Video Games = Depression?

This is interesting...got this from yahoo news..it says that people (yes that's you and I) who play games are associated with depression. I wondered how true this is as shrinks came up as being addicted to video games is a serious illness and will eventually lead to psychopathic disorders including depression. :o :-\Now playing too much games is considered a sickness...I am deeply disturbed by their findings. Not sure if I totally agree with them researchers or shrinks but have you ever played something that keeps up wild awake, unable to sleep and made your head just full of it? According to them..this is just might be a sign.....hehehe ;D

c'mon thats ridiculous!!!

I posted some news stories like this...It's only those deeply hooked from a young age that have little to no social contact that may indeed have depressive syptoms.For me it's more of an addiction, if I'm seperated from games with no activity to replace I tend to get withdrawl syptoms and seem depressed...and no watching tv doesn't help because tv is crap.But with an alternitive activity (work that goes longer than 8 hours, a camp, etc) then it doesn't happen because I'm engaged.I do find now I'm more or less addicticted to the internet, as I'm HERE more than I actually play games...and yes outside of the net I avoid
anything social unless I'm getting out of it (food, free games or movies, etc).

Replying to #2

You gotta be in such a group to know dude.But...as it pains me to say...as in a comment on gamespot in a story on games and depression...

Gamers of that sort won't have much social interaction, and thus they'll remove themselves from the gene pool

While a gamer these days can have a girlfriend, those of my level (basement dweller, anti social, etc) are extremly rare.Thing is I turn down girls more than being turned away.

Replying to #3

well i see what you mean, but what i was talking about is the "sickness" part........ i dont think addiction is a sickness, well yes it does have its effects as we speak (beacause i was addicted to my PS2 for like 5 years till now) and many effects were being awake all the time, no social contact, etc

Replying to #4

Well...5 years is nothing.Try since age 7 to my nes, I've moved onto my wii and ps3 in such time.My eye sight is damaged as a result, sun light disturbs me and I MUST have sunglasses on, and while I have friends, unless they are online I hardly talk to them, work is my only chance at talking to people I rarly know.That said, it's...not a life threatening sickness unless they don't eat/sleep and game on constantly (some sad incidents have happened...)Which brings me to my point, gaming addiction is closer to depression (to some) which is a sickness, it can bring wild agression (some people have killed their parents because they were barred from certain games...like the halo 3 kid) or suicide ( ??? ) and of course starving themselves to death on World of Warcraft.

Replying to #5

well if you put it that way it is a sickness

The only video games that have ever made me depressed were the crappy ones.Anyway, when I'm depressed I play video games to stop feeling so depressed. Grunt birthday party woo!eem is happy nao :3

Replying to #7

I consider video games like smoking, your fine while your doing it, but when you stop it may hurt...or when the effects start taking hold (MY EYES!!!)Crappy games don't give you the high of a well made/more appealing games because it doesn't draw you in.

Replying to #8

lol wutI will never understand how, even with all that nicotine, people can enjoy themselves while looking like crap and smelling like crap. But, that's just me and my insanely weak lungs. (I think when I grow up I'll be an invalid...)I'd like someone to explain to me just how the fuck Cooking Mama can lead to major depressive disorder.

NatewlieGamers aren't depressed because they play games.It happens that depressed people are lured towards games.

It's an outlet.

games help me to NOT get depressed

I think this is a case of my signature fitting in. Clearly a lot of gamers are depressed, that must mean that gamers are more likely to be depressed than the average, not that the depressed are more likely to play games than do other things.

NatewlieGamers aren't depressed because they play games.It happens that depressed people are lured towards games.It's an outlet.

this maybe true

-waits patiently for a reasonable answer-

Ive been playing games every single day since the atari 2600 in 1983. ive also had atari 7800, commodore +4, commodore 64, amiga, nes, mastersystem, megadrive, snes, playstation, xbox, ps2, xbox 360, pc and a wii. plus emulators for just about every system.
27 years of gaming, i should be suicidal by now!
what a load of bollocks, its the person not gaming. if people are loners and depressed they probably stay in their rooms and play games because they have no friends

Replying to #15

I suppose for the majority (not all excessive gamers are depressed-suicidal) it's just media hype...who knows.

Natewlie · #10It's an outlet.

...Or it becomes an outlet in my case.All I knew when I was a kid to have fun was my nes or the same old 3 video cassttes.Not many kids to grow up with, wasn't until I was 15 that I made any real friends...and at times I despise them because...well I had a warped view on the world back then, and at times I still do.Or a theroy that being currently investigated, it could of been my father's brain washing, which makes more sence as to why I hate smokers and not the smoker-why I sit in my room all day when not working-prefer isolation.Whatever.[me=hYpNoS]goes back to AvP as he is now bored with the topic at hand[/me]

LOL, so okay, we need to tell this to some docs as they are saying too much games are making us ill..I simply don't like the way they put us down like that....but gamers do have life, it's just that they stick to friends that share the same interests.....about being anti social..well I dunno, maybe it's the society that looks towards gamers as a set of reclusive nerds.....LOL, maybe it's being too harsh as saying playing games link to depressive disorder...I'd rather spend time playing games at home than spending $$ outside doing nothing...or spending it on clothes....:P

Replying to #17

Well said, fair maiden.You know how you can stop being anti-social but still maintain your nerd-power? Go to conventions. I mean, seriously, I've only been to three in my life but out of what I've experienced, I can say that I find them as paradise hubs for nerds. And you really don't need to go around mingle and talk to people, just sit in the video game section and play a crap ton of games and eventually someone will start a conversation with you. :)Two people have already said this but,
Video games make me feel better when I'm depressed. I've only been depressed once in my life, when my two bunnies, Peach and Daisy (may they rest in peace), died because they ran away while there was a storm.
I really couldn't smile properly in a whole day (which is absurd to me, since people always recognize me as the guy that always has a goofy grin printed on his face). Then, for some reason, I went to the basement where all my games where. My brother was there playing Mortal Kombat Armageddon on the Wii. An awkward silence took place. "Wanna play?" he said. I nodded and grabbed the Wiimote and Nunchuk. Then it happened so swiftly. "FINISH HIM" said the game (you just lost it ^^), and so I did. My mind went suddenly all the way from super-emo to the kind of guy that screams "BAM! I just pwned your ass off, *dog-mother*!" and starts dancing and humping the air after ripping his head off in a fighting game. It wasn't until I saw his OMGWTFBBQ-face that I realized what the hell I was doing. I calmly sat down and chose Rematch. I haven't stopped smiling since that day.
I think I've pretty much made my point in how video-games can be used as healthy anti-depression items. :P

Video Games are a part of my life, where as I don't play them as much as I used to, like Hypnos said, if I don't play them every day or two I start to get withdrawl symptoms.

Replying to #19

That can be the case for any hobby. Anything that someone likes as a hobby can get addicting, say, like knitting or some shit.