Aug 21 2009Uh-Oh: Gamers More Likely To Be Depressed

cursed!

bullshit

LIES, ALL LIES!!!!!!!!!!
I'm a very happy person, some may say Too Happy.

I smell bs.
Sitting in one spot + single + fat = pretty flippin' happy by my standards.

Moo

Also, badgers turn me on.

isnt seattle supposed to be one of the most depressed cities to begin with?

This is so true to be honest. I know not everyone who plays games is overweight. But I bet like 70% of them are lol.
And seriously. If you've ever played Gunz. You will know how gaming = depressed... =/

P.S. @ Wonderful News: Robots Learn How To Lie (post)
You know the Microsoft adverts ?
"I'm a pc & I'm eight years old" ?
Think about it.

STUPID! I have yet to know a 35year old gamer....

That guy needs a sweet 'stach....he'd have tons of ladies...

holy crap, 35 years old?! I'd be freakin depressed too if i were that old...

That picture looks like it was taken when windows millennium first came out

How do they know it's not that people with depression aren't attracted to video games because it's an escape? That's my reason.

he just needs one of these:
http://www.geekologie.com/2009/07/thats_pretty_messed_up_2d_rela.php
and later in the future:
http://www.geekologie.com/2009/08/screw_the_future_robotic_prost.php

hmmm.......depressed people in the Seattle area what are the chances, Anyway >35yrs and still gaming I would pwne you all wipper snappers!!

It's hard to stay positive when you have a twelve year old's virtual junk in your mouth every time you get gunned down.

@14
actually, he just needs one of these
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo-gGes6qig

@15
pwne, what is that, like the old english version of pwn used in medievil times? let the fight begin! I'll take anyone anywhere anytime in sex, or smash tv!

Big money
Big Prizes
IIIIIIII love it!!!!!!!!!!

You mean they carried out a study on depression in one of the rainiest, grey places in the USA? Duh-umb.

and all this time i thought heavyset 35 yo depressed males were more apt to be world class swimmers. oh wait. i'm confusing that with the other study i saw about 20 year old males who sell pot out of their mom's basements hardly ever playing video games.

@13, aw, the old cause-and-effect switcheroo. People fall for it all the time.

To the dude in the pic - Psst, your disk drive is showing - that's how they knew you were old. Your face is showing too - that's how they knew you were depressed.

j/k.

Personally, I'm like a wombat in a paper bag.

Makes sense.

You can't look back on all these wonderful memories, only pixels.

I'm with #4 though.

i'm entirely surprised. they don't get enough vitamin D from the sun either, which decreases their melatonin intake (comes in thru tha eyes!). Sun exposure and exercise are simple ways to cure depression without taking a pill (which is expensive and is more likely to kill you).

who is making those pills anyway... robots.

Robots indeed...

I was looking back on my old posts, and you know what? I miss the days of yelling at people and getting into random fights, we are turning soft people! From now on, any stupid comment gets brutalized, if I do one, brutalize me (you know i like it like that). Okay, let's see, stupidest post so far is....

#25
if I wanted a freakin encycolpedia post on sunlight I'd would have freakin wiki'ed it like you did... you know what else cums in through your eyes? My mom... haha

There is a ghost penis behind him. SCARY.

@29

Epic comment!!! Casper is totaly going to rape that depressed gamer!

28 - You actually took the time to go through your old posts? Really? That's you in the article picture isn't it?

MUAHAHAHAHA!

that was me in my much happier/thinner days...

MUAHAHAHAAHAH (sob sob)

yeah... i'm a girl. it's pretty simple to get laid. so i spend my time exercising my mind...

this is BS, I'm only depressed when i'm at work, away from my videogames

@ squeehunter: thats what im saying... what if its the other way around? what if people play video games because they are depressed and less extroverted and its their only means of social interaction or escape, the study doesn't necessarily mean that video games make people that way, it may be that people with those characteristics play video games as a result

@34 that' the most accurate comment yet

@naas
Get your drunk arse back in here and start commenting!

Dude, I think that´s my old friend, Derrick. He was a bit whiney, and him being depressed doesn´t surprise me in the least bit. To top it off, he does live in the Seattle Area, so that makes me think even more that that´s him. Last I checked he was still addicted to final fantasy online. This article is true tough in that i traded in my console for a gym membership. I´m happy. I also drink alot, so that helps.

Hrm...reminds me of the time the dr's diagnosed me as depressive with psychotic tendencies. Funny enough, that was shortly after I stopped drinking and gaming. Coincidence? I don't think so.

@every questioning the location of the study:

If lets say 40% of non-gamers in Seattle are depressed and 70% of gamers in Seattle are depressed then you can reasonably state that gamers are more likely to be depressed than non-gamers.

If 25% of non-gamers in LA are depressed and 45% of gamers in LA are depressed then you can reasonably state that gamers are more likely to be depressed than non-gamers.

If 25% of non-gamers in LA are depressed and 70% of gamers in Seattle are depressed then you can NOT reasonably state that gamers are more likely to be depressed than non-gamers.

So rest assured location doesn't matter when both the control(non-gamers) and test subject(gamers) are in the same location. It's science.

@STOMPY yes yes I was at taco bell, as soon as they get free wifi I can take all of you with me
@29 hahaHA that's awesome, you have an eye for catching hidden boners

@40 http://bugi.oulu.fi/~heikkiv/chan/thinkofcatgirls.gif

@40 That's long.... too long to read....

@29 HA! I just saw that too. I looks like he has one on his arm as well

there is only ONE thing that is more awesomer than the stories and articles here and that's the awesomness on the editors comments!!!
ha ha ha ha ha - oh i LOVE IT :)

Video games made me better in bed. True story.

"wow my real life is nowhere near as awesome as this fantasy world"

*cuts self*

#40 tl;dr?

Just rest assured location doesn't matter when both the control(non-gamers) and test subject(gamers) are in the same location. It's science.

The average gamer is 35? that's news to me. That's like, the oldest gamer out there, nobody at 40 years old plays crazy amounts of video games unless they're handicapped and can't leave the house (which coincidentally would be an overweight 300pnd bastard)
Anyway, the average gamer would be a lot younger than that.

@13. squeehunter : Totally agree. It is an escape, not the other way around (for everybody)

wow, its been a while since anyone accidentally double posted something...

wow, its been a while since anyone accidentally double posted something...

If you're depressed playing video games you obviously aren't playing the right games. Its like all these rich f*cks addicted to anti-depressants. Give me your money! I'll be happy with it because I won't blow it on a facelift and a bottle of Oxycontin.

@ 40

Could you explain that again, it put me to sleep nicely around mid 1st sentence, your doing wonders for my insomnia. SALUD OJETES!

STOMPY stop double posting!!!

STOMPY stop double posting!!!

Interesting article

Timbo, stop double penetrating!!!

Timbo, stop double penetrating!!!

Timbo, stop double penetrating!!!

Timbo, stop double penetrating!!!

runing riot!!!!

@49, 50 it only gets repeated when its a mistake

@40 are you a real dr??

New Post Noa!

STOMPY Quad poster!

@61
it puts the lotion on its skin

or else it get the hose again...

@52 see 47

@Timbo
Ahhhh, daft punk and lotion on skin.... so perfect...

http://lotionworld.ytmnd.com/

Buffalo Bill is a buddy of mine....

YELLING THE ANGRY WORDS NOW!

@67, see 52's 47 reference to 40 about the #20 they joked about

@62 You can trust me when I say I'm a doctor. We doctors are very trust worthy.

@ 78 see #97 comment on how #84 was right on with #102 ideas about #93 thoughts...

@72
yes but thats what the last one told me. then i had to turn my head and cough....

The article never said gaming caused depression (at least not the quote), just that 35 year olds who were gamers happened to be more likely to be depressed. So the point that gaming is an escape isn't a correction, it's more like a reason.
Personally, I think publishing that study was an attempt to scare kids into stop gaming to avoid being that fat 35 year old they will likely become anyway. If gaming doesn't depress you, your future wife might, or her mother, or work or something. Just do what makes you happy as long as it doesn't hurt others.

GW, get off your inflatable dinosaur pool toy and post the goodness post haste. Please.

the natives are restless

This game makes me depressed:
http://fade-to-extra.mybrute.com

The ghost penis made me lol, now my boss wonders what I'm up to. Time to get back to work.

My coworker just enlightened me with the phrase 'ethnic engineering' while trying to fix her (red) stapler. I wondered how I could have missed out on that wonderful phrase for so long.

that guys depressed because his desktop tower isnt big enough.

ITS HAS TO BE AT LEAST................

.........................................

THREE TIMES BIGGER.

also, spools of cds are tiiiiiiiiight. and you KNOW they arent dvds.

wow, i'm 100 years old, fat, blinkd and i love videogames.

http://ubergosh.mybrute.com

How much do you want to bet that the people that came up with this study aren't gamers?

@gw don't forget hot, and you're also effin cute!

That figure is crazy weighted by MMOs. It's an entirely different world from regular gaming, and half the players never even touched a console or have PC gaming experience beyond WoW and a Battlefield game. Frankly you are lucky to find someone over 20 on XBL even during school hours.

FAKE!!!!

This is a complete photoshop job. You can tell its a fake because the shadow's are all wrong.

This is exactly like that scene in the movie Never Back Down where Max asked the nazi soldier to reveal the location of a bunch of other Nazis, and the soldier refused, and was beaten to death with a baseball bat.

@34...you hit the nail on the head there!

hey I KNOW whats causing my depresion and overweightness!! SLEEP APNEA yo!!

I think this is bullshit, but if the Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty doesnt work out, I'll know what else to cut out of my life...*sigh*....
Oh retro game emulators...will one day we never see each other again??

:(

[eats another Go-Go Taquito]

@STOMPY (first comment)

YESSSS ! BIG MONEYYYY BIG PRIZESSS, I LOVE IT !!!

OWNAGE GAME ! WHAT WAS IT CALLEDDD ?
I HAVE IT ON PS2 !!!

Oh yeah, Smash T.V ROFL !
I missed that part of your post rofl !

Such an epic game ! :D

Also, It's 3:13am here...

GET WITH THE TIMES AMERICA ! GAHHHHHHHHH

35!? No way. Too old, even as an average. Everything else checks in, I'd say.

@21

Correlation does not imply causation.

I'm 37 and I'm only depressed when work keeps me from playing games. And I'm not overweight because I'M LIGHTER THAN AIR!!!

I'm only 20 and a gamer.. and a girl.. but I'm really happy. D: And not overweight! These statistics are made up! D:

hahaha I think at that age you start the "suck-era"
I figured this out by watching my dad try and play halo 2&3.
when he was younger, playing some metroid prime on the cube, he was alright, but the first noticeable decrease was in metroid prime corruption, as he sat trying to scan a corner for and hour and 17 minutes. ah, padre. you're old.

Must See!

http://alturl.com/obg7
________________

@97

I demand proof in the form of nude pics.

this is such a flawed study. did they ever consider the fact that the guy could be depressed because hes overweight and old and that gaming is just coincidental? or how about the guy is overweight because hes old and depressed?

kinda reminds me of that columbine thing some creationist said, "those kids are crazy because they believe in evolution" or that politician said "those kids started shooting because they like to play video games"

f***ing morons in our government.

@squeehunter EXACTLY They are looking at this wrong, as usual. I suspect it's more likely that folks who are more prone to depression are attracted to gaming. And, say folks who aren't extroverted to begin with and would have engaged in non-social activities before there were video games. Or have health issues that keep them from participating in normal life.

I can't believe they wasted money on this, they could have just come by any engineering firm in the country. My little video rant on the subject: http://bit.ly/feLzd

This was possibly already brought up, but it bears repeating..

1) The study didn't interview anyone under 18. Their conclusion on the age is pretty severely biased just based on that.

2) Correlation does not imply causation. It could just as easily be stated that depressed people seek a solo distraction, which video games provide.

See http://xkcd.com/552/

~DD