Fighting Depression With Video Games

[Gahars]

Depression is, well, not much of a laughing matter. It's painful all around, and find methods of effectively treating it has been a serious challenge. The treatments we do have aren't exactly ideal; they can often be time consuming and/or costly.

Some researchers at the University of Auckland in New Zealand decided to try something new, and created a video game specifically designed to tackle depression.

The crazy thing? It worked. The crazier thing? It worked better than traditional counseling.

...Called SPARX, the game guides the players through a number of challenges that help practice handling various life situations and emotions that come with them.

The study, published in the latest issue of BMJ, has shown that the game was at least as effective as counseling in helping treat depression and anxiety in a study group of kids averaging 15 years old. [Editor's note: In fact, it worked better, reducing symptoms of depression more than treatment as usual.]

The Atlantic

The article contains a more detailed description of the game from the developers...

Spoiler

It uses a 3D animated game environment and a custom-made soundtrack to engage young people and teach them skills to manage symptoms of depression, in a self-directed learning format. Users are able to customise their avatar and journey to seven Provinces, each with a unique set of challenges and puzzles.

The Guide explains how the skills in the game relate to the challenges a young person may face in the real world. Young people learn cognitive behavioural therapy techniques for dealing with symptoms of depression (e.g. dealing with negative thoughts, problem-solving, activity scheduling, relaxation, etc). It can be used with minimal oversight.

And a trailer:


This news is definitely encouraging. Perhaps with more research and development, we could make this sort of game even more effective in treatment. This also goes to show the power that the medium can have on people, and how we can direct that towards positive goals.

Still, who could have guessed that fighting depression with gaming would make SPARX fly?

 

[FireGrey]

Now we just need this in a good game!

 

[emigre]

Guild really is a thinker for the future.

 

[Gundam Eclipse]

Whoa, this is pretty fucking awesome! Would love to see what comes up down the line, would be interesting to see what else stuff like this would help with >>
Also offtopic. but Gahars = one of USN's best posters D : You find amazing news like all the time D : andhavepunstogowithemwhichiswhyiusuallyreadthem

 

[Guild McCommunist]

Well they do help. I've had some rough times before and I do find that sometimes blowing a few heads off in a game makes you feel better. Sometimes instant gratification is all you need to make a shit day better.

 

[Lucifer666]

I think all that jitter in the video is quite depressing. Is the jitter intentional as part of the treatment, or is it just a not-so-high-quality game?

Other than that, pretty cool!

 

[jalaneme]

Well they do help. I've had some rough times before and I do find that sometimes blowing a few heads off in a game makes you feel better. Sometimes instant gratification is all you need to make a shit day better.

that's why i love to go and play gta san andreas once in a while, it lets off a lot of steam

 

[Eerpow]

Personally I think I would get depressed instead of the opposite if I had to play that game
But yeah, games are effective against depression I guess.

 

[Coto]

Games plus other stuff helps , but yeah they kinda help in these situations. In my case some OST from games

 

[Arnold Schwarzen]

To me they're a good short-term solution. Not as effective as having someone special in life like say a girlfriend which I do no longer have lol. Games can ease the pain for so long before you see the darkness again. Isolating yourself in your own personal cave is not a good thing at all but playing in moderation is good.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

I'd also like to make a side note that video games aren't really a way to deal with issues, it's just more of a way to unwind. I mean if you're sad then playing video games all day won't help, in fact you'll probably feel worse realizing you do nothing but play video games all day. It's just a good day to unwind from a bad day. Like when I had school, I would make sure to allot some time to play some video games before doing schoolwork or anything. It just kept my days from being all work and no play.

 

[Just Another Gamer]

To me they're a good short-term solution. Not as effective as having someone special in life like say a girlfriend which I do no longer have lol. Games can ease the pain for so long before you see the darkness again. Isolating yourself in your own personal cave is not a good thing at all but playing in moderation is good.

Well to some people isolating themselves and playing video games is their own way of coping and I doubt you would be sociable when your depressed anyway let alone try to build a relationship with other people while trying to kill yourself. I know that video games or anything isn't helping anyone's situation at all well it didn't help mine and if anything probably make it worse or slightly better but these things take time so during that alot of people just want ways to cope.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

To me they're a good short-term solution. Not as effective as having someone special in life like say a girlfriend which I do no longer have lol. Games can ease the pain for so long before you see the darkness again. Isolating yourself in your own personal cave is not a good thing at all but playing in moderation is good.

Well to some people isolating themselves and playing video games is their own way of coping and I doubt you would be sociable when your depressed anyway let alone try to build a relationship with other people while trying to kill yourself. I know that video games or anything isn't helping anyone's situation at all well it didn't help mine and if anything probably make it worse or slightly better but these things take time so during that alot of people just want ways to cope.

As I've said for multiple other topics, anything in excess is bad. Video games can be great if they don't become a prominent force in my life. I enjoy spending my free time on them as well as a few other hobbies but I try not to make it take over other aspects of my life like my social relationships, schoolwork, family, etc.

Like playing a bit of your favorite game a couple hours a day doesn't hurt, but sending entire days doing nothing but playing that game is rather bad for you.

 

[DaggerV]

Video games, some maker's mark, and that high school friend who is willing to stay with you in her underwear always did the job in the past. Give it a week and I'm back being a badass again.

 

[DS1]

This is about a game specifically designed for helping people through depression, not video games in general, correct?

 

[Guild McCommunist]

This is about a game specifically designed for helping people through depression, not video games in general, correct?

Yes but it's an interesting topic as video games can be used to make people a bit happier now and then.

 

[Gahars]

This is about a game specifically designed for helping people through depression, not video games in general, correct?

Yes it is, though I'd say discussing how video games in general have helped people work through issues is certainly relevant.

 

[DS1]

So long as video games weren't the cause of the depression in the first place *cough* MMOs. I don't know anything about depression though, so this is interesting.

 

[Just Another Gamer]

To me they're a good short-term solution. Not as effective as having someone special in life like say a girlfriend which I do no longer have lol. Games can ease the pain for so long before you see the darkness again. Isolating yourself in your own personal cave is not a good thing at all but playing in moderation is good.

Well to some people isolating themselves and playing video games is their own way of coping and I doubt you would be sociable when your depressed anyway let alone try to build a relationship with other people while trying to kill yourself. I know that video games or anything isn't helping anyone's situation at all well it didn't help mine and if anything probably make it worse or slightly better but these things take time so during that alot of people just want ways to cope.

As I've said for multiple other topics, anything in excess is bad. Video games can be great if they don't become a prominent force in my life. I enjoy spending my free time on them as well as a few other hobbies but I try not to make it take over other aspects of my life like my social relationships, schoolwork, family, etc.

Like playing a bit of your favorite game a couple hours a day doesn't hurt, but sending entire days doing nothing but playing that game is rather bad for you.

I never said it was good to play excessively but I did say for someone who is depressed they and I already know are not gonna feel sociable in the first place to even bother with forming or having social relationships and video games do provide a good escape while other factors help like waiting it out, take things slowly, doctors etc.

 

[Janthran]

But does it have multiplayer?