Oh EA, you money-greedy bastards. ):

[TapThatBooty]

I've suffered from manic-depression since I was 13. When I was 16 I was put onto anti-depressants. I was on them for about 11 months until I decided that enough was enough. I couldn't handle the zombie-like state I was in constantly. I felt as though I had been raped of all emotions. It seemed like it was just as much effort to slap a fake smile on my face as it was to be expressionless. When I took myself off them, I welcomed the flooding of dread and misery that I had before I was put on the meds. It was a relief to be honest, just to feel something. And when the highs came, I grasped them and rode it until the low came. I'm 21 now and still suffer from manic-depression, but I can cope with it now. I'm in a big low right now, which is what usualy happens when I am stuck for a period of time with nothing to occupy my time, IE, college finished in June, add that to other stuff going on in my life and it is a bad combination. However hard it is now, and no matter how hard it is to remember the good times, I somehow manage to keep a hold of something that keeps me from going right under. I'm not gloating or anything about that, but I just know how my mind works completely now that I know what will set me off, when to expect something to drag me down and to go by my instincts on things that has the potential to completely destroy everything I've worked towards to be able to maintain something that keeps my head above water.

It has it's drawbacks though, I find it hard to connect to people. I see the world through science, meaning that I have to rationalize everything so that I can understand it myself. Further distancing me from people, it seems that the world doesn't like people who will use their brains.

Good things about it though is that I know that I should always keep my mind active, one way or another. I do a lot of arty things, painting, sculpting, stuff like that. So I usualy have something on the go with that. Or I will sit and study for hours. I know that we are "supposed" to switch off and become bored with studying, but I don't. I don't know if that means that there is something wrong with my brain or not, but I'm not complaining. I refuse to watch TV, I find it dull and repetitive, there is nothing that I can gain from it. People think that I am a freak because I WON'T sit for hours and watch the idiot box. It is a choice and I chose not to, I would rather do something productive with my time, that will benefit me in the long run.

Am I obese or overweight? No, far from it. I think that it would be impossible to make a collective group of gamers and say that they will fall within this category or that one. There are so many gamers from so many different walks of life it is unreal. And I find it impossible to believe that the person who wrote that article has never picked up a game in their life or doesn't play something right now.

It is perfectly normal for someone to go off into their mind and imagine what the world would be like if such a thing were to happen. What the writers seemed to have forgot is that is pretty much how games come to be, but someone daydreaming or using their imagination and coming up with a story and making it a reality. You don't see people jumping all over your classical composers such as Mozart or Beethoven or artists like Da Vinci, who really made what they had in their mind into something tangible. No, they praise them, they encourage people to listen to them, banging on about how you will become more intelligent for listening to them.
It wasn't so long ago that surgeons were encouraged to play computer games as they helped to develop hand/eye co-ordination.

I'm gonna stop there or I won't stop. For those who read that, thank you , for those that didn't, no "thank you" for you, because you wouldn't have read to this point  .

[CatOfWar]

HeyBubbe - I would give you link, if I could find it, to a computer game for children with cancer.  It's a first person shooter type thingie where they kill different kinds of cancer cells.  Teaches them about the disease, but more importantly, it cheers them up.  It's main purpose is mood elevation because of the positive effects that has on the body's ability to heal.

[MrsBulldog]

HeyBubbe - I would give you link, if I could find it, to a computer game for children with cancer.  It's a first person shooter type thingie where they kill different kinds of cancer cells.  Teaches them about the disease, but more importantly, it cheers them up.  It's main purpose is mood elevation because of the positive effects that has on the body's ability to heal.

Thanks, CatOfWar! That would be wonderful. I couldn't find the links to another story about video games that relieve stress in test subjects. Tetris was, once again, listed. So was Katamari Damacy (aka-electronic bubble wrap), and a certain "digital dollhouse" game by EA that no one has ever heard of and only frat boys and ex cons play... I think it was called, like, "The Blips" or something. Who knows.  

Also, hearing a lot of stories about people's various experiences with depression:Last year I studied vitamin's effect on mood and decided to give it a try. Although initially dubious, I started a regiment that consisted of an adult multivitamin, calcium, Omega 3, Folic acid, and most importantly vitamin D (with the multi, I take about 2200 mgs of vitamin D a day. It took 6 weeks, but it actually worked. I felt about as good as when I was on a low-dose paxil, but without the anhedonia and zombified affect. I still get angry, or down, or cranky, but in relatively healthy doses (SOME negative affect on occasion is perfectly normal and doesn't take away the emotional range I need for doing art). If anyone might want to give this a try, discuss it with your doctor and GET YOUR VITAMIN D LEVELS CHECKED--deficiencies are rampant and D is hugely related to mood.

The best part is that I can't swallow big pills so I take everything in candy form (chocolate calcium chews, gummi everything else). It's like a handful of candy for breakfast every morning.  

Also, for those looking into therapy, look into art therapy. This is one of my concentrations in school (the other being integrative psychotherapies (such as CBT, psychodynamic, existential... etc), and it works really well with creative personalities. CBT is very effective, but it's not the "most" effective therapy--it's just the most popular because it's usually the only one insurances will cover. Actually, no approach is the "most" effective as effectiveness is subjective and based on the individual's needs. Plus, studies have proved that all therapeutic interventions are therapeutic (it's a matter of finding the right therapist and an approach that fits your objectives and personality). Art therapy is just like many other "talk therapy" approaches, but instead of using words to make meaning out of feelings, experiences, and subjective realities, you use art and imagery. It's really very cool.

The moral of the story: the Vita+Art mod speeds up the erosion of the negative moodlets, and it's compatible with Awsomemod (or Rum).

[Paden]

I've read stories about those studies and think that's more likely than games cause all of the negative shit they're claiming. When I was preg with my first child, I'd play Tetris when upset, which helped to calm down the kid that was doing barrel rolls in my belly due to my stress.

[SoggyFox]

Used to be, when I would get into a towering rage or in tears I'd go play columns to calm down.

[millahnna]

When I go into a rage I load up GTA and run over some pedestrians.  I will, of course, never do this in real life.  Mainly becuase I ride a bike everywhere.  Much less efficient.

[paperbeth]

I with millahnna on this. GTA is very theraputic for me as well. I get angry at things I can't control, so I take it out on things that aren't real in GTA. That way I feel better and no harm done.

[rum nate]

I always turned on Sim City 4 when I was in a bad mood. I would go take a city of 200,000+ people and send a ton of volcanoes and meteorites and stuff like that  on them, and I would feel a lot better. And then just turn the game off without saving. 

[Dr House]

I used to play FPS when I was in a bad mood but now don't like them so much. Last one I did was Bioshock, awesome one. Now I use RPGs with active attack combats like Fallout 3 on PC or The world ends with you on DS. Games are perfect to destress

[ChaosInAMinor]

Yeah, games can be a good way to channel stress. Maybe I'm just old fashioned, though. I pick up a book when I'm in a bad mood.

[Scurvy Cat]

So do I. 

A good heavy dictionary, for instance. They can do a lot of damage when thrown. 

[ScooterBabe]

Medical reference books also make good throwing weapons.

[Paden]

I always liked to throw darts or use a sling shot.

[redraw]

For me, what works is playing FPSes or rail shooters like Time Crisis or House of the Dead for when I rage.  I definately don't play Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia as that game + Rage might = a $130 projectile.  Too bad I don't have a swap magic or I would play my beatmania and Popnmusic games and that seems to soothe me as well.

And why yes, I am a male.

[neriana]

So do I. 

A good heavy dictionary, for instance. They can do a lot of damage when thrown. 

If you've got the Oxford English dictionary, you don't have to throw it. Just drop it on someone. The Collected Works of William Shakespeare will also do in a pinch.