CNN: Gaming Leads To Mental Health Issues

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The talking heads on TV say that playing video games leads to mental health issues. Obviously, since it was on the television, it must be true. I like how the one lady, when asked if violent games were to blame, she said they didn't track that...then went right on to say they all "had" to be playing "some form of violent game." :rolleyes:
 
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Must have been a really slow news day and you have to fill up that 24-7 air time somehow. This DOA crap always shows up eventually.
 
Let's be honest with ourselves here:

There are a lot of nucking futs people playing games online. We've all seen them. Whether they are nucking futs because of gaming, its anyones guess. But it's certainly not helping them.

There are a lot of people playing games as a distraction instead of getting on proper meds. So instead of causing issues, its possible it just discourages proper treatment.
 
"pathological" gamers? :/ 30 hours a week gaming. I know people who do that. And they're not kids and they're not violent. They just get twitchy if they have to be away from their favorite game for too long.

Even I do (get twitchy) if I have to be away from the computer for 24 hours and my crap games. That doesn't mean, even if I play something violent, that I'm going to go out and start beating people up or worse.

Yes I do deal with major depression and have anxiety/panic disorder among other things - but had those issues LONG before I played any game whether on the PC or a console. And the games help take me out of myself for awhile which is a good thing - and I get to socialize without having to deal being in situations or places that could trigger a panic attack, meaning I'm at home where I know I can turn the computer or console off and walk away.

I think they (these researchers) make too much of gaming and the "ramifications" of it. In the 50s they blamed Rock 'n' Roll and Elvis ... seems like every generation someone or some thing has to be blamed for people having problems, children having bad parents or other family issues, or whatever.
 
This is misinterpreting correlation data. There are correlations between doctors and sick people, and firefighters and fires. Its not that the doctors cause sickness and firefighters cause fires, its more that the mentally sick are attracted to video games and not that the games cause the mental problems.
 
"30 hours a week of pretty much anything can't be good."

Sure, things like work and sleep have been known to kill people outright. Bam! Dead right there in your office chair!

And no person in America has ever watched 30 hours of TV in a week...
 
They're obviously referring to the Tuscan shooter and preventing it from happening again. While I despise the guy who shot up these people, I find CNN and other news agencies very amusing regarding what they construe as "evidence" to the shooter's mental disturbance, including the fact that he had a Roflcopter YouTube video bookmarked. I guess all of [H] are going to snap and shoot up a crowd because we all have seen this video once or twice in our lifetime.
 
Obviously, since it was on the television, it must be true.
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My Philosophy professor loves to say that at the beginning of every class.
Story filler for lack of news. They're waiting for the next big story to dominate the headlines.
 
While that title is kind of misleading and not the topic... as a heavy gamer at one time, and still gaming, I can for sure say that is does a little damage if done in excess.

Look at these WoW players, or everquest nerds... none of you can say these guys MOSTLY do not get social anxiety, because they most certainly do. You can communicate online but there is this lack of caring when you can't see a person. I notice when people do not interact with the real world for a while, they get a little bizarre and out of touch with normal communication skills.
 
this is just not true. so sayeth I, luxthor the underground king of the dragons!
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tevarian said:
"30 hours a week of pretty much anything can't be good."

Sure, things like work and sleep have been known to kill people outright. Bam! Dead right there in your office chair!

And no person in America has ever watched 30 hours of TV in a week...
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I'd be happy if I only had to put in 30hr/week of work. It would sure reduce my stress/anger and physical problems that's for sure.
 
I really hate the fact that I was born at this point in human evolution. Or at all, for that matter, as sentience is a useless curse -- but I digress.

Immediately blaming the most convenient potential cause, or first to come to mind, may have been a useful behavioral trait millennia ago, but I (errantly) like to believe that by now, as a species, we should have reached the point where we are intelligent enough to rely solely on empirical evidence, facts, research and the like.

Therefore, I would like to propose mandatory post-birth abortions for adults of a particular age who are incapable of passing a battery of psychological and intellectual tests and examinations. Further, no human being shall be allowed to reproduce, ever, with sterilizations for everyone.

Such useless creatures do not deserve to exist.
 
We all know that violence and mental illness were never heard of until PONG was invented.
 
tevarian said:
"30 hours a week of pretty much anything can't be good."

Sure, things like work and sleep have been known to kill people outright. Bam! Dead right there in your office chair!

And no person in America has ever watched 30 hours of TV in a week...
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She knows for a fact that '30 hours a week of pretty much anything can't be good' which is why she spends as little time as possible researching each story before reporting it. Who knows what could happen if she were to put in more than 30 hours of effort into work each week.

In all seriousness though - they keep hammering that 30 hours is some horribly outrageous sum to do anything, but people do 30 hours of all manner of things. Work, sleep, heck, the parents probably spend 30 hours a week watching TV if their job doesn't require way more hours than that.

Steve basically summed up the quality of the whole report: 'There's no evidence they were playing violent video games in this study, but they had to be playing violent videogames.'

Plus, what about this part: 'Tell your kids not to play videogames anymore. Then, if they lie to you and tell you they have stopped when you know they actually snuck in a game last night - that is a MAJOR warning sign that your kid has mental health problems.'
 
Video games are a convenient scape goat for acts of violence.

I remember back in the late 70's early 80's violent TV was causing the murder rate to go up. The networks decided there must be some merit to this because it was on TV and in print. So, they came up with family programing. 8 is enough, Family ties, and of course The Cosby Show. Did violent crime(s) go away? Ummm, not so much.

Do unstable people play video games? Yes. But, they also watch TV, facebook, read magazines, and do other things that stable people do every day.

The real problem lies with assigning responsibility to ones own actions. And, letting them stand for the punishment. The blame shifting is getting real old, real fast.
 
Just because kids who game 30+ hours a week show signs of depression and anxiety does not mean that their gaming is the cause... Perhaps they're gaming because they're depressed or suffer from anxiety and are using this as an escape? But then again, this did come from CNN... So it's no surprise since they sing the censorship band wagon's music all day long... Same for net neutrality. To the lot of you who support net neutrality... Just look at it's political supporters; They're the same people who would censor the gaming industry along with every other form of media after they've levied taxes against it.

I guess I just find it funny that NN supporters would post a negative comment regarding this, but then turn around and support net neutrality.
 
Ualdayan said:
Plus, what about this part: 'Tell your kids not to play videogames anymore. Then, if they lie to you and tell you they have stopped when you know they actually snuck in a game last night - that is a MAJOR warning sign that your kid has mental health problems.'
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hahahaha yeah. No dad, I didn't get drunk last night. She's lying about being pregnet. No I didn't ditch class.



c-ya
 
I believe it safe to say, any and all primary forms of entertainment we choose to enjoy will have a mental impact. To say they won't would be ignorant. The real question is what the severity and nature of this impact is, and with what respect does it compare to other forms of entertainment, say watching television for example.?
 
Monolith2013 said:
Just because kids who game 30+ hours a week show signs of depression and anxiety does not mean that their gaming is the cause... Perhaps they're gaming because they're depressed or suffer from anxiety and are using this as an escape? But then again, this did come from CNN... So it's no surprise since they sing the censorship band wagon's music all day long... Same for net neutrality. To the lot of you who support net neutrality... Just look at it's political supporters; They're the same people who would censor the gaming industry along with every other form of media after they've levied taxes against it.

I guess I just find it funny that NN supporters would post a negative comment regarding this, but then turn around and support net neutrality.
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I agree with the first part of your post, but NN is a very unrelated issue. Yes, the stance some of the NN supporters have taken is quite ironic, but still fairly unrelated to CNN and FOX and the like being a group of ratings whores that pedal what amounts to little more than politically charged entertainment and not the news they claim to be pedaling.

Yes I brought up FOX, if we are talking about the kettle, we might as well include the pot.
 
There's a causality issue in that research they didn't cover.

Do you think the researchers stopped to wonder if maybe, just maybe, clinically depressed and anxiety-ridden children/teens found in gaming a healthy outlet that helped them deal with said issues.

An outlet a hell of a lot better than substance use, joining a gang, or slashing wrists.

If the self-treatment works, hell yes they're going to get antsy when it is withheld. Doesn't mean the treatment is bad. They'd probably get antsy when, sleep, food, water or bathroom privileges are withheld too.
 
People can get OCD with just about everything. The more people participating, the more 'victims'.
 
I agree if you play like 10-16 hrs a day, but if you can play that much a day and not get bored you probably already are insane
 
Parental skils = FAIL

Its a parents job to make sure their kids are physicaly and mentally heathly, you see a change in your childs demeanor , take away the games, take them to a doctor. put the blame where it belongs, not on the video game industry.
 
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Poor Grades
Sums up about 95% of American teenagers. WOW violent? Egad.. it couldn't be any worse than LOTR movies, TV crime dramas, and well any good action movie. Easily most could watch 30hours of cable in a week. All these symptoms could also relate to a diet of fast food etc as well. I could only make some assumptions what the standard teenage diet is in Singapore.
I remember these same reports targeting metal music back in the day. Keep pushing fear and paranoia CNN, get your kids on drugs to "fix" their problems!
 
WorldExclusive said:
My Philosophy professor loves to say that at the beginning of every class.
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A history prof at my school used to say "The [coastal country race], like all sea-faring nations, are given to drink and riot."

niconx said:
I'd be happy if I only had to put in 30hr/week of work. It would sure reduce my stress/anger and physical problems that's for sure.
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I find a good dose of [H] a few times an hour helps.
 
Another case of "if the news isn't great, we'll make it great!". She says that the study didn't track what games were played, then she says that violent games are what's causing the issues. - lol... she's a Jack Thompson fan for sure.
 
holy shit, i breathe over 30 hours a week. I better go get help.

There are a few problems with this study. First off, who is to say that without the games that these kids wouldn't have been fucked up? Could it be said that having mental health issues force you to want to play games all the time?
 
WorldExclusive said:
My Philosophy professor loves to say that at the beginning of every class.
Story filler for lack of news. They're waiting for the next big story to dominate the headlines.
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Almost as true with the scientific community except they wait for a publication.




c-ya
 
Project_Nightmare said:
This is misinterpreting correlation data. There are correlations between doctors and sick people, and firefighters and fires. Its not that the doctors cause sickness and firefighters cause fires, its more that the mentally sick are attracted to video games and not that the games cause the mental problems.
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Heh, this reminds me of the old Fahrenheit 451 movie. "Look mommy, firemen! Mommy there's going to be a fire."
 
i sure do hate these news ++++s.. they are all a bunch of assholes.
 
I bet 8 in 10 of school shooters have bicycles too. Why aren't they focused on the obvious bicycle problem?

*Lots* of people play video games. Nowadays, it's as ubiquitous as watching a movie or talking on the telephone. Just by raw numbers alone, some of the people that play them might have a mental condition, it doesn't mean it's the games fault. All it means is popular activities are popular.

Besides, people can obsessively do anything. Alcohol. Drug Abuse. Excessive exercise. Compulsive cleaning. etc. A lot of times they are just manifestations of how the person is dealing with their problems, they aren't the cause of the problems. Yeah, if your life constantly feels like total shit, it's not surprising some people might way over participate in something that's escapist for them.

Want to know know what provokes these kids into shooting up a school? I'll give you a hint, it's not the games. Some of these kids get mercilessly picked on, combine that with the person being in a mentally unstable state, now you have a massive powder keg of violence just waiting to go off.
 
30 hours of gaming per week......

bottom line: Parents FAIL.


The ultimate solution is to expose children to porn at an earlier age.

I started watching porn when I was 9 years old, and I turned out alright, without any mental health issues. ;)

I could have played 30 hours of 8-bit nintendo. But porn was more interesting.
 
canna said:
I bet 8 in 10 of school shooters have bicycles too. Why aren't they focused on the obvious bicycle problem?

*Lots* of people play video games. Nowadays, it's as ubiquitous as watching a movie or talking on the telephone. Just by raw numbers alone, some of the people that play them might have a mental condition, it doesn't mean it's the games fault. All it means is popular activities are popular.

Besides, people can obsessively do anything. Alcohol. Drug Abuse. Excessive exercise. Compulsive cleaning. etc. A lot of times they are just manifestations of how the person is dealing with their problems, they aren't the cause of the problems. Yeah, if your life constantly feels like total shit, it's not surprising some people might way over participate in something that's escapist for them.

Want to know know what provokes these kids into shooting up a school? I'll give you a hint, it's not the games. Some of these kids get mercilessly picked on, combine that with the person being in a mentally unstable state, now you have a massive powder keg of violence just waiting to go off.
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Dude, awesome... that is an awesome point. We can use that as the main counter-point for these dip shits.... someone go on TV and debate back! :D

This is like saying Freddy Kruger and Chucky movies promote violence, you're right... violent Hollywood movies created way more "psychos" than video games I think.
 
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