Games are Depressing...or are they?

As if the US hasn't got enough to complain about how bad games are for us I find this:

The average gamer is 35, overweight, and more likely to be depressed, says a new study conducted by researchers at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The study, which was carried out in the Seattle-Tacoma area, found that gamers reported "lower extraversion, consistent with research on adolescents that linked video-game playing to a sedentary lifestyle and overweight status, and to mental-health concerns."

It also indicated a curious difference between male and female gamers: the former proved more overweight and reported more Internet usage than non-gamer men, while female gamers reported more depression and lower general health than non-gamer women.

But which comes first, the games or the poor health? The researchers hypothesized that depressed individuals might be turning to games as a means of self-medication, immersing themselves in a game's world as a way of forgetting about real-life troubles.

"Habitual use of video games as a coping response may [provide] a genesis for obsessive-compulsive video-game playing, if not video-game addiction," one researcher told MSNBC. The study calls for "further research among adults to clarify how to use digital opportunities more effectively to promote health and prevent disease."

As luck would have it, a study at East Carolina University funded by Bejeweled maker Popcap Games is also investigating the possible mental health benefits of game playing. Having already discovered that Bejeweled can improve mood and heart rhythms, the Carolina group is about to embark on an investigation in an attempt to determine whether games like Bejeweled can also deliver clinically significant improvements to depression sufferers.

"The research is part of a broad array of unconventional efforts that video game companies are devising to find new markets for their products," says Shankar Vedantam, writing this week for the Washington Post. "Many of these steps are based on the idea that depression and other disorders -- as well as everyday stress and worry -- involve systematic patterns of thought and self-doubt, and that games can distract people and put them in a different mental zone."

originally posted by Mike Smith at games/yahoo/pluggedin

I personally think they are off their rocker but I guess I fall under the lower percentile as I have more of an anger issue than depression and I am not over weight. So I guess if you play games and are overweight and depressed then play some Bejeweled and everything will be all sunshine and rainbows...WTF!?

Anyway I found it, thus I am sharing it....complaints can be filed below.

 

Misleading title. The article says that games aren't depressing, but rather they're just a form of escapism for people who are already depressed.

 

I thought it was misleading as well, but it's the title that was used in the Article so I used it for the topic.

 

That's all crap.

When I feel depressed, the last thing I feel like doing is playing video games.

 

Gamers aren't depressed because they play games.

It happens that depressed people are lured towards games.

 

saying gamer are depressed because of video game its like saying everyone who play DOOM is a terrorist soon to be.

 

I read this as well.

And I believe it-for you see I am an example-I lived a isolated and sheltered life.
When I'm away from them I tend to get nervous, panic at times of pressure, and general anger issues.
I've been playing since I was 7yr of age-it's damaged my eyes (sight is borderline for glasses on last eye check) low social circle (limited to certain friends who I met from school and said anger issues and proxcimity to them has left me isolated almsot completly) and I have a warped belief of life.

I did try to full on quit-but small things such as money spent (400 games and counting...) and the fact that I wanted to co-exsist with them has made it fail.

Instead I just caved in and accepted gaming as who I am-thus instead of gaming all night I hang out at a rom site just to do something different-sure it's games related but I just tend to talk rather than play...

Has anyone noticed how "out of hand" I get when I'm upset by a user's post?


Now I'm not dianosed as a depressant-I have managed to keep going at a steady rate in life-a simple job-still with parents has keep me going...

As long as nothing now changes (ie change jobs again-I missed the money ) I shall be fine.


If your wondering why I was playing since 7 it's because where I last lived had no other kids and dad got a cheap NES-it wasn't until I was 15 that I tried to make friends with "real" people, as before then I had the occasional cousin play a round with me.

Yep-all my friends before then only stayed at the same school with me for a year each-and I didn't make many so I chose to play on my own.




If your wondering if I'm trying to get attention-prehaps I am-but what I said is the truth-and I'd thought I'd post just so you may get an example...I'm not always depressed-infact I've just become numb to it all-why lay in bed all day long when I can go for a walk outside for a day...



Looking at video game shops...anyway I ask not to feel sorry for me-but not to let other's at young ages play too long...say 6 hours a day because your parents are too busy to entertain you and you broke your toys out of bordom.

My brother is the same-13 he may be but he has the same anger issue-he has friends but they keep standing him up-only consistant friend he has does nothing but play games and is absent minded about anything other than his wii and soccor.


Just wanted to prehaps show you a glimpse of the broken gamers is all...


(to mods-if you feel this is not right I give permission to edit/delete this post)

 

First comes no friends, then depression, then suicide...

 

Just one step closer then.

They need to add you to a watch list.

 

why they keep hitting the same button?

its always the same talk bla bla bla games make you go down bla bla bla games are warm to your health bla bla bla.

fuck it up already,those guys should be complaining about drugs,alchohol and other things.

 

Games are warm to your health?

Maybe we should use them in the winter instead of heaters?

 

Who is that directed to?

 

Read the post above Tirith's.

Oh and mds, you aren't depressed because you play games. A lot of cases of depression are a imbalance in the brain. My husband was diagnosed with depression when he was 14, he's had it all his life. The only thing he had to turn to when he was young was Super Mario Bros 3.

It's just games are alluring to depressed people.

When I'm sad the last thing I want to do is go outside and dance, I want to be isolated.

 

when i'm depressed i dance with friends in a pseudo ballroom manneresque

 

mds, I agree with one of the previous posters. Games didn't make you depressed. Games are simply a creative medium. A form of art. Depressed or otherwise maladjusted people tend to be drawn to escapism because they feel like they don't have to deal with whatever it is that's troubling them.

I understand how you feel; I've been playing video games since I was 2 (way back in '87! Represent!). I used to go outside a lot, and tried to be an extroverted "social" person, but it didn't really work out. My adolescence was marked with ridicule, depression, and a distaste for people. It took going to boot camp for me to realize who I was on the inside, and to never be ashamed of who I am, as a person, artist, and gamer.

Basically what I'm getting at is you can find friends despite being a gamer, and you should never be ashamed of who you are. Especially if you're a gamer! Gaming is becoming more mainstream than ever; there's no reason you can't find some people to make friends with. Thanks to online gaming, it doesn't even have to be IRL!

As far as the article goes, I think it's a load of bullshit. It's just the media blaming another thing on games. Jack Thompson blamed them for violent crimes that kids would commit, and now they're trying to say games are bad for your mental health.

What it comes down to is the player's perception of reality. If they let the line that divides reality and fiction blur, then it's their own fault (or the fault of their parents for not doing their job), NOT the game's.

 

great post... people who blame gaming for their problems shouldn't publicly outcry, they should shut up and stop playing

 

Games are not depressing. It is other factors that makes a person depressed.

 

like losing the game

 

I meant aside from games