Science Says Gamers are Fat, Depressed Losers

[dragonflygirl]

Give those scientist an award for the bloodly Obvious. In fact give me their funding and ill do thier job for them, Hell ill invite my other depressed, socially-stunted fatties and will have a dam party.

Wait have a a better one:
" Everything,Everyone,Everywhere at all times,is bad for you"

short and to the point where my millions and my award?

 

[dragonflygirl]

I would prefer to be a Fat, Depressed Loser ( which i am) then 90% of the people in the City which i live in which mainly account for Chavs, rudeboys and people that bing drink and have sex with as many ramdom people as possible and wake up in there own vomit "because its fun".

p.s please excuse any bad spell or grammar

 

[veloper]

Our hobby does attract more people with introvert, depressed and/or unhealthy traits, because you can still be a great gamer despite that.

That doesn't mean you can blame games.

The media should stop blaming things and simply accept the truth that most people are what they are and there is nothing anyone or anything can do about it.

 

[DeathWyrmNexus]

Thank you Science! I never knew it was video games making me depressed, I always thought it was silly things like stress, genetic predisposition to chemical imbalance, and dealing with a world where I am pretty much a peasant with the mentality of an arrogant god that was causing my depression. Thanks for setting me straight.

As for video games encouraging people to be sedentary, well duh. However, in the defense of my beloved depression causing box, I will say that I have the option to turn off the machine at any point. Any lack of exercise lays solely on me, not the flickering box of lights and sounds that eases the mental anguish of dealing with idiots.

I am rather glad that it was pointed out early that video game usage isn't a cause but a possible effect of depression as that lovely word Escapism was used. No, that isn't sarcasm, I actually am fully thankful that somebody was wise enough to bring that point to bear on the first page. I salute you, point bringing person whose name I didn't bother to look up or remember.

I would also like to point out that the internet has made me more social as opposed to less since I've never cared for the majority of the people around me. It's nice to be able to cherry pick motes of tolerable and dare I say pleasant humanity from various points around the world. XD

 

[Nateman742]

Well from what I read, it sounds like the data can be easily interpreted as "video games cause fatness and loseriness", which is retarded. That's like saying that alcoholism causes depre... Wait, it's like saying that smoking marijuana makes you laz... Okay, bad examples.

Point is, in most cases video games are what we turn to to make us feel better because we're already fat and sad rejects of society. That is, among the people who use video games as an escapist medium.

Besides, is that really the data they're going to pull out of a blanket study of people 15-90, some of whom have never touched a game? What did the results look like? Out of 400 people who checked a box marked 'I play video games often', 300 also checked the boxes for 'I am sometimes depressed' and 'Yes, I'm overweight, since you asked'? Oh, thanks guys, real good science there, no way you could be misinterpreting the data :B

 

[GraemeCracker13]

I'm not a gamer because I'm happy and average sized? Hmm...There's something wrong with that science.

 

[Hybridwolf]

Christ, How much longer before science finds something else to pick on. TV went throught the same thing, but our brains haven't melted yet....

Also aren't video games meant to make you happy? When I'm annoyed or irrated I break out TF2 and amazingly, feel better for it. Also there is a big difference then saying I'm slightly overweight, and saying people are fat. Just because I say I'm overweight dosen't mean I'm a lardball!

 

[Killdebeest]

I thought that this was a joke at first. Nobody needs a scientific investigation to know that gamers aren't exactly high on the social ladder.

EDIT: Why would somebody post this on a video game website, other than to piss someone off?

 

[DeathQuaker]

I'd need to read the whole report to judge fully, but that apparently hasn't been published yet in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine--as the media tends to interpret medical studies... poorly.

Not to say I'm not surprised by the results, but I'd like to see what the study actually says than some know-nothing journalist at the Telegraph.

Based on what's said so far, 500 seems a smallish sample size for such a wide age range. It's not bad, but not great.

And I'd be curious to see comparative studies that look at other activities--strangely, I imagine most people inclined toward introspection and sedentary hobbies are in fact often out of shape and non-exuberant.

It doesn't mean video games--or reading, or knitting, or playing chess, or doing crossword puzzles, or...--are the cause of that. More reflective of a type of person's preferences.

What is supposed to be useful about that kind of research? What can we gain from it really? It's kind of sad our tax money is paying for something that tells us that "people with hobbies that involve a lot of sitting down are overweight" and "depressed people seek outlets for escapism." I want my money back.

 

[Lord S. Binkleheimer]

This is new and exciting.

Yep, there is no way that this was moderately common knowledge.
There is also no way that the methods used may have been flawed.
Same goes for recording and categorizing data.

Clearly this is 100% fact.

 

[gurall200]

Yay, instead of worring about real dieseases like swine flu, lets worry about what fat and depressed people due to escape reality.

 

[Twilightruler]

Well then, I guess I'll just got back to inhaling a bag of doritos and sucking down a 2 liter of coke while shunning existence in the cold dark lifeless pit of my computer room. I'm not large because I game, and I don't game because I'm large. I'm large because I EAT....PERIOD...Got plenty of friends, large and small, and I hang with them all the time. So science can shove my "sedentary lifestyle" up its pompous arse.

 

[Abengoshis]

I'm a "player" and I'm not fat, I'm not depressed and I have good health (I eat lots of fruit).


Everyone must remember that this doesn't mean ALL gamers are fat and depressed, just the majority. Non-depressed and normal weight gamers should just carry on gaming.

Scientists have also found that gaming improves your mental health.

 

[Yoshemo]

Im not fat or depressed! just lazy... >.>

 

[the cornflake]

Why is the Center for Disease Control reaserching useless things such as this. I mean arent there important things for them to reaserch, like maybe cures to the following diseases: swine flu, avian flu, cancer, west nile virus, lyme disease, etc.

 

[Playbahnosh]

The only way to reply to this is to quote Big Bang Theory, but I forgo that for now...

On the other hand, I tend to agree with the majority of the people here. Gamers are not depressed, fat guys because they are gamers, they are gamers because they are fat and depressed.

Hey, I'm a fat guy, and I used to be depressed, but ever since I joined the webzine I write for for three years now, I'm quite happy playing and reviewing games. Sure, I'm still fat, but who cares?

I had a choice: either become a "normal" person, lose weight, do sports regularly and eat healthy foods or become a video game reviewer, do what I like for a living and have fun. The choice was obvious...at least for me. So, what if I die sooner? No one lives forever (pun!), and at least I die being happy

[picture of Skittles]
-gives hi-five and a bag of Skittles-
You, kind sir, are the first to win this award from moi for quite a while.

Why, thank you. I'm not sure how to take this, is it irony I smell? Maybe it's just my imagination.

I like being happy. So what if I'm not a greek god? At least I like my life.

 

[Aesir23]

Thank you scientists.. I guess.. I'll just go back to my life as a none depressed skinny person that still plays games.

Same here. I am a formerly depressed, skinny person (who used to be a bit overweight. I lost it all now. Whoo!), who is just started coming out of her shell (I am shy dammit!) who still plays games and played them even before I became depressed. (I blame the idiots in my old middle school for depression.)

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

That news makes me sad... I think I'll go eat in the basement.

 

[megapenguinx]

As a fat depressed loser, I think that scientists are jealous that we are less fat and depressed than they are. Also don't these studies come dime a dozen? Darn you society for hating us and our games!

 

[Hikikomori Ookami]

Well as the great Meatloaf once said, two outta three ain't bad. Of course, I prefered my own company before I started playing games and when the world very strongly encourages social interaction that cretainly doesn't make me a happy person.