Cognitive Distortion, defined as erroneous and inaccurate thoughts can cause fatal mental impairment. Identifying the presence of cognitive distortions is the fundamental initiative to treat mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression. As a consequence of COVID-19 and the other changes in social aspects, there is an escalation in the number of patients with mental illness. Although there are abundant effective psychotherapy strategies available, a substantial number of people avoid them due to misconceptions and stigma. Serious games can be a feasible solution to purvey mental healthcare to a significant percentage of people. The availability of smartphones unveils the opportunity to provide therapeutic facilities via digital gaming. Technology like Augmented Reality with its interactive features, has unlocked numerous opportunities in the mental health domain. In this paper, we have remodeled our previously proposed game, ARCoD, accessible on smartphones to measure Cognitive Distortions. We hypothesized that, through this game, it is possible to assess the level of 5 different Cognitive Distortions (Arbitrary Inference, Catastrophizing, Black and White Thinking, Emotional Reasoning, and Labeling) in an individual playing the game. The experimental outcome demonstrates that the level of Cognitive Distortions assessed from the game is exceedingly similar to the measurement accumulated from an established scale-Cognitive Distortion Scale (CDS).

The widespread presence of mental disorders is increasing at an alarming rate around the globe. According to World Health Organization (WHO), mental health circumstances have worsened all over the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In spite of the existence of effective psychotherapy strategies, a significant percentage of individuals do not get access to mental healthcare facilities. Under these circumstances, technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) and its availability in handheld devices can unveil an expansive opportunity to utilize these features in fields of mental health treatment via digital gaming. In this paper, we have proposed a serious game embedding smart Augmented Reality (AR) technology to identify the Cognitive Distortions of the individual playing the game. Later, a comprehensive analysis of clinical impact of the AR gaming on mental health treatment will be conducted followed by evaluation of Player Experience (PX).

The widespread presence of mental disorders has received a thrust due to COVID-19 pandemic. In spite of the existence of effective psychotherapy strategies, a significant percentage of individuals do not get access to mental healthcare facilities. Under these circumstances, technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) and its availability in handheld devices can unveil an expansive opportunity to utilize these features in fields of mental health treatment via digital gaming. In this paper, we have proposed a serious game embedding smart Augmented Reality (AR) technology that aims to identify the Cognitive Distortions of the individual playing the game. Later, an initial analysis of the differential impact of identifying cognitive distortion using two different approaches - Cognitive Distortion Scale (CDS) and ARCoD is presented.