What is the effect of gaming on a depressed person

Gaming kind of gives me some energy and is good escapism for me I have never been addicted to gaming but since sometimes I might waste time playing I created a rule to stick to that rule is if I do play a game it's only going to be for one whole hour yesterday, for example, I played Spider-Man at 6.00 and stopped at 7.00.

I did notice in my teenage years I use to play a lot more and I felt exhausted after playing for long periods of time this was also during a time I was in a deep depression. I still get depression I do find it a little funny that gaming now gives me energy instead of taking it I guess its because I am now aware of depression and just manage things better now

 

Heavy gaming is bad for depression but gaming every once and while? Eh, why not? In moderation, it probably can temporarily lift your mood. Moderation is key.

 

i find gaming on a depressed person helps to preoccupy there mind . subsequently allowing thete brain to heal and process overtime . the same goes for exercise etc

sometimes depressed people just need to take it easy and take each day other times being active even if its playing video games to focus on something else

 

I have the same problem with forums and the internet in general: one more post, one more refresh, one more website... I talked to my therapist about it and he said I need to set boundaries on myself. For instance, I need to say in advance, "I'm going to use the internet for one hour," and then stick to it. Yeah, I haven't gotten there yet.

 

I can relate to that I'm not like that with video games but I get stuck on YouTube for too long sometimes watching video after video even if it's a video I've seen before heck last night I stayed up a bit too long.

I'm not good at giving advice all I can say is breaking a bad habit takes a lot of time but just keep trying. One thing I can say is to try your best to push through it and ignore any excuse your mind creates to keep you playing.

 

Only play videogames if you've completed your more important tasks earlier in the day. Then you can play without guilt or anxiety that you could be doing more.

 

I stopped playing games. OSRS was the last game I was addicted to.

I was trying to get to level 99 fishing and
one day, I was like “WTF am I doing with my life just staring at a pixelated character and clicking on the same thing over and over again like some retard.”

Ever since then, I stopped playing any video games.

I guess playing that game gave me a false sense of progress which I rather do in real life.

 

Absolutely quit online games, they are some of the worst games you can play. It's more up for debate if single player games have the same negative impact.

 

Depends on the type of game really. Generally I find that story rich games that aren't padded to death with useless grinding can have a positive effect on my mood and drive. It can be refreshing and inspiring in the same way that good movies can sometimes be.

That being said, most modern games are designed to keep you on a constant treadmill of engagement, a dopamine drip feed. Any game where you find yourself grinding to reach an arbitrary number or chasing the highs of victory are absolutely dopamine depleting and should be avoided. Online games are absolutely the worst, even if its playing with friends I often find them too absorbing and numbing to be considered "socializing" so they often leave me feeling emptier.

Quitting for a month and reassessing your habit is probably the best bet. Within a few days you will find the cravings dissipate. Personally I have difficulty keeping myself accountable and so use Cold Turkey Blocker Pro to block Steam.exe for a pre set time period, have had great success with this.

 

I do not know because I am not depressed . I am happy. But what do I know , after playing it for a while and thinking nothing and I finish playing video games , I do get a lot of tensions and urges out of nowhere . It has related to PMO . Our human brain wanting dopamine . I give a lot of dopamine to a brain . Then it wants more .

Our human brains are greedy for dopamine

 

I can't play a game for more than two hours without feeling absolutely defeated. I love video games, but mostly single-player or co-op. Online games are terrible. Drains the fun out of games when you should instead be appreciating the game itself. FPS and MOBA games are genuinely pointless and end up being a huge waste of time. I feel physically sick when thinking of all the hours I spent playing Overwatch instead of doing literally anything else. That game was a dumpster fire, zoomer garbage. Gave popularity to the stimulus overload manchild Twitch streamers that plague the internet nowadays.

During lockdown, I lost interest in all my hobbies including video games and it's like my life stopped completely. I stopped showering, eating, and sleeping. Both mentally and physically I was exhausted and only went for short-term dopamine by playing online games and scrolling endlessly online. Video games aren't meant for short-term dopamine, yes they are entertainment but there is a reason most are 10+ hours long. You need to invest time into a specific game and find which ones are worthwhile. Don't get consumed in the brain-rot trendy games like Fortnite or Call of Duty where you gain literally nothing. Find one with a good story, good mechanics and design, or an art style you like. The same can be applied to every form of media, watching an interesting documentary or crime drama over reality TV garbage. Or choosing to do something productive/entertaining instead of watching porn. Avoid the dopamine traps and you'll find yourself enjoying games a lot more than before.[/QUOTE]

 

Make him escape reality and refugee himsef in a virtual reality where he’s a winner while in real life he’s a loser. Escape from the real world because he cannot deal with it and search to be a hero in a pixel world.

 

Same issue for me. This is one of the mainly reasons why I lefted gaming. In future I could allow to play some games, but my exodus from gaming seem to continue. Oh my God…I will never play games like those made by Paradox Interactive, they are worse than crack.