Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaika
I wasn't refering to addicts then I made my post. I do know that people can be addicted to videogames and I know what the effects of those are.
I have to wonder though when it comes to depression and videogame addiction the old "chicken and the egg" argument: which came first? The depression or the addiction? Children of any age can be depressed and videogames are good for escaping things like that. The story of the 18 year old... I have to wonder, how much attention did he get at home? At school? Was he bullied? Did he feel a lot of pressure? All of these are big factors. I know from friends and family (and depending on how much time a day you consider enough to be an addiction, myself) that children who play videogames all day that grows into an addiction later in life generally are bullied, don't have a lot of friends, have parents with one level of apathy or another, and had crappy things happen to them. That's more then enough to get them addicted to videogames considering they are such an attractive distraction from life. I have a hard time believing that the addiction itself caused the depression unless it was more along the lines of feeling like they wasted their time and they know they can't get it back.
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I have to take responsibility for the "addiction" aspect of this thread. That is what I was writing about.
I respect every persons view and position on their beliefs. It comes from dialogue that new standards and new understandings are reached between people whose moments are juxtaposed with views of the events which shaped their lives; one where gaming has positive outcomes and one where the outcomes are destructive. That is not meant to upset, hurt or attack anyone.
The boy I'm talking about was a football and soccer player, was a boxer, was a swimmer and was a normal healthy kid. There was no indication that he had an addictive personality and his depression didn't start until he found that he "Coudln't beat the computer game"; that is what he said to me.
His parents were typical middle class both worked 2 kids in school Boy spent most of his allowance on computer games by saving up. It began to show when he was 14. He stopped talking to people, didn't want to do any of the things he had been interested in before then and spent all of his time in his room playing games.
His mother and father I feel should have tried to engage him more in activities outside the home in order to get him to re-engage with life outside of a computer screen. But they didn't see it creeping up, to them it just happened one day. He was found by his grandmother sitting in her spare room crying, really helplessly crying. She asked him what was wrong and he said he didn't have his game console with him he forgot to bring it; that was the first really overt clue that things weren't right.
But he is coming along and it is his journey. He will get through it if he is strong enough and desires life enough to change his but for the moment he is seeking help and benefitting from it.
Rhia
