Richard A. Brooks / AFP
An Italian psychiatrist based in Japan is testing an innovative way to combat depression: psychological counseling sessions in which the therapist appears on screen in the form of an anime character, with a digitally altered voice.
When he was a teenager and had difficulty integrating into the life of rural Sicily, the psychiatrist Francesco Panto found refuge in anime, where he discovered characters with whom he identified and who represented the kind of man I wanted to be.
Now living in Japan, Panto believes that anime can benefit other people and is testing whether it could be used as a therapeutic method, especially for those who would have difficulty asking for help.
“Using manga and anime helped me a lot… they were very important emotional support tools,” Panto told AFP.
“Growing up in Italy, in Sicily, there were very strong stereotypes in relation to gender and self-expression. But when I was 12 or 13 I started playing a game called ‘Final Fantasy‘… and .and I identified with the protagonists. They were so masculine and cool, but in his own way“.
Panto’s six-month pilot study on “character-based counseling” at Yokohama Municipal University ended in March.
As part of the trial, Panto and his team recruited 20 people aged 18 to 29 with depression symptoms and provided them online counseling sessions, led by a ppsychologist who appeared on the screen in the form of an avatar anime character with digitally altered voice.
Panto believes that the “fantasy filter” can help to put people at ease and acknowledge their problems — and hopes that the trial results will confirm this theory.
Since a stable and trustworthy figure with “maternal energy” who wields an assault rifle, to an emotionally perceptive male character who looks like a “prince” and wears a cape, were created specifically for the study six different characters.
Each is based on a specific archetype of Japanese mangawith test participants having the freedom to choose between them. “I tried to infuse each character with a specific mental struggle. One of the characters created is called Kuroto Nagi. It is affected by traces of bipolar personality“, said Panto.
Others struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder or anxiety disorders, or have problems related to alcohol consumption.
But the idea is that avatars are “fun”Panto explained, and although the psychologist tells his character’s story at the beginning of the session, they were instructed not to make mental health issues too obvious.
A 24-year-old trial participant explained how he was drawn to the study by the description of one of the characters, who was supposedly “looking for the true strength“.
“It made me feel like it could help me get closer to the answer to my own problems,” said the participant, anime fan and game creatorwho cannot be identified by name under the assay rules.
Will to live
The phase one trial, which monitored participants’ heart rates and sleep, is primarily intended to test whether anime therapy is viable and whether this type of treatment can reduce symptoms of depression.
Panto is also considering whether therapy could be delivered using artificial intelligence, without the mediation of a real psychologist.
The research project is one of many that seek to find solutions to mental health challenges in Japan, including the “ikizurasa“, a term that designates the people who feel “difficulty livingdifficulty in surviving in society,” he said. Mio Ishiiassistant professor who co-leads the project.
“There are a lot of young people who can’t go to school or continue working, so our goal is to give it to them... new options to recover of their difficulties,” he said, adding that there is still a huge stigma in Japan associated with asking for help.
Jesus Mayaa specialist in family therapy at the University of Seville who was not involved in the trial, says that the use of anime during the sessions can be really useful. “It can facilitate the expression of emotions… and identification and communication between the patient and the therapist.”
According to study rules, the 24-year-old participant, whose favorite anime series currently include “The End of Evangelion” and “Girls Band Cry,” cannot comment on the essay itself.
Even so, he said that the anime had given him the “desire to liveseeing characters full of life as they work hard to achieve their dreams.”
Mio Ishii hopes therapy can help people of all ages around the world. “Because people typically have stigmas and psychological barriers that prevent them from asking for help regarding their mental health,” he said. “But the anime or technology can mitigate them“.
