Beschreibung:
<jats:p>When facing mental health concerns, men seek help less, confront greater stigma in accessing treatment, and experience more severe consequences. Interventions targeted at men are often grounded in activity and situated in appealing contexts, such as sporting or gaming spaces. In this paper, we question how pinball---a social tangible and digital leisure activity---can support men's mental health and wellbeing, through thematic analysis of in-depth semi-structured interviews (n=15) with male pinball enthusiasts. Our contribution is threefold: first, we evidence pinball as a context that provides incidental benefits to mental health directly, and indirectly through social connectedness; second, that enthusiasts actively enhance their social lives and resulting wellbeing via pinball; and third, that pinball contexts are suited for designing interventions that provide mental health supports within subcultures that appeal to men. We situate our findings in theories of wellbeing, activity-based communication, shoulder-to shoulder self-disclosure, and the importance of third-spaces for social wellness.</jats:p>