Gamer Depression

[Jeros]

jeez we should have our own book about it.

i KNOW that playing games non-stop on my own will not lead to riches,love or fame yet i still do it. anyone else think they are self inflicting lonelyness on themselfs?

if i won the lottery i would fund a organisation were gamers phone up, tell them there problems, then a attractive women goes round there house and plays UT2004 with them for four hours, i would call it WorldWideHug "no life? no money? no problem!"

 

[Jeros]

woo that was 600th OT post

go me! \o/

 

[Sissyfoo]

You can always find fame (of sorts) by playing games...and love too, if yer lucky enough.

Riches as well if you are willing to totally sacrifice yer social life and play constantly and then sell the loot on ebay.

 

[Archeon]

Ironically the most likley reason there arn't any books on it is because there are more than likley hundreds of articles on the subject floating around the net... Oh the Irony! Can't you see the irony?

As for specific 'Gamer' depression, well I dunno. I feel depressed from time to time, but then who doesn't? Now if you were in a near permenant state of depression based on a game then you'd need more than a book. You'd need professional help.

"Doctor, I'm going to kill myself because last week I didn't get in the top-ten LWRP listing"
"I see... whats a LWRP?"
"Umm... Last Weeks Realm Points..."
"I see... what are realm points"
"Well there for the game I play, they reflect your skillz"
"In that case it would stand to reason that you lack skills"
"WHAT!?!!! NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!"


No?...fuck it, this is the last time I make a forum post before i've had my 2nd cup of coffee

 

[old.Tohtori]

Just like in games a crafting job provides funds for your equipment for hunts, my job provides, i quote: "riches,love or(and) fame" to support the lack in playing.

The love department ofcourse is handled with A: Girlfriend B: Clubs/bars to get such Girlfriend. C: Weekly issue of Wank(tm) Magazine.

*nods*

 

[MKJ]

Well i definitely gotta problem

Always been the sort that will take something to it's limit before i can move onto something else. The problem with DAOC i think is that you don't or can't get recognition for your endeavours. I mean unless you post your own 'uberness' yourself it is hard to get the aclaim a lot of people want and need. I personally like to win. It is in my nature as i have proven with some success at road racing. Not at everything but when i have devoted a few years to such a game as DAOC then i do. I mean you kill an adversary and you want people to know about it - but you can't so you feel deflated and the need to celebrate turns to trapped feelings. I think really tis why i go mental now when i drink. All the frustration comes to the surface and i explode. There is definitely something very wrong and unhealthy with playing such an online game as DAOC for the length of time a lot of people do.

MKJ

 

[Sigurd]

Always been the sort that will take something to it's limit before i can move onto something else. The problem with DAOC i think is that you don't or can't get recognition for your endeavours. I mean unless you post your own 'uberness' yourself it is hard to get the aclaim a lot of people want and need. I personally like to win. It is in my nature as i have proven with some success at road racing. Not at everything but when i have devoted a few years to such a game as DAOC then i do. I mean you kill an adversary and you want people to know about it - but you can't so you feel deflated and the need to celebrate turns to trapped feelings. I think really tis why i go mental now when i drink. All the frustration comes to the surface and i explode. There is definitely something very wrong and unhealthy with playing such an online game as DAOC for the length of time a lot of people do.

MKJ

If you don't get acclaim you're not good enough Seriously, if I do something impressive (being in a mid 40s gank group killing level 50s in DF for example) I'll say something in the guild chat or whatever and be showered with praise.. I'll never be in the top ten rankings but who cares, I have fun

On another note: in the summer I rarely have a life outside gaming... but I use games as a release from the depressing stuff, same as books - sometime in the far off future I'll break the addiction and get a life

 

[Lorra]

whats even sadder is if you devote alot of time to a game and still suck at it QQ :'(

 

[Dillinja]

I'd be just as depressed, if not more, if I didn't play games as I am when I do play games. I use them as an escape from this cruel world I've been born into!

 

[Sissyfoo]

TESTIFY!!! ~waves his hands in da air~

 

[Gianna]

Don't let gaming bring you down! Do like me and exorcise your demons by writiting a comic about it!

Anyway, seriously, I've gone through phases when I gamed FAR too much, and I was feeling depressed. It wasn't life depressing me and me looking to escape in a game though, it was the fact that I was parking my butt in front of the PC in every waking moment of my spare time that was the cause of my depression.
My advice is to find another activity that you really enjoy (for me it was sports and drawing) and make sure that gaming is just one of your main hobbies, not the only one. At least, this is from my experience, I am not sure if it can be applied to everyone.

Gianna
http://www.thenoobcomic.com
The MMORPG webcomic! Now with 33% more generic evil creatures!

 

[Sissyfoo]

Ha ha! I really enjoyed that! I especially loved the ickle animals being abused; the rats and the dove getting choked by Sir Bob and then flying off pissed as hell! F'kin great!!

 

[Thugs]

Travelling

Giving a lotta thought to cycling over to Denmark from Wales to see my girlie (owns her own place there). Be away from the sodding computer with plenty of fresh air and stuff. Get away from the over familiar surroundings too. Supposed to have moved over there ages ago but ties etc. But hell i am sure in limbo at moment twiddling my thumbs as to wot to do with my life from here on in.

MKJ
PKJ etc

 

[Darkchylde]

"Because you're a level 1 noob! At level 75', you will look cool like me!"

 

[Fana]

Anyway, seriously, I've gone through phases when I gamed FAR too much, and I was feeling depressed. It wasn't life depressing me and me looking to escape in a game though, it was the fact that I was parking my butt in front of the PC in every waking moment of my spare time that was the cause of my depression.
My advice is to find another activity that you really enjoy (for me it was sports and drawing) and make sure that gaming is just one of your main hobbies, not the only one. At least, this is from my experience, I am not sure if it can be applied to everyone.

This is very true - I also feel depressed when i sit behind the comp for long periods of time. It is *so* important to have more than one activity that you enjoy. Also, i think that that depressive feeling is actually rather healthy when it comes to gaming since it tells you that perhaps there is more to life than doing the same thing day in and day out with no change, and no activity to bring about change.
We need to evolve, change and find new challenges now and then, if we wamt to truely feel good about ourselves. Noone likes to feel trapped, and thats exactly what you are if you always do the same thing.

 

[punchy]

Don't let gaming bring you down! Do like me and exorcise your demons by writiting a comic about it!

Anyway, seriously, I've gone through phases when I gamed FAR too much, and I was feeling depressed. It wasn't life depressing me and me looking to escape in a game though, it was the fact that I was parking my butt in front of the PC in every waking moment of my spare time that was the cause of my depression.

I would seriously disagree with that. The escape into fantasy (gaming, films, books and so on) is a classic symptom of depression - the depressed person wants to find some escape from the way they feel. It's similar to self-medicating with alcohol (or other illegal drugs for example, even chocolate can work its contains the essential amino-acid typtophan which is a rate limiting substrate in the synthesis of serotonin). Depressed people can even self-medicate using endogenous chemicals i.e. excessive exercise to produce mood enhancing endorphins

Ultimately you have to confront the root cause. Changing your lifestyle is a form of positive action which can help you to feel better, but don't make the mistake of pointing the finger at your old way of life and saying "thats why I was feeling bad", not least because the depression might creep up on you again and you are back to sqaure one.

The real truth, which is very difficult for some people to take on board at first, is this: you have total control over what happens in your head. The way you feel is your choice. You have then to then discover why you choose to feel depressed, which is the hard part as it sometimes means making some uncomfortable admissions about your personality.

You might discover that you are making some fundamental mistakes in your thinking. For example - assuming special powers of mind control and telepathy: how many times have you caught yourself saying/thinking "so-and-so thinks this about me because ..." or "I made someone feel bad ...". You don't know what other people think, nor did you induce bad feelings in other people. Nobody can control another person's mind. Nobody can control yours. so-and-so didn't "make" you feel bad either.

This is a very simplified example of cognitive therapy.

It worked for me


edit: one of my favourite quotes -

"We're here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it may be...", Kurt Vonnegut.

 

[old.Tohtori]

(or other illegal drugs for example, even chocolate can work .

Chocolate is illegal?!?!

*runs and hides his babe ruths, twix bars and Chocobolates!*

 

[punchy]

Chocolate is illegal?!?!

*runs and hides his babe ruths, twix bars and Chocobolates!*

It should be! the amount of mind altering substances in chocolate is quite astonishing...

www.chocolate.org

edit: gifv twix bar tbh \o/

 

[Frosen]

I've had my share when it comes to being addicted to daoc, playing 14+hours a day never leaving my comp etc.
I woke up thinking about the game, walked from bed to comp, play, eat behind comp, play till 2 am, go to sleep, dream about the game, waking up at 8 am thinking about the game etc.
Got realy depressed to, yet i stayed playing and playing doing the same thing every day. Then i read about the fact your brain makes a substance that keeps you focussed when playing games or doing other things you realy like.
So i thought maybe its not the game i am addicted to but its the substance.
The day i started to reffer to my GF with her in game name whas the day i said enough is enough, i decided to close my account for some time.
It worked like a charm, suddenly the game looked so dull and meaningless, i even have a job now (immagine... a job lol).
Anyway now that i work 8 hours a day i'm to tierd to play for long periods of time and so i got rid of the addiction and of the grind i.e. the depression.
Though now (after 6 months of verry little playtime) i'd like an extended vacation and play like i used to, but my work doesn't allow that.
So i got rid of the depression in with getting a job might want to try that some day

 

[Ivan]

Talking about Prozac Nation again are we ?
Lets assume a person is running family business, lets assume he is 25 with a condo/car/GF and enough dough to have freedom of choice. He goes to bed thinking about next weeks financial quota, he wakes up thinking about how to get the goods through quicker when customers are hanging on ones neck tieing the knot of the rope. He drives his car thinking about how many minutes he saved by going over the speed limit, he drinks coffee thinking about the fact that when he gets off at 19:00 he still has to pick up GF from work and entertain her. During the weekends he thinks about what he will say when his parents call him up and ask to come around for the weekend.

When this person plays a game (although now it is a rare occasion) he is relaxed and tries to have fun.
Often he gets depressed about the fact that life is passing him by too fast, but has no time to stop and rearrange his life.

/emote gulps a load of Prozac [not literally] , thinking about next exhibition deadline.....

 

[punchy]

"should" and "ought" are the two worst words in the english language. You end up using them to punish yourself...

"I should have done this by now..." or "I ought to have done that..."

You end up feeling like you have failed. The man in your example probably thinks he "should" do all things he does. He probably thinks he ought not to be playing a game instead of maxing out his life, getting the "best" car, "best" GF, earning more money than everyone else yada yada yada... Slow down and have some fun replace those two nasty words with "could" its much better for your state of mind.

"enough dough for freedom of choice" - speaks volumes. Freedom? Choice? He doesn't sound very free if he's rushing around trying to meet a lot of commitments. In our society time and money are interchangeable, we exchange our time for wages - you hear of people being "time poor". What is he free to choose? What to buy? What car he drives?

Real freedom is the freedom to not have to work. Real choice is realising you don't have to buy any of the crap they keep telling you that you need, or realising that one brand of crap is pretty much the same as another

This illusion of choice might serve to further depress people. Recent research suggests that increasing the options in a decision making process can cause further stress, mostly because they worry if they chose the correct option. For example - you go to buy some bread. In a shop with two different brands you evaluate your options for a short amount of time, buy some bread and go home. In a shop with 10 different brands, all with their attendant advertising, packaging etc, you make a choice but end up wondering if you got the "right" one, because you necessarily make shortcuts in your evaluation...

Take a look at...

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_30-3-2004_pg3_2

Which focuses on this nobel prize winning work:

Kahneman, D. Maps of Bounded Rationality: A perspective on intuitive judgment and choice. Les Prix Nobel 2002, (Ed. T. Frangsmyr), pp. 416-499.

Anyone fancy smashing up a MacDonalds? Or a Burger King? Either will do. xD

 

[Frosen]

Talking about Prozac Nation again are we ?
Lets assume a person is running family business, lets assume he is 25 with a condo/car/GF and enough dough to have freedom of choice. He goes to bed thinking about next weeks financial quota, he wakes up thinking about how to get the goods through quicker when customers are hanging on ones neck tieing the knot of the rope. He drives his car thinking about how many minutes he saved by going over the speed limit, he drinks coffee thinking about the fact that when he gets off at 19:00 he still has to pick up GF from work and entertain her. During the weekends he thinks about what he will say when his parents call him up and ask to come around for the weekend.

When this person plays a game (although now it is a rare occasion) he is relaxed and tries to have fun.
Often he gets depressed about the fact that life is passing him by too fast, but has no time to stop and rearrange his life.

/emote gulps a load of Prozac [not literally] , thinking about next exhibition deadline.....

I was referring to a 8 hour job not beeing a workoholic

real freedom is not knowing money, tech, living on an island with a green field nearby

 

[Binky the Bomb]

I know what you ron about here, it happens to everyone who plays games.

Finnish them to quickly, your bored again (and wasted the money).
Finnish them to slowly and have your self-worth drop (ego brosing).
The important thing is to find a balance of activities. I realised I was spending almost 10 hours a day for a week on CoH, until I found something else to do. I now spend about 5 hours on it and 2 hours on Unreal 2 or some other game, and the rest of my waking time is spent reading up on uilding and managing webservers. (Still on the sick, thats the best i can do at present).

Solution to all this? Casual sex with (a woman) some complete stranger after drinking in the pub. Now if I can master the subtle nuances of dating, I would be content.

Either that, or make a Blogg page and get your rants out. Thats what I did and i'm happier for it. Try it, you never know.

 

[Validus]

I find games to have an effect of toning down my enthusiasm, making me more serious and quiet.
IE: I have fun with friends, laugh and make jokes, And when i get my hands on some form of video game (Cell Phone/PC/Used to have GameBoy) my attitude goes from enthusiasm to apathy within a matter of minutes/seconds.
I'm not sure why that is though... My theory is that its because of the concentration needed to play the games and competitiveness making me serious.