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Play Facts & Feels
Create a space for a real conversation about the link between mental health and substance use. You can play solo or in a group of up to 4 people, but it's best if there aren't more adults than youth.
Facts & Feels has 3 rounds. For each round all players will answer 3 questions pulled at random from the question bank. A "skip" button can be used to replace a card with a new question.
And remember, empathy is everything.
Be open. Be honest. Be committed to keeping this a safe space. And be willing to take breaks if needed.
Rounds:
Round 1- Mental health
Round 2 – Substance use
Round 3 – Talk it out
Helpful definitions:
Mental health condition: an illness or disorder that affects a person’s thinking, feeling, behavior, or mood. Health care professionals use guidelines in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders to diagnose mental health conditions. Research suggests multiple interconnected causes, such as genetics, biochemical processes, and environment.1
Substance use disorder (SUD): frequent use of alcohol and/or drugs that causes problems in daily life.2
1 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Mental health and substance use disorders. Retrieved on April 10, 2024 from https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/disorders.
2 American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th ed. Amer Psychiatric Pub Inc; 2013.
3 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Co-Occurring Disorders and Other Health Conditions. Accessed March 11, 2025. https://www.samhsa.gov/substance-use/treatment/co-occurring-disorders
4 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Overdose Prevention. The Free Mind Formula. Accessed April 25, 2025. www.cdc.gov/freemind/free-mind-formula.html
5 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. For Young People Looking for Help. Accessed April 17, 2025. https://www.samhsa.gov/mental-health/what-is-mental-health/how-to-talk/young-people
6 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data Summary & Trends Report: 2013–2023. Published August 6, 2024. Accessed February 25, 2025. www.cdc.gov/yrbs/dstr/index.html
7 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Preventing Opioid Overdose. Accessed April 25, 2025. https://www.cdc.gov/overdose-prevention/prevention/index.html
8 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fentanyl Facts. https://www.cdc.gov/stop-overdose/caring/fentanyl-facts.html
9 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System (SUDORS), Final Data. Accessed March 8,2024. https://www.cdc.gov/overdose-prevention/data-research/facts-stats/sudors-dashboard-fatal-overdose-data.html
10 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. What is Substance Use Disorder? Accessed April 25, 2025. https://www.samhsa.gov/substance-use/what-is-sud
11 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. National Vital Statistics System, Mortality 2018-2021 on CDC WONDER Online Database, released in 2023. Accessed March 5, 2024. http://wonder.cdc.gov/mcd-icd10-expanded.html
12 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Understanding the Opioid Overdose Epidemic. Accessed April 17, 2025. https://www.cdc.gov/overdose-prevention/about/understanding-the-opioid-overdose-epidemic.html
13 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Polysubstance Overdose. Accessed April 25, 2025. https://www.cdc.gov/overdose-prevention/about/polysubstance-overdose.html
14 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Drug Overdose Deaths in the United States 2003-2023. Published December 2024.
15 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Overdose Prevention and Response Toolkit. Accessed April 17, 2025. https://store.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/overdose-prevention-response-kit-pep23-03-00-001.pdf