--- title: Finding Inner Peace on Innerworld date: 2024-10-31T05:30:00-04:00 author: University of Maryland canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/finding-inner-peace-on-innerworld" section: Articles --- # Finding Inner Peace on Innerworld *October 31, 2024* — by [Annie Krakower](/author/annie-krakower) > Alum’s Online Mental Health Platform Provides Empathetic Community for Thousands of Users *People at fire commons 2 edit B 1920x1080 — Mental health platform Innerworld, founded by Noah Robinson ’14 (below) and singer-songwriter Jewel, offers 24/7 avatar peer support groups with trained guides. Since 2022, it's helped more than 100,000 users grappling with a range of issues.* Noah Robinson ’14 credits a video game with saving his life. The Potomac, Md., native realized he was gay at 13, yet was terrified by the thought of his family and friends finding out. That overwhelming shame and pressure of staying closeted for years pushed him into depression and suicidal thoughts, relieved only by the hours he spent every day on RuneScape, an online fantasy role-playing game. As an anonymous, medieval warrior avatar joining others on spell-casting, monster-battling quests, he found a sense of community, leading him to eventually come out online. The acceptance there inspired him to do the same in the real world his senior year of high school, and his family soon similarly embraced him. *Noah Robinson headshot* **Sidebar note:** Interested in training to become one of Innerworld’s hundreds of peer guides? Contact Noah Robinson at and watch this [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fE9Pho8eIWo) to learn more. **Topics:** [People](https://today.umd.edu/tags/people) **Tags:** [Alumni](https://today.umd.edu/topic/alumni), [Augmented Reality / Virtual Reality](https://today.umd.edu/topic/augmented-reality-virtual-reality), [LGBTQ](https://today.umd.edu/topic/lgbtq), [Mental Health](https://today.umd.edu/topic/mental-health), [Psychology](https://today.umd.edu/topic/psychology) **Units:** [College of Behavioral and Social Sciences](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-behavioral-and-social-sciences)