The first social worker my nephew spoke to, after being officially diagnosed with CLN3 Batten Disease, said that he presented similarly to him as many of his veteran patients who were affected by brain trauma.

While brain trauma can be rehabilitated, CLN3 Batten Disease cannot, as it is a degenerative disease.

But even though my nephew often struggles with symptoms of hallucinations, psychosis, rage, and memory issues, which include loss of time, he absolutely enjoys playing Dungeons & Dragons. I very much believe that it is helping his mind stay sharp and effective, slowing his decline.

D&D has many benefits for Mental Health.

Dungeons & Dragons for Mental Health

Dungeons & Dragons, or D&D, is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game with an immense social dynamic that has been around since the 1970s. It involves creating a fantasy character and working with a group of friends to cooperatively tell a cohesive story, which uses dice to determine the outcome of the attempted actions.

There are several potential benefits of playing Dungeons & Dragons for Mental Health that have greatly impacted my life, and my nephew’s life. For example:

1. D&D can provide an amazing outlet for creativity just like writing or artwork: it can be a great way to tap into your inner imagination and express your creative self.
   Because of D&D, my writing has improved drastically, especially my fiction work.
   As for my nephew, I once scared him during one of our games. He was playing a Paladin, who was meditating and praying to his deity. He was very much in character with his eyes closed when I unexpectedly shouted the response in his ear. It was an unbelievable moment of roleplay as he used his fear in his roleplay. Everyone was blown away by his performance.
2. It is a massive boon when it comes to socialization: while D&D requires players to work together as a team and communicate with one another, solo D&D lacks this aspect. However, participating with others online, and allowing their suggestions to be implemented into the larger story can provide similar results, or better results, as I am working with strangers rather than friends.
   I used to be extremely shy. Terrified of rejection. Afraid to speak my mind. Being a Dungeon Master has drastically improved my social and communication skills. Speaking at work meetings is no longer the difficulty it used to be.
   My nephew wanted nothing more than to make friends. You have to imagine his struggles in doing so due to his mental decline. D&D has provided him with close friends.
3. It can provide or improve problem-solving skills: D&D often involves solving difficult puzzles and challenges, which can help players incorporate these important problem-solving skills into their everyday lives.
   Thanks to D&D, I can look at a problem and find out-of-the-box solutions I would never have considered before.
   My nephew struggles with problem-solving skills but he too seems to struggle less after a game night, as it helps him to think of strange and interesting ways of resolving a situation in-game.
4. It can provide a sense of reward and accomplishment: Completing in-game quests and overcoming challenges in D&D can help to boost player self-esteem.
   I have far more confidence now than I ever used to, having forced myself to roleplay in front of others.
   My nephew gets a lot of joy from levelling up. Excited to see what new abilities his character will have.
5. It is absolutely a form of stress relief: at least for me. Playing D&D can be a fun and enjoyable way to decrease stress and anxiety and help to relax and unwind when needed.
   Regardless of whether I play D&D with a group or by myself, I always feel happier after having played.
   Because my nephew moving to a medical group home a couple of hours from where we live, we haven’t been able to play as much. He has had more bouts of rage during that time than he normally would.

Overall, Dungeons & Dragons is an empowering, fun, and imaginative activity that can have a plethora of positive benefits for mental health.

I also hope to write this series, not only to help to teach others how to use D&D for their mental health, as I have. I also want to write the story as a journey of improvement for the character, improving his own mental health along the way.

If there are any themes you’d like to explore or situations you’d like to see the character attempt to undertake, leave your suggestions in the comments.

In the Intro, we learned that Shedinn Ithad is a Dragonborn with a lot of rage issues. It appeared that some sort of battle had taken place, and upon waking, some of his memories seemed to have been lost.

Let’s take a look at where Shedinn’s journey takes him next.

Brain Trauma

What happened? He thought to himself. Who had he been fighting with, and against? Were they bandits? Was that why he was left with no weapons or armour?

Many questions swirled inside his foggy mind as he continued to trudge through the forest in search of a town or even a river to bathe in, to wash off the dirt and blood. He had no idea where he was nor in which direction to head. He continued to march west of where he had awakened.

Let’s roll to see what the weather is like from the weather generator in the Solo Adventurer’s Toolbox by Paul Bimler.

First, we need to determine the season. However, when opening my character sheet on the D&D Beyond app, it appears that a new update has added snow to the sheet.

Winter, it is!

Weather
1d20 on the Winter column — Result: 16. Clear skies.

Shedinn was thankful for the clear skies. He hated snow almost as much as he hated cold weather. As a gold Dragonborn, warm weather was certainly preferred. He wondered if he should instead turn southward towards warmer weather.

One of the most important tables in the Toolbox is the Unique
Question/Answer Mechanic, asking yes or no questions to determine results and information. Let’s use it now.

Should Shedinn turn south?
d20 RESULT
1–6 NO
7–12 MAYBE
13–20 YES
1d20 — Result: 14. Yes.

Making the adjustment, Shedinn headed south for the warmer climate.

Now would be a good time to have an encounter as he is travelling through the forest for some time.

TABLE TO GENERATE NUMBER OF WILDERNESS ENCOUNTERS
(Number of d100 rolls per 12 hours)
POPULATION DENSITY — Low
DAY — 2
NIGHT — 1
1d100 — Result: 68. Travelling sage/archivist.

Perception roll, to determine if the travelling sage/archivist is spotted or heard in advance.
1d20 — Result: 2. Definitely not.

Is this Travelling sage/archivist friendly?
1d20 — Result: 7. Maybe.

“Oh, hello there,” he heard a voice speaking to his left, causing him to jump into a defensive stance. “Can you point me in the direction of Pineloche Skyr?”

Shedinn looked him over, trying to determine his threat level.

RACE TABLE
d100 RACE
1-80 Human
81-87 Halfling
88-92 Dwarf
93-100 Other (Roll below)
1d100 — Result: 34. Human.

The man did not appear to be a threat. No discernible armour or weapons to be spotted, though he could be a mage, he thought. He would not lower his guard. “Sorry, no. I don’t know where it is.” He answered honestly.

Does the man go on his way?
1d20 — Result: 14. Yes.

As they both went on their merry way, Shedinn began to wonder why he felt so scared and defensive. Nothing happened. Was it the recent battle that made him on edge, or the lack of memory? This did not sit well with him as he considered himself to be a brave and proud warrior.

Before he could ponder this any further, he felt his stomach grumbling, a fierce and sharp pain revealing the depths of his hunger. How long has it been since he ate or drank anything? This would have to be his immediate priority as he searched for food and water sources.

Survival check (+2 bonus).
1d20+2— Result: 18. He can easily find both.

With a full stomach, he sat at the edge of the river, water up to his neck. This was a well-needed bath, though he would have preferred warmer water than this. He told himself he would not stay long.

WILDERNESS ENCOUNTER
1d100 — Result: 99. Monster! Level-appropriate encounter.
1-3: Hard
4: Deadly
1d4 — Result: 1. Hard.

Unfortunately, the website I normally use for this is currently down. Instead, I’ve used https://donjon.bin.sh/5e/random/#type=encounter;encounter-n_pc=1;encounter-level=1;encounter-difficulty=hard;encounter-environment=forest
Result: Goblin (cr 1/4, mm 166); hard, 50 xp.

MONSTER INTENTIONS / TACTICS TABLE
1d100 — Result: 87.
Monster has offspring (or something it wants to protect) nearby, and sees you as a threat. It attacks immediately, possibly guarding a certain area.

Perception roll. To see if the goblin is heard charging towards him over the sound of the river flowing. DC 15. Result: 11. He does not.

Since battles require a ton of rolls, for both the character and the monster as they take turns, I will not be providing the results of every roll but instead describing how the battle goes based on those rolls.

While enjoying the sounds of nature he is suddenly struck with a blinding pain on the side of his head. Everything is muffled as he quickly realized his head was now underwater. His visibility was also reduced, but not due to his eyesight, it was the water that had darkened.

Standing to his feet, he blinked a few times as his right eye began to sting. He was bleeding. Quickly looking around holding his claws out in front of him in a defensive stance, he spotted his attacker.

A 3' goblin stood on the riverbank, snarling aggressively at him. Anger filled Shedinn’s entire being as he entered a terrifying rage. With a loud roar, fire shot out of his mouth striking the creature before him, though the blaze was not as intense as it should be.

Not willing to fight in the water, the goblin put down his scimitar and pulled out his shortbow instead as the Dragonborn charged with an intense fury, swiping at the arrow before it could be loosed. With another strike of his massive claws, the goblin fell to the ground as the Shedinn fell to one knee.

He took a moment to wipe the blood from his eye not noticing the goblin slowly get back up, once again gripping his scimitar. A moment later, everything went dark.

What a battle! The goblin was knocked to zero hit points and failed his first Death Saving Throw. While Shedinn took a moment to wipe the blood from his eyes, the goblin succeeded on his next roll and was able to get back up with 1 HP, and struck Shedinn with his scimitar causing him to also drop to 0 HP.

Will the goblin continue to strike while the Dragonborn is down? Will it take him, prisoner, back to his clan? Or maybe it leaves him to die as it runs off to safety with its offspring.

Find out next time as we continue our Mental Health Journey into Fantasy!