article 1385