Will Playing Video Games Make You Depressed?

‘Will playing games make you depressed?’ is a question of irony, seeing as how the point of playing games in the first place is for relaxation and enjoyment.  A recent article in The New York Times titled “Video Games and the Depressed Teenager” suggests that there is a link between video game use and depression, decreased academic performance, and increased aggression among youth.

            This is a common argument that has been frequently heard throughout the years of the recent digital generation in response to young people’s rapid immersion in new technologies such as video games.  Yet, concrete evidence has never surfaced in support of the argument that video games are actually harmful, primarily because it is difficult to attribute one’s behavior or actions to video games to a greater degree than any other social or environmental factors. 

Personally, among my friends, several of the most successful ones are avid video games players, including a college athlete on scholarship and a student recently accepted into medical school. Neither is depressed nor shows any signs of academic struggle. In addition, I have never known anyone whose life has been drastically altered as a result of playing video games. 

But, The New York Times cites a recent psychological publication entitled “Pathological Video Game Use: A Two-Year Longitudinal Study”, stating that its findings “are discouraging”, and that “heavy gamers…were more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, and social phobias.”  The study followed 3,000 students in Singapore over a two-year period to see if excessive game play negatively impacted these youths’ lives.  Out of the 3,000 students tested, 9% were classified as ‘pathological gamers’, exhibiting symptoms of depression, anxiety, social phobia, or lower school performance believed to be a result of excessive video game play.

 However, this study has provoked a conversation about the influence of video games; it has garnered many critics who have raised important concerns about it.  Blogger Anne states that the study “mistakes correlation with causation.”  Similarly, another critic comments, “but this strikes me as a premium example of misreading the direction of a significant correlation and not considering potential third variables.” 

I believe these critics of the study make valid points.  Pathological game playing may not be as significant of an epidemic as many people think.

Certainly, 9% of a given population is a significant amount, but the statistical information from the Singapore study is somewhat skewed because the sampled group of students was not random, did not consist of an equal gender ratio, and was drawn from only a single location. 

Participating in the study were 2179 boys and 819 girls, which inevitably would drive up the percentage of students found to be pathological gamers due to the fact that boys typically play a lot more video games than girls.

In addition, the average amount of time played per week in this specific group of students was 20.5 hours.  Naturally, the researchers may have sought out students that played excessive amounts of video games in order to produce better results.  Yet, the average teen does not spend 20+ hours playing video games every week.  And although the average time of weekly game play was 20.5 hours, the students who were actually found to exhibit depression or other negative factors typically played more than 31 hours per week.

Lastly, out of the 9% of students classified as pathological gamers, 16% dropped their bad habits and symptoms by the end of the two-year test period.  If one were to recalculate the numbers, survey a population of equal gender ratio, and select teens at random, the 9% statistic would more than likely fall below 3%.  Moreover, it is not fair to say that teens who display signs of depression, lowered academic performance, or social inaptitude do so as a result of excessive video game play. Instead, excessive game play may just be one of the results of these pre-existing conditions.

            While this may be difficult to discern, I am not refuting the argument that spending excessive hours playing video games (i.e. 30+ hrs/week) can be harmful. Obviously, there are things more beneficial to one’s wellbeing such as playing a sport, practicing an instrument, or reading. Yet, I believe anything done to excess can be psychologically harmful- video games are not unique in that way.

When played in moderation, video games can have a beneficial impact on players through fostering creativity and increasing the capacity for problem solving skills. 

Some, however, such as this anonymous blogger, refute the usefulness of games altogether:

“They take away valuable young living time and they bring your mind to levels of stimulation that you can’t come back from. Try to have fun reading a book now… They also destroy creativity. Your brain just all around learns to shut down because it’s not working; it’s having the work done for it.  If you value these things in life, don’t play them that often.”

           

Personally, I know I have never played a video game that causes my brain to “shut down” or “have the work done for it”, as every game requires intellectual interaction in one way or another.  Games have lessons to teach, and they develop intuitive skills such as critical thinking, reaction time, and hand-eye coordination.  As MIT professor Henry Jenkins states:

“Games allow players to navigate an expansive and open-ended world, make their own choices and witness their consequences.”

This perspective is more informed. Our knowledge is a result of everything we see and experience through our external environment, and video games help constitute this environment.  So it is unfair to say that video games result in no brain processing or creative inspiration. The key is to avoid excessive addiction, and one will almost certainly suffer no consequences if he or she plays video games in moderation.