This article got my attention.
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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."
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Link to article: http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged...e-they-/1346074
Full Version: Study: Games are depressing...or are they?
This is why I don't play 24/7 and stay active...
I dont get how this is "other games" discussion, this is an issue and does not belong on this section of the forum. Can someone move this please
And also you did not mention anything about metabolic levels (I dont know if thats the proper term im no scientist), this would play a large part in the overweight part of this and should also be part of the study.
Games do not really make a persons mood more depressed in my opinion but provide an outlet into the "virtual world" that many people enjoy as a break from their less entertaining lives. If you are 30 unemployeed overweight-morbidly obese with almost no social life except for a computer screen I would think the person would be more depressed about their situation not playing the games that make them forget about their situation.
I dont know where this data of an average gamer being 35 came from. Ive probably met thousands of people online and about 60 of them really seemed like they were older than 30 years old. I dont see this study really valid due to this data as the average gamer really is 10-18 years old due to the fact that almost everyone ive met on rs and funorb was this age: tons of people each day log into rs and if this is part of the study I would say that about 60-70 percent (at least) of all gamers are 10-18.
If you are talking about all games then I would say that the number is more even and the average age is probably 24 if you average it out mathematically.
And also you did not mention anything about metabolic levels (I dont know if thats the proper term im no scientist), this would play a large part in the overweight part of this and should also be part of the study.
Games do not really make a persons mood more depressed in my opinion but provide an outlet into the "virtual world" that many people enjoy as a break from their less entertaining lives. If you are 30 unemployeed overweight-morbidly obese with almost no social life except for a computer screen I would think the person would be more depressed about their situation not playing the games that make them forget about their situation.
I dont know where this data of an average gamer being 35 came from. Ive probably met thousands of people online and about 60 of them really seemed like they were older than 30 years old. I dont see this study really valid due to this data as the average gamer really is 10-18 years old due to the fact that almost everyone ive met on rs and funorb was this age: tons of people each day log into rs and if this is part of the study I would say that about 60-70 percent (at least) of all gamers are 10-18.
If you are talking about all games then I would say that the number is more even and the average age is probably 24 if you average it out mathematically.
And I always thought that the average gamer was 15. Oh well, they must have some sort of proof.
I'm pretty glad that i'm happy with my life, and I pay attention to my weight etc.
If I were under the circumsances of being a 35 year old fat man using videogames to cope with a not very good life, I would be somewhat depressed too.
If I were under the circumsances of being a 35 year old fat man using videogames to cope with a not very good life, I would be somewhat depressed too.
How many people were actually studied? I read a similar article (or maybe it was the same) that did a study on 500 people. You can't really judge millions of gamers on a study of only 500 people. That's like me doing a study on all my gamer friends and myself; it would turn out the opposite of what this article said. For all we know, they purposely found older, overweight and depressed people for this study.
QUOTE (daaru @ Aug 20 2009, 10:34 PM) 
I dont get how this is "other games" discussion, this is an issue and does not belong on this section of the forum. Can someone move this please
And also you did not mention anything about metabolic levels (I dont know if thats the proper term im no scientist), this would play a large part in the overweight part of this and should also be part of the study.
Games do not really make a persons mood more depressed in my opinion but provide an outlet into the "virtual world" that many people enjoy as a break from their less entertaining lives. If you are 30 unemployeed overweight-morbidly obese with almost no social life except for a computer screen I would think the person would be more depressed about their situation not playing the games that make them forget about their situation.
I dont know where this data of an average gamer being 35 came from. Ive probably met thousands of people online and about 60 of them really seemed like they were older than 30 years old. I dont see this study really valid due to this data as the average gamer really is 10-18 years old due to the fact that almost everyone ive met on rs and funorb was this age: tons of people each day log into rs and if this is part of the study I would say that about 60-70 percent (at least) of all gamers are 10-18.
If you are talking about all games then I would say that the number is more even and the average age is probably 24 if you average it out mathematically.
And also you did not mention anything about metabolic levels (I dont know if thats the proper term im no scientist), this would play a large part in the overweight part of this and should also be part of the study.
Games do not really make a persons mood more depressed in my opinion but provide an outlet into the "virtual world" that many people enjoy as a break from their less entertaining lives. If you are 30 unemployeed overweight-morbidly obese with almost no social life except for a computer screen I would think the person would be more depressed about their situation not playing the games that make them forget about their situation.
I dont know where this data of an average gamer being 35 came from. Ive probably met thousands of people online and about 60 of them really seemed like they were older than 30 years old. I dont see this study really valid due to this data as the average gamer really is 10-18 years old due to the fact that almost everyone ive met on rs and funorb was this age: tons of people each day log into rs and if this is part of the study I would say that about 60-70 percent (at least) of all gamers are 10-18.
If you are talking about all games then I would say that the number is more even and the average age is probably 24 if you average it out mathematically.
The remedy is to make your life more entertaining than shooting hoes in GTA or pwning n00bs on WoW.
Interesting read. I agree with the majority of other people that this information seems skewed, as everyone in my school plays video games, hardly anyone is overweight, and we are all reasonably happy with our lives, which is the same with people playing Runescape.
Eh, its like any drug, how people are affected by it differs. Some people are resistant to addiction and realize that its nothing worth devoting your life to, and some are very susceptable to addiction and fall into the 35 year old antisocial fat guy category.
thats a load of bull shit.
Please don't spread falsehoods about gamers. You can read the truth here.
I'm 15, I play games in MOST of my free time, if not I chill with my mates at the park or grave yard(just sitting and chatting, lol).
My dad died when i was 10 and I have no idea why but then I started playing games 24/7, sometimes on the weekend I wake up, eat something, sit on the computer, eat lunch, sit in the computer, eat dinner, sit on the computer, go to bed at 2am, wake up at 11pm and thats basically what being addicted is like, BUT.
Gaming has lowered my depression of my father dying, I once accidently swore in front of my mother and she took my computer away for 3 months, I hanged with my friends like I usually did but I was always grumpy, depressed and thinking about my father 24/7.
In other words, the article is bullshit, I'm a gamer who's father had died and gaming took me away from depression (I cut myself once) and into a fun world when I could chat to anybody from around the world, and do things that possibly couldn't be done in real life.
Don't judge me by my opinion (for all the people my age on these forums and under) because I am who I am, and I'm proud.
My dad died when i was 10 and I have no idea why but then I started playing games 24/7, sometimes on the weekend I wake up, eat something, sit on the computer, eat lunch, sit in the computer, eat dinner, sit on the computer, go to bed at 2am, wake up at 11pm and thats basically what being addicted is like, BUT.
Gaming has lowered my depression of my father dying, I once accidently swore in front of my mother and she took my computer away for 3 months, I hanged with my friends like I usually did but I was always grumpy, depressed and thinking about my father 24/7.
In other words, the article is bullshit, I'm a gamer who's father had died and gaming took me away from depression (I cut myself once) and into a fun world when I could chat to anybody from around the world, and do things that possibly couldn't be done in real life.
Don't judge me by my opinion (for all the people my age on these forums and under) because I am who I am, and I'm proud.
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