Interview: gamers with depression

[TheFriizing]

Hi there!
I am currently working on my bachelor project as an e-concept developer, where I have chosen to deal with depression among gamers aged 18-28 years. Accurately my task is to develop a digital platform, probably an app that aims to help people with depression to take small steps every day toward a better life.

To do this, I need some people who are currently dealing with, or have dealt with mild or moderate depression, who can tell me a little bit about the daily challenges and needs of the depressed mind ? as well as your relationship to gaming.

Since my English isn?t the best, I would be most comfortable having a written conversation over Skype

If you want to help me, please send me a message!
- Feel free to ask questions. Thanks in advance.

 

[Duster]

You'll want to make calendars a part of the program because long term depression can lead to disorientation and not really streamlining your goals.

 

[TheFriizing]

Noted - thanks

 

[Mezahmay]

I don't do Skype and I do not pretend to speak for all gamers on The Escapist with depression, but here is a list some of the problems I deal with most days in no particular order:Getting out of bed in the morning even with alarms
Feeling motivated to do things I know I need to be doing
Remembering what day/time it is without having a calendar/clock
Caring about other myself and others
Getting overwhelmed by small stressors
Very frequent headaches
That being said, there are a few ways I deal with reducing depression symptoms:

Breaking up large or medium sized tasks up so I can make progress easier and the task look smaller
Taking some time now and then to go for a walk
Talk to (online) friends when they have a moment
Playing games AFTER I get my smaller tasks done to relax
Stick to a somewhat narrow bed time range between 11pm and 12am so I can get more sleep
I think Duster is on the right track with a calendar. I would recommend also adding a schedule to the calendar that allows you to set tasks of different priorities, perhaps with a range of not important, important, and urgent. A not important task is something that needs to be done but isn't absolutely critical to get done, important need to get done, and urgent tasks should be done to the exception of all else as the dead line approaches. The ideal way to handle an urgent task is break it down into not important and important tasks instead of having one big urgent task.

This could just be me, but when designing this app I recommend a darker color palette. Very bright colors like white and yellow tend to make my headaches worse. I also like the idea of something sending out a notification when it's time to consider going to sleep since I don't always look at the little clock on my screen when mindlessly web surfing or playing a game at night.

 

[TheFriizing]

Thank you Mezahmay - that is very helpful!

 

[TheFriizing]

Not The Bees - that's so nice of you! I have done a little research already, mainly about the connection between gaming and depression, and I have listened to af TED talk by the game designer Jane McGonigal who promotes games as a way to solve problems (even depression and anxiety).

 

[sky14kemea]

Getting out of bed in the morning even with alarms
Feeling motivated to do things I know I need to be doing
Remembering what day/time it is without having a calendar/clock
Caring about myself and others
Getting overwhelmed by small stressors
Very frequent headaches

As another person diagnosed with depression and anxiety, I can confirm I get all these problems as well.

I will add a few that I usually get:
Frequent stomach aches and digestion problems.
Unable to do chores/clean up regularly. Usually leaving things to pile up until it is unavoidable
No motivation to eat regular meals

I'm not as avid a gamer as most people on the forums, so I don't know if I can help any further than that. I do agree that a calendar would be very helpful. Maybe the option of people being able to program in which kind of alerts they want.

So for example, people who need to help regulate their sleep pattern get notifications when it's time to sleep. People who need to eat more get notifications on when they should have a meal or a snack. Maybe even just some notifications to help cheer someone up. Positive messages like "Remember, people do care about you." and "You're doing great!" can help some people. I'd leave those as optional too though since for others it doesn't help as much.

 

[Mezahmay]

Maybe even just some notifications to help cheer someone up. Positive messages like "Remember, people do care about you." and "You're doing great!" can help some people. I'd leave those as optional too though since for others it doesn't help as much.

Definitely leave those optional. I recall hearing a study about this over a year ago (and it's a sentiment I share) that suggested telling overtly positive messages to depressed people tended to make them feel worse since it reminds them how not happy they presently are.

 

[TheFriizing]

Sky14kemea - thanks for your input!

Mezahmay - that is actually very interesting - I will definately keep that in mind!