Depression + MMOs

[Sierra85]

as scary as it may seem, i think if you suffer from social anxiety the best thing to do is to remove the MMO aspect, for a given period and see how well you can operate without it. If you identify that you have a problem, try and see if you can get out there and meet new people. Take up a sport, or something else to eat up your spare time. If you give it a chance it can be rewarding - but it has to be something you want to do.

just my own 2c from my experiences.

[Deleted]

Are you sure you have depression and not social anxiety disorder? Depression like symptons can manifest as a coping mechanism to avoid the trigger of the anxiety. MMO's are often a way to interact with others in a "safe" environment that frees people with social anxiety from the stress of dealing with people face to face.

I imagine it's a bit of both.

Speaking as someone who has had both, Depression will increase the Anxiety, and the Anxiety depression in a vicious circle.

MMOs are a good and bad thing in this respect. They give you an outlet so you don't feel alone and hopeless, because you're still interacting with people without the Anxiety of face to face contact, but on the other hand this also makes them a very addictive outlet of your time. To the point where you'll become so comfortable in the MMO world, that the real world becomes the strange place that you don't feel part of.

If you start to feel the latter, see a doctor immediately. It'll be hard to admit that it's a problem for you, but if you can it's easier to get proper help.

[RicardoZ]

When I was in high school I became DEEPLY sad and depressed. I ended up playing Ultima Online and then later Dark Age of Camelot. They sort of took over my life, it's really all I did...I know it wasn't healthy but it was a fantastic substitute for real life. I think I drowned myself out in them for about 4 years. I played WoW for a bit after that and then stopped playing MMOs for a number of years...the depression came back and got a lot worse..totally screwed my life up and have that longing to immerse myself back into a game...but now I am finding that the current formula that WoW and other MMOs is not immersive enough to keep me entertained for feel like i am a "part of it"...what happened to MMOs?! That spark that the older formulas had just isn't there anymore. The sense of community is gone, the adventure is good...now they feel more like a chore with a bit of fun here and there and if you reach max level everything is just kind of handed to you as long as you spend time going through the chore list.

This is because, in your depression, you took solace in the sense of accomplishment and feeling of community that you were getting out of MMO's since you weren't finding that gratification from your real life.

The formula of WoW particularly has changed in such a way that things are generally easier to do and don't require any other people, so that now people don't derive such a feeling of positive reinforcement from being successful and that is why you're not getting your little buzz anymore when you complete something in-game.

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Are you sure you have depression and not social anxiety disorder? Depression like symptons can manifest as a coping mechanism to avoid the trigger of the anxiety. MMO's are often a way to interact with others in a "safe" environment that frees people with social anxiety from the stress of dealing with people face to face.

You know what's strange for me though? I'm not socially awkward at all, in fact I'm quite extroverted, but in WoW for some reason I'm always hesitant to talk to people and want to join groups and a lot of the time I prefer to play solo. I guess it's because I'm afraid of saying the wrong thing and getting kicked or having somebody yell at me, I just clam up and if I mess something up I just leave the group immediately before I get burned.

But IRL, I'm exactly the opposite. Strange.

[Grof]

I heavy struggling and suffering from deprssion from 2008 and without WoW I think I will be dead along time ago.Almost everybody from my familly espc. wife and father and mother in law give up a hands of me telling me I am health and the my only problem is that I am lazy That killing me even more. In 6 years I was lost over 22kg, also getting some stomach problems (reflux, ulcus and gastritis), and dont even wanna remember how are looking my mornings every day when i woke up. I take every day 13 medicaments for my depression and stomach. Only when I sometimes feel ok is in the evening when go to wow and play with my wow friends and talking about my problems not be judging from them, only in that time I feel like I am alive and feel some part of life. So thx blizz for giving me a little reason for living and some sort of happines. THx a agin

[Stockers]

Depression + MMOs = Bad Things.

Utter garbage, I met some great people when I was going through some hard times, they called me up when I wasn't online a while to see how I was, checked up on me on facebook and were really supportive. As for the game, it helps as a distraction and helps pass time, as when being down or depressed, if you are bored or lonely, that's when times can be at their worst. Having an MMO, helps ease that and take your mind off things.

[Grof]

Utter garbage, I met some great people when I was going through some hard times, they called me up when I wasn't online a while to see how I was, checked up on me on facebook and were really supportive. As for the game, it helps as a distraction and helps pass time, as when being down or depressed, if you are bored or lonely, that's when times can be at their worst. Having an MMO, helps ease that and take your mind off things.

right that, espc when you spend a lots of time in hostpital. Since 2008 been 4 times and the longest period was been 6 month.