‘Sense of community’: Mass. non-profit uses gaming to promote good mental health for veterans

BOSTON — Socialization is a powerful force when it comes to supporting good mental health.

Finding comfortable opportunities for veterans to get together can be challenging.

Veterans experience greater rates of mental health issues like PTSD, homelessness, and suicide than the civilian population.

June 27th is National PTSD Awareness Day.

A Boston-based non-profit called Frost Call has developed a program that can help veterans socialize and release stress while having some good old-fashioned fun.

The organization runs Tabletop Tuesdays at the Tavern of Tales in Mission Hill. It gives veterans the chance to play board games and socialize in a stress-free environment.

Wes Sanders is the founder of Frost Call. He served in the Marine Corps Reserves and is now a clinical psychologist.

“Essentially bringing veterans out, hosting gaming events, using gaming as a mechanism to get people out, connecting with other veterans, finding the camaraderie that’s missing from their military service, and being able to access it in a way that feels kind of low stakes and comfortable.”

John Buis II, a Marine veteran, said, “It’s just good interactions. I mean, usually it’s pretty fun games, and it’s usually making a lot of jokes along the way throughout the game.”

Aly Gillen, an Air Force veteran, added, “You already know something about them. There’s already a sense of community. In the military, you learn you’re part of a family.”

Massachusetts Secretary of Veterans’ Services Jon Santiago believes this program is powerful because it is innovative. “It is getting to a generation that is often left in silos, that is not engaging with other veterans, right?”

Santiago recently freed up $2 million for 15 groups like Frost Call.

The goal is to use alternative methods to head off any potential mental health problems before they manifest into something more serious.

“I think people often underestimate how challenging these diagnoses are and how prevalent they are. When a veteran comes back from their service, when they complete it, when they come back from deployment, that transition into their new life can be incredibly challenging,” said Santiago.

Sanders added, “With this organization, the idea was to kind of go upstream to help folks build social connections before things got to a point where they might feel really alone.”

Game night, with its light banter and easy laughter, seems a perfect antidote to those kinds of feelings.

“You have this common background, and then we don’t have to really pay attention to it, we kind of move on,” said Mike Partridge who served on Navy submarines for 10 years. “It’s sort of like you have this place in common to build from, rather than this that sometimes you have to build around a little bit.”

“Frost Call” also hosts video game competitions as well as board game nights.

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