At his lowest point, Jason Docton, Anxiety Gaming’s Founder, had reached 97 pounds and hadn’t left his apartment for 48 months. After years of hard work and a troubled childhood, he succumbed to depression, anxiety and the agoraphobia which made it impossible for him to leave his apartment, resulting in him dropping out of his pre-med studies.
It was through gaming that a fellow player asked Jason for his advice on how to deal with depression. Then another reached out, wanting to talk about the anxiety they were facing. Under the guise of avatars, real people were talking candidly about the mental health issues that confronted them. Though plagued with thoughts of suicide, Jason told himself, “I should help people before I go through with this.” It turned out, lots of fellow gamers needed help. People would contact him and say “Well let’s talk more about it tomorrow,” and so he’d have to get up and talk with them the next day. Now there was a reason for Jason to get up and do something—to help others.
Helping others ultimately led Jason to finding others to pay for the treatment they needed. Once he started getting a $560 disability check each month, Jason began paying for therapy sessions for the low-income gamers he was in contact with, people who without the financial help would have gone untreated. He then started calling therapists directly, to setup payment arrangements with them and ask them to consider going lower on the sliding-scale so that his funds could stretch further and help even more of the gamers he was connecting with online.
As a result of Jason’s dedication and efforts to help fellow gamers, Anxiety Gaming was founded as a 501(c)(3) Mental Health Non-Profit, dedicated to the education and treatment of Mental Health Issues within the Gaming Community. To date, Anxiety Gaming has helped 22,000 individuals get the therapy they need to improve their lives. In 2018, Jason rebranded the organization to Rise Above the Disorder in means to continue his mission to provide free mental health care with compassion and integrity for the wellness of all people from all backgrounds.
Previously known as Anxiety Gaming, here is a brief timeline of our journey. We all know time truly shows how far we have come...
Anxiety gaming was found in a mission to help those we are struggling with mental health
Anxiety Gaming received 501(c)3 Status and is officially recognized as a nonprofit organization
Anxiety Gaming hosted a charity event called Legends vs Dragons where Imagine Dragons got to play face to face against 5 of the top League of Legends players. We raised over $125k, and had over 100k viewers, and held as the largest charity event on twitch for many years.
Anxiety Gaming rebranded to Rise Above the Disorder. Rise Above the Disorder was born to offer help and wellness to everyone of all backgrounds.
RAD attended Twitch con to spread awareness in mental health.
started the #YOUARERAD campaign
RAD volunteer program, Positivity, Squad, gave the opportunity to have volunteers help make a positive outlook onto the RAD community. Whatever the case may be, our overwhelming love and support for many, we hope to make a difference for someone’s day.
RAD took the opportunity create exciting campaigns to bring awareness to mental health. Each day, RAD set up activities, campaigns, and resources to engage the community about the importance of well-ness.
Learn more about the RAD Team, follow our efforts to change the world,
and join a community passionate about healing.
