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Anti-Depressants Used Against StarCraft Addiction
dotarray writes "Hope may be at hand for the poor souls addicted to video games. Recent research from South Korea has shown that a common anti-depressant, Bupropion (sold as Welbutrin, Zyban and Voxra) can 'decrease craving for Internet game play' as well as the brain activity triggered by video game cues. This is a drug often used to help quit smoking, to lose weight or to recover from drug addiction, in addition to typical anti-depressant and anti-anxiety uses. And, with Korean scientists already on-board, how better to test this theory than to gather up a bunch of StarCraft players?"
Do the addicts stay off or do they simply get addicted to a new substance (anti-depressants)?
Zoloft rush kekeke ^_^
Speaking as someone who has battled with depression (without medication) for years, I can say that people who are depressed don't play video games to treat their depression. They play as a distraction. Instead of sitting there from 6pm until 10pm doing nothing, all you have to do is double click the icon on your desktop and you're in. Rather than having to find the motivation to see if anyone wants to go out. Rather than trying to find the motivation to go have a beer or go for a walk in the park. Rather than trying to find the motivation to hit the books and study for that exam.
One of the major points of depression is lack of energy/motivation. When I'm depressed, I have to force myself to follow my exercise routine. I have to force myself to go out. I have to force myself to do something OTHER than refreshing Reddit and Slashdot while WoWing it up. I enjoy those things, even while depressed, but the motivation to do them just isn't there.
Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
I've been on Zoloft twice. The first time, I gained quite a bit of weight. Serotonin plays a major role in appetite regulation. In my experience, that means the feelings of hunger and satiety change, and if you don't adapt to these changes, you might just end up eating a lot more! My eating habits were poor, and I indulged these habits a lot more without the normal feelings to guide me. I never adapted, and I blamed Zoloft for the weight gain.
Back on Zoloft, I've lost weight. About a year before starting Zoloft, I changed my diet completely and started exercising, and immediately began losing weight. While on Zoloft, that has continued (or perhaps accelerated a bit). Once again, my sense of hunger is a bit off, but with good eating habits in place, the only real difference is forgetting to eat sometimes.
Of course, I can't generalize from my experience to everyone. But I'd still suggest working on your eating habits before going on an anti-depressant, simply because it is helpful outside that context, as well :-)
Been living with depression for quite a while now.
I didn't really have much motivation to do anything, video games seem to be the exception.
I think it's because they are psychologically addictive to some extend, they have a very well tuned effort / reward cycle.
Games like WoW gives you relatively achievable goals to get and rewards you with a sense of achievement when you complete them.
A nice escape from the feelings of powerless and hopelessness of real life.
american idol, jeopardy, or similar other programs. doing that every night is so much more 'normal' and 'good'. its a good pastime habit ...
Read radical news here
True enough. But I don't think it's just that.
When you're depressed, it's really hard to refrain from indulging in behaviors that you know aren't particularly healthy or in your long term interests. Your mind demands the small bit of relief that comes from eating unhealthy food, smoking a cigarette, hitting Battle.net and pwning some poor n00b. In all cases, you may realize that the behavior is going to cause problems down the road, but because you're depressed, it's hard to care.
So it makes sense to me that antidepressants might be effective in breaking such a variety of bad habits.
You want the truthiness? You can't handle the truthiness!
do i get the impression that the underlying cause for all are a depression, and that the "addiction" is basically the persons way of getting away from the depression. Kid gets depressed for some reason or other, then find relief in playing a game. Thing is, the parents never noticed the depression. But they do notice the number of hours spent playing said game. End result, they thing the kid is addicted to a game rather then something else.
Thing is, its easier to drug the kid into being a averagely behaving consumer then it is to actually look at why said kid was depressed. This because it is likely that societal changes will be needed to actually fix the source of the depression.
comment first, facts later. http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm
Motivation to go have a beer? When you're depressed? Yeah, that's just what you need, to sit in a smoke-filled room and ingest depressants with the other losers who think that spending too much on a mug full of fuel additive is good treatment for their depression.
What a bunch of moralistic bullshit. Socialization is a major factor in happiness. For a depressed person, going out to have a drink with friends can do a lot for their mental health. Getting a little disinhibited from the alcohol helps too. Obviously you can over do it. But that doesn't mean that going out for a drink with friends isn't an entirely healthy activity for someone to engage in.
The point is to do something real. Video-game achievements just aren't a high-enough density feeling of accomplishment to really satisfy you for the rest of the day.
Maybe to you they're not. Personally, I don't see much difference between putting a ball in a hole or putting a sprite through another sprite. As for the feeling of accomplishment, you're playing the wrong games. Get away from the grind fests and play something challenging. Completing a difficult game, like ascending in nethack, or completing a hardcore shmup is a feeling of accomplishment that stays with you for a lot longer than a day.
Physical activity *is* very good for depression, because of the physiological effects of exercise. Video gaming can't replace an active lifestyle, I just object to your characterization of gaming as not "real". It's as real as any other hobby.
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