Depression in gamers

[Xojins]

Where did you read that? It's equally possible that people already suffering from depression turn to video games.

 

[Captain Pancake]

It's probably a generalisation made by people in tucked away offices based on the trend of gamers generally having worse social skills, which results in an overall negative feedback from society in the form of social standing, job performance etc. It's small variables like this that people usually make such claims from anyway.

Proof that video games are bad for you!

Please go away.

Isn't that a bit of a strong reaction? I mean he may mean that in a sarcastic way, why else would he come to a video games forum to bash them?

 

[Sion_Barzahd]

Well i'm going to go ahead and take a guess here, its likely the people who wrote whatever article you got that from flipped the data to make video games appear negative.

It probably is true that a large deal of gamers as a collective group get depressed rather than other groups of people.
Though this is much more likely because they feel depressed they wish to avoid other people, but of course we as humans like social interaction and thus we turn towards simulated or online interactions, a.k.a. videogames.

in short; its much more likely that depressed people people are more likely to turn to gaming rather than that gamers are more likely to be depressed.

 

[RabidusUnus]

Are gamers likely to be depressed or are depressed people likely to be gamers? I doubt video games cause depression, more likely people turn to games as a way to escape from their depressed lives. I know I do. Currently, DA:O is getting me through a rather rough breakup.

eye c wut u did thar.

OT: Correlation =/= causation. Much more likely that depressed people turn to games. and then someone (Ahem, major news corporations) decides to make a big fuss about the games.

 

[TransMando]

I get 'iffy' when I play games to long because it probably means I haven't had any real food sleep or direct sunlight, these three things when taken regularly are supposed to make you happy.

All about moderation.

 

[Stranger of Sorts]

I'm not sure that's entirely true, but I guess gamers are more likely to be depressed, especially when they realise they are rejecting things they shouldn't for games.

 

[David Bray]

Yes. I can believe this. I have a depressive mentality and an addictive personality. Mix that with shutin society of gaming and you have one hell of a bender. I try to put it down and do something else, get out or i would break down.

 

[JanatUrlich]

According to the members of this site, yeeeeah man!

I personally am not a depressed person though, so I can't really pass judgement.

 

[Burningsok]

kinda, but I dont feel totally down, just a steady stream of being bored sometimes, But when i play games with friends that feeling goes away completely

 

[ottenni]

No, but i do believe people who are more likely to suffer from depression are attracted to the escapism of games. The distraction is welcoming.

 

[DMonkey]

I get depressed every time I see the price tag on games.

 

[MalevolentJim]

Way to point out the obvious.

 

[mezmerizer02]

after a vehicle accident involving my mom and step-dad, me being medically discharged from the army, losing my job, undergoing surgery, and my fiancee leaving me, all i really had left was playing a game online every now and then. so i'm not sure, i'm depressed, and i game, but i'm not sure that the correlation leads to causation.

 

[keillord]

Correlation vs Causation goshdarnit!

More people who are depressed may play videogames, this does not mean that videogames cause depression.

I have depression, diagnosed and actual, and the very reason I play games is to alleviate depression, same as any of the other activities I partake in. It's cathartic for me.

I agree completely. People always make the mistake that correlational studies show cause and effect. the cause could be a third factor.

 

[MelziGurl]

I only know happy gamers who show no sign of depression.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

Interesting, then againt the majority of gamers are teenagers...or sad middle aged men...ahem, and when arent teenagers "depressed"? Its like asking who the aspiring writers are on this site, it seems everyone is. Just like all the cute blondes in college majoring in psychology now. Rather difficult thing to explain, it would make more sense if you took a census per age group and then divide that up into hobbies. But as i said, teenage depression is difficult to quantify.

Did some googlin'.
http://www.theaveragegamer.com/averagegamers/
Not actually refuting what you said, I just thought the numbers were interesting. Seems that the average gamer is old enough to remember 8 bit gaming.

 

[person427]

Let me guess, some researchers noticed that most depressed people play videogames, and decided that was the cause. I'm pretty sure most of them play games to forget about their depression.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

Interesting, then againt the majority of gamers are teenagers...or sad middle aged men...ahem, and when arent teenagers "depressed"? Its like asking who the aspiring writers are on this site, it seems everyone is. Just like all the cute blondes in college majoring in psychology now. Rather difficult thing to explain, it would make more sense if you took a census per age group and then divide that up into hobbies. But as i said, teenage depression is difficult to quantify.

Did some googlin'.
http://www.theaveragegamer.com/averagegamers/
Not actually refuting what you said, I just thought the numbers were interesting. Seems that the average gamer is old enough to remember 8 bit gaming.

I believe i had the part about sad middle aged men? Also gamer? Online poker, bass fishing does that really count. Of course you can prove anything with statistics...75% of people know that.

It certainly is ill defined. You could make a case for crosswords and sudoku being gaming, and 100% of the badgers I asked to comment on it didn't say no...

 

[Azure-Supernova]

I'm not saying I believe it... but if there's some truth in this, it can easily be explained by the whole "Avatar depression" thing. Each game has it's own universe and I'm sure some gamers to long to be a part of it. Leaving a game and coming back into the real world can be boring -_-

EDIT

Where I was going with this is, that boredome with reality can easily masquerade under a depression like feeling.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

badgers

Interesting, you got the badgers to cooperate...im still working on getting 5 out of 5 dentist to agree with me...

It's a nightmare this statistics business. I tried to launch my own pet food brand last year, but could only get 9 out of 10 cats to give me the metaphorical thumbs up. I shot the dissenting cat, and filled out his market research form using my left hand(so it'd look more like a cat did it). There was no legal action but I was asked to leave the petting zoo as I was upsetting the children.

Here's a study that suggests that gaming could help you deal with depression.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/17/AR2009081702114.html