Depression in gamers

[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

 

[DSEZ]

i get depressed on and off right now its on but i think its normal cause im 16

 

[Poofs]

I disagree
games mellow me out and STOP me from smashing some tools head into the nearest metal object
emphasis on STOP

in all seriousness though i do find great stress relief in the murder of people that dont exist, i also get wrapped up in the storylines

saying gamers are dpressed is like saying people who watch tv, or play sports are more likely to be depressed

it shouldnt really affect you unless all your playing is "Emo Ernie and the night all my family, friends and loved ones died so i listened to Linkin Park and cut myself."

 

[New Frontiersman]

Correlation does not necessarily imply causation; it could be that depressed people are more likely to play video games.

 

[AbsoluteVirtue18]

I play games to keep from becoming depressed. Back when I was younger I had horrible depression, but then my mom got me a Gameboy Color and ever since games have been like Ritalin to me.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

pandas

I'm making some sense here.

Yes you are, and I'm glad that we are agreeing to disagree to agree on our disagreement...?...or something. Actually, I think we were on the same page from the start...belittling the validity of this inane nonsense.

Your link makes me feel old.

 

[Dark Knifer]

It makes sense, but that's mainly if they don't spend any time in the outside world. Gaming would not be the cause of depression though.

 

[Darchrow]

I'm a gamer but I'm not really depressed, I'm just whiny sometimes, I think there is a difference. Generally your level of happiness is somewhat inherited, I'm going to quote a few different sources here. They're all from the same study I'm doing but I've got a quote for a good source material.

"The second biggest finding in happiness research, after the strong influence of genes upon a person's average level of happiness, is that most environmental and demographic factors influence happiness very little. Try to imagine yourself yourself changing places with either Bob or Mary. Bob is thirty-five years old, single, white, attractive, athletic. He earns $100,000 a year and lives in Sunny California He is highly intellectual, and he spends his free time reading and going to museums. Mary and her husband live in Snowy buffalo, New york, where they earn a combined income of $40,000. Mary is sixty-five years old, black overweight, and plain in appearance. She is highly sociable, and spends her free time mostly in activities related to her church. She is on dialysis for kidney problems. Bob seems to have it all and few readers of this book would prefer Mary's life to his. Yet if you had to bet on it, you should bet that Mary is happier than Bob. What Mary has that Bob lacks are strong connections. A good marriage is one of the life-factors most strongly and consistently associated with happiness. Part of this apparent benefit comes from "reverse correlation": Happiness causes marriage. Happy people marry sooner and stay married longer than people with a lower happiness set-point, both because they are more appealing as dating partners and because they are easier to life with as spouses."

So to say it maybe people are attracted to games because they are initially depress? What about gaming stopping you form building "strong-connections" with other people. You decide.
If this interest you I recommend you read the book The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt.

 

[NoNameMcgee]

Well, considering what I hear people say online, I don't doubt it at all.

Agreed. Especially this forum.

It seems a lot of people use games as a way of escaping their depression and possible emptiness in their life's rather than working on making things better. I think this is also why a lot of gamers happen to be the type of anti-social teenagers who have these kind of problems at school and at home.

I don't think this is very healthy, but I certainly understand why they turn to games.

 

[Pokeylope]

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.

this^

I think for people dissatisfied with life gaming is a tempting distraction.

 

[C_sector]

Maybe the Depressed are drawn to Gaming because it provides an endless amount of entrainment to kill time and forget about their worries....I bet i got ninj'ad but i cant be bothered checking.