New Survey Links MMOs And Depression

[The_root_of_all_evil]

New Survey Links MMOs And Depression

While MMOs are extremely social games, involving chatting with people, performing quests together, forming groups and role-playing, a new survey reveals that the time spent playing is linked to depression.

In the survey at Northwestern University [http://www.northwestern.edu/], Illinois, seven thousand Everquest 2 [http://everquest2.station.sony.com/] players were tested for signs of depression; the major distinguishing factor between respondents was the length of time spent playing the game.

21% of players that only logged on occasionally showed signs of depression, but for "hardcore" users, the signs were up to almost 30%.

The problem with the survey though is that it's unclear whether depressed people are more likely to play MMOs, or whether playing MMOs leads to depression.

The survey also tended to disprove the idea that MMOs are "global melting pots," as people end up playing with people nearby, or with people they already know, reinforcing existing social networks rather than making new ones.

The survey also found that many players underestimate the amount of time they spend playing and that women are the most dedicated and satisfied players, as long as they're not playing with other women. Make your own jokes here.

Source: LA Times [http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2009/02/are-virtual-gam.html]

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[Anton P. Nym]

I'd argue that depressed people being attracted to MMOs is much more common than MMO players becoming depressed as a result of playing.

One symptom of depression is lassitude; no energy, no pep. Playing in an MMO is away to interact socially that doesn't suck up a lot of personal energy, and given that we're social creatures and usually want to interact I could see someone in a depressive state spending more time online.

-- Steve

 

[Skizle]

did they link the depression to causes of anger?

 

[teletran3]

I used to be a regular WoW player and while I don't think I was depressed at all at the time I was playing, it's certainly depressing when I look back at how much time I spent paying Blizzard to farm mobs.
MMO's probably have a certain appeal to those that are depressed for the same reasons Anton stated above. You can accomplish things without having to really do anything.

 

[Cirus Arvennicus]

I'd argue that depressed people being attracted to MMOs is much more common than MMO players becoming depressed as a result of playing.

One symptom of depression is lassitude; no energy, no pep. Playing in an MMO is away to interact socially that doesn't suck up a lot of personal energy, and given that we're social creatures and usually want to interact I could see someone in a depressive state spending more time online.

-- Steve

I would have to argue against you. Sitting still and playing a game can actually end up getting you less energy than moving around would. It has to do with metabolism. When you're active and moving around and exorcising, your metabolism rises and you have more energy, where as if you still still all day, doing something as repetitive as an MMO can get, that can really lower your metabolism and you'll end up with even less energy.

Energy isn't stored up as we tend to think it is. It's not like it's a bar that refills as we rest or something. It's like a power plant. They -cannot- store the power they produce, it's too much to do something like that. They have to sell what they produce, and if they make too much, it's wasted, as is their money. They have to produce as much energy as is being demanded, and that's similar to how your body works.

While energy -is- stored, it is stored as fat. We can metabolize the fat to get energy, you see, but it's still the same principle.

 

[NewClassic_v1legacy]

Another study proving nothing except depressed people do the same things as normal people do. Seriously, with the number of depressed and medicated idiots there are out there, you can't find a single thing that cannot be linked to depression.

Pretty much this. It's difficult to link anything to a cause of depression because depressed and heavily-medicated folks are often the same as the other, more "normal" folks. They do the same stuff everyone else does.

Interesting study, but I'm not terribly sold on the whole Depressed MMO correlation.

 

[Cirus Arvennicus]

It's also because people see signs of clinical depression and automatically jump to the conclusion they're clinically depressed and not just in a rut or something. You're bound to be sad at some point, people just need to learn to deal with it. Depression, I would imagine, is more constant, you're -always- depressed. No matter where you are or who you're with.

 

[Aardvark]

I feel depressed every time I see, hear about or smell an MMO.

Why on earth they still carry out this godless travesty of Science is beyond me. Next they'll tell us that the reason we have so many criminals is they all read comics as children.

 

[Knonsense]

Where's the control variable? Fifth graders know about controls.

I would at least appreciate the base rate for depression so I could compare to it.

 

[Razorback0z]

100% of depressed people drink water. Ergo water is the cause of all depression.

 

[xMacx]

Where's the control variable? Fifth graders know about controls.

I would at least appreciate the base rate for depression so I could compare to it.

You don't have control conditions in a correlational studies.

Or to put it another way, the part of the article that says those who don't play scored 21% is your base rate. We've got to assume from the report that there's a significant increase in depression levels associated with increased gameplay. There's not enough info here to really understand what the data looks like (really odd reporting of results), but hey...

100% of depressed people drink water. Ergo water is the cause of all depression.

Reread post. correlation does not equal causation.
Here: http://psychology.about.com/od/researchmethods/a/correlational.htm

 

[Razorback0z]

100% of depressed people drink water. Ergo water is the cause of all depression.

Reread post. correlation does not equal causation.
Here: http://psychology.about.com/od/researchmethods/a/correlational.htm[/quote]

Um I dont understand... Mony Python said it did.... were they just having a lend of me ?

"All Mackerel are fish, therefore you dont love me anymore"

http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/~rafe/sexlogic.html

 

[SovietSecrets]

Well the only reason to be depressed is if you realize you spent more time playing a game then going out with your friends which you should not be doing in the first place anyways.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Whilst I can't get hold of the report, as it was presented to the ASAA(American Assn. for the Advancement of Science), my assumption was that the control group was the short time spent one (at 21% depression) as that would make a decent control group within gamers.

Even if it was the hardcore group, you could say that lessening your time spent playing lowers the chance of depression.

 

[hippo24]

Well of course they're depressed, you have to take them away from the MMO to administer the tests don't ya.

 

[Humility]

Since no one has said it: I'd be depressed too if I was still playing Everquest 2. (rhyme?)

 

[Valiance]

I'd think anger management issues stem from MMOs more than any form of depression.