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▲ Player reviews on the Steam store page

Is this game too fun?

There are many games that can cause depression

Beijing Floating Life

Coincidentally, in 2001, a doctoral student from Beiyou wrote a free mini-game called “Beijing Floating Life” which was dubbed the “North Drift Simulator”.

▲ Screenshot of the game interface of “Beijing Floating Life”

In the game, the protagonist ran to Beijing alone with 2,000 yuan in cash. In order to earn money and return the debts within 40 days, he had to face all kinds of random events, and he could face group beatings, bankruptcy, and hospitalization at any time. Waiting for the ending … This little game with no picture effect, but because of the sense of hardship and absurdity that it brought, it became a fire in the major computer room.

Even the author himself said that the purpose of making this mini-game is to “reflect his own familiar life and reflect the stories of foreigners in Beijing”.

▲ Screenshot of the game ending interface …

This is my war

In the 2014 game “This war of mine” produced by Polish gaming company, you are not playing elite soldiers, but a group of civilians struggling to survive in the besieged city. You are short of food and medicine, and you have to guard against snipers and hostile scavengers. With a strong sense of substitution, the dilemma of survival and morals has made many players realize the cruelty of war. It is really “preferably a peace dog, not to leave people alone.”

▲ “This is my war” | Steam store poster

There are still many games like this. Through them, we can experience the sweetness, bitterness, joy and sorrow of the world, and we can also glimpse the imperfect real world.

But I’m depressed when playing these games, what should I do?

The right game may help fight depression

… Well, play more games? This is really not a joke (not medical advice).

Depression may be a normal response to a traumatic event, or it may be caused by a disease or a side effect of a drug. Depression, on the other hand, is a type of affective disorder characterized by depression. Many depression patients will feel surrounded by a sense of weakness, unable to handle daily chores, be pessimistic about things, especially underestimate their own value, and immerse themselves in negative emotions all day.

Early research on play behaviors has shown that school children and adults can gain greater self-confidence, more energy, and experience stronger positive emotions such as curiosity and excitement during play and play. This is exactly the opposite psychological state of “depression”.

▲ map | pixabay

In recent years, with the advent of functional magnetic resonance imaging, scientists have conducted more in-depth research on the brains of gamers. Studies have found that when playing video games, two areas of the brain are constantly being stimulated: one is related to subjective initiative and goal orientation (also known as the “reward pathway”), and the other is related to learning and memory The relevant part (the hippocampus).

In patients with clinically diagnosed depression, there are often cases where these two areas do not receive sufficient stimulation for a long time, and even hippocampal neurons decrease and volume decreases. Therefore, many studies have suggested that proper video games may help relieve symptoms and help patients fight depression.

Of course, the scientist ’s suggestion is that you need to carefully select the appropriate game type to ensure that you can get positive feedback from the game, and to control the total game time per week and the length of a single game to achieve good results . Blindly immersed in the game to “escape” depression is often counterproductive.

What games can help “Remove the Depression”?

Tetris, spelling and other small games

A randomized controlled study in 2013 showed that depression patients were allowed to play casual mini-games on a computer 3 times a week for 30 minutes each. After one month, various symptoms of depression were compared with those in the control group. Significantly reduced.

▲ “Words With Friends” game | Google Store

In March 2017, a study published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry by researchers at the University of Oxford and Karolinska Institute in Sweden showed that it was better to do it in the emergency department than after a car accident. Survivors of other things, who played Tetris within 6 hours of the accident, experienced 62% fewer post-traumatic stress disorders in the following week.

▲ Classic Tetris | telegraph.co.uk

Fast-paced action games like Boson X

Boson X is a 3D platform parkour game. Players need to use the arrow keys on the keyboard to control characters to run and jump in a long channel, avoid obstacles and holes, and collect enough energy to enter the next level. . With the increase of energy, the running speed of the character will continue to accelerate, which requires players to continuously improve their reaction speed and accuracy of time prediction.

▲ Boson X game interface | Steam store

In 2018, a study published in Frontiers in Psychology showed that after 6 weeks of playing the Boson X game, the test scores for the depression group in the experimental group increased significantly. The report also lost more thought, suggesting that patients’ cognitive abilities have improved.

In addition, the University of Southern California Institute of Innovation and Technology also uses action shooting games such as “Full Spectrum Warrior” to let soldiers wear VR headsets and experience virtual battlefield fire in the game. And blasts to help soldiers recover from post-traumatic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

▲ Full Spectrum Warrior game interface | Steam Store

This treatment is a bit counterintuitive. Can battle games actually help soldiers suffering from war wounds recover? But experimental results show that the game does help control symptoms. In one experiment, 16 of the 20 subjects who completed treatment no longer met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD.

SPARX game

SPARX is a 3D fantasy role-playing game developed by the University of Auckland, New Zealand. It is also an online electronic assisted treatment tool developed for patients with mild to moderate depression and anxiety.

▲ Screenshot of SPARX game video

In the game, the player plays a young mage apprentice. Under the guidance of the mentor, he dispels monsters representing negative emotions, collects gems representing personal growth, and learns to relax the spirit, calm tension, and relieve anxiety in the real world. Tips for identifying negative thoughts.

In the game, you will pass 7 different levels in sequence, each level takes 30 to 40 minutes. Players are suggested to complete 1 to 2 levels per week and complete the entire game in 3 to 7 weeks.

In an experiment involving 168 adolescents with depression, 26% of those who received conventional therapy fully recovered, and 44% of those who received SPARX game therapy fully recovered.

Minecraft and other creative games

“Minecraft” is an open role-playing game with the theme of collection, creation, construction, and adventure. The program will automatically generate a variety of vast and unique lands, which players can play in You can do it alone or cooperate with other players to build your own home.

▲ Interacting player characters | Autcraft Wiki

For depressed people, it takes less energy to carry out activities in the game world, and there is no social pressure in stand-alone games. Being able to use their creativity more freely also helps to gain a sense of accomplishment. Develop confidence.

But don’t think about solving it with games

Of course, not all games are a panacea for “depression.” Excessive addiction may even be associated with depression.

For example, a study published in the Medical Journal of Pediatrics in 2011 found that adolescents with more than 20 or 30 hours of playtime per week reported depression, anxiety and The incidence of social fear is higher.

Another survey of Chinese students aged 13 to 18 found that students who overuse the Internet (especially online games) were more than twice as likely to develop symptoms of depression after 9 months than other students .

Some studies also suggest that this correlation between games and depression is partly because adolescents with emotional disorders tend to be more inclined to avoid real life through video games, which in turn makes players more inclined Addicted to the game world, not to solve problems encountered in real life, thus forming a vicious circle.

Another part of the reason is that some patients with depression tend to adjust their mental state through games and self-heal. This has led to a sampling bias in the survey of gamers by researchers-depression in gamers The proportion looks higher.

But in any case, you can better cope with life by actively facing problems, arranging game time reasonably, maintaining a balance between games and life, and receiving formal psychological treatment and medical intervention if necessary.

References

1. Who is the author of the client game “Beijing Floating Life”? Can you tell the story of this game? . (2016). Retrieved from https: //www.zhihu.com/question/19851420

2. McGonigal, J. (2015). How Video Games Can Teach Your Brain to Fight Depression. Slate Magazine. Retrieved from https://slate.com/technology/2015/11/how-video-games-can-teach-your-brain-to-fight-depression.html

3. Tetris can prevent post-traumatic stress disorder, Oxford University finds. (2017). Retrieved from http: // www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/03/28/tetris-can-prevent-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-oxford-university /

4. Frankie Wallace. (2019) .Depression Is The Disease, Video Games Might Be The Cure Retrieved from https: / /www.headstuff.org/entertainment/gaming/depression-is-the-disease-video-games-might-be-the-cure /

5. Kühn, S., Berna, F., Lüdtke, T., Gallinat, J., & Mori