Video Games Cause Violence Fallacy, Find Your Why, Indie Development, Mental Health Crisis, Neuroplasticity, Forgiveness Matters, VR Deep Dive, Creator Keys, Robotics and More with Ryan Douglas of Dee

I welcome Ryan Douglas, the Co-Founder at DeepWell DTx, NeuFluent / Founder, Nextern to this episode. Learn how DeepWell DTx is working to meld medical professionals, scientists, and game developers to create mental health digital therapeutics through play and neuroscience.  Hear about the power of gaming to improve mental health, citing games like Tetris and Animal Crossing that have shown mental health benefits. Ryan then shares the value of creating experiences that make players feel better without consciously realizing it, along with potential negative effects around boundary conditions in medicine. We then get into the meteoric rise of the game industry, how it’s still immature at times, and the need for individuals to understand their motivations to be successful. Ryan then shares about the importance of building a culture centered on individual passions and shared purpose, how “crunch” isn’t unique to the industry, and work/life balance challenges. Hear about Ryan’s diverse career journey, the mental health emergency, F2P issues, digital therapeutics, flow states, the problem with gamification, and finding the overlap between game mechanics and treatment mechanisms. We then go into his 5 Creator Keys, EQ, finding people you trust, social media, regulation, AI, and both the power and over-hype of VR and AR. As we wrap up, we hear an unusual story about his career, life changes, excitement around their upcoming game, video game violence fallacy, working with the FDA, improving mental health, medicinal media, sharing on LinkedIn, finding your why, avoiding toxicity, and listening to your gut. Bio: Ryan Douglas is a renowned expert and innovator in mental health, artificial intelligence, and surgical robotics with nearly 20 years of experience. Ryan is the co-founder of DeepWell DTx, a video game publisher and developer focused on creating medically therapeutic games with compelling gameplay. He has commercialized over 20 medical devices, including treatments for depression, hypertension, breast cancer survivors, women's health, chronic pain, and neurological conditions. Additionally, Ryan holds pivotal patents in medical AI and robotics and has achieved FDA clearance for breakthrough therapies. Show Links: * Simon Sinek - Find Your Why YouTube * Animal Crossing and Mental Health The Gamer * da Vinci Surgical System Website * Pistol Whip Oculus * 1941: Counter Attack Wikipedia Connect With Links: * Ryan Douglas LinkedIn * DeepWell DTx Website * DeepWell DTx Twitter Game Dev Advice Links:  * Patreon - please help support the show if you find it useful! * Twitter * Website * Email: [email protected] * Game Dev Advice hotline: (224) 484-7733 * Level Ex Careers website * Subscribe and go to the website for full show notes with links Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices