During his master’s degree, Mike’s specialist subject was mental health awareness and stigma. Through this, he investigated the issues that revolve around stigma and the impact these have on the person with a mental health condition. Subsequently, Mike has worked across multiple disciplines of research alongside working in both audio / video production and, in doing so, presents a yearly Christmas charity livestream aimed at raising awareness about mental health issues and generating conversation about them with a view to raising money for Mind (the mental health charity). He also has spoken at multiple events about the relationship between gaming and mental health covering: 1) how gamers are using gaming as a ‘mental vacation’ away from negative thoughts, 2) how the games industry is portraying mental health and continuing the conversation and 3) how the gaming industry is producing games to help players as either a diagnostic tool or with games designed specifically for mental health conditions (such as dementia) to help with the symptoms they present.