Poll of the Day > Not gaming as a gamer...depression?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm starting to wonder if some depression is really creeping into my life.
My interest in gaming has like greatly diminished in the past year. A good part of that is one of my consoles is in need of repair (and is finally getting it).
otherwise, i have been reading a lot more. I feel like that's a good thing, to read, but I think back to questions doctors ask like "do you lack interest in hobbies" or something along those lines.
I have a few other consoles i could play, but generally don't. I should be seeing my doctor within a couple months, so I'll bring it up to him.

Anyone experience this before? I'm hoping having my console fixed will get me to return to gaming but...IDK.

I just find my free time now is too restrictive to really get invested like I used to. I love games perhaps more than ever, but if I only get a few hours per week to play and there are distractions and interruptions etc, I just would sometimes rather do something else.

Every once in a while something like Zelda TOTK comes out and I just consoom the hell out of it and it takes me back to the old days where I don't give a shit and just game game game.

Liking games doesn't mean you have to make them a constant part of your life. It's totally normal to take extended breaks, especially if you're spending that time on other hobbies you enjoy too.

Yeah it's pretty normal. It can be a good thing to take a break for a while, months or years, then one day come back when a particularly interesting game comes out which you feel really excited for (for me it was Forza Horizon 3).

i haven't played an actual visual novel for years now but yet i still consider myself that to be my favorite hobby

it's fine, interest and time availability just cycle

I don't think gaming less in and of itself is indicative of anything meaningful. The real question is why you're gaming less.

Is your interest diminishing because most modern games kind of suck, and you've played older games so often that you're kind of bored of them? That would be pretty valid. Are you losing interest because of circumstance (there always feels like there's something else you could be doing/watching/experiencing)? That's more replacing one interest with another (like reading), so it's not really losing interest as much as it is changing interest.

Don't look at what you're doing specifically, as much as what you're doing in general. Would you say your engagement with life as a whole is decreased? Or are you just playing fewer video games but engaging with other things?

And even if you aren't engaging in general as much as you used to, that doesn't necessarily mean it's a case of depression. It could be a case of lower energy as you get older (it happens). Or that the demands of the rest of your life are taking more of your focus so you have less time/motivation for personal leisure activities. Or you could just be stuck in a rut (repetitive behavior can desensitize you to enjoyment of behaviors that you used to enjoy more). Or you might just be growing out of gaming as a hobby (it happens sometimes).

Basically, ask yourself what you're doing with all the time now that you used to spend gaming. If you're replacing gaming with other things, you're probably fine. I'd only really start worrying about depression if you're not really replacing it with anything at all.



pedro45 posted...

otherwise, i have been reading a lot more. I feel like that's a good thing, to read, but I think back to questions doctors ask like "do you lack interest in hobbies" or something along those lines

Reading is a hobby.

So is watching TV/Internet videos (even if that's more passive than gaming). Or being more active on social media. Or even just socializing with actual humans if you're one of those sick freaks who has somehow managed to meet people in the real world and engage in a "social life".

We can talk about how healthy those particular hobbies/activities are (that's an entirely different discussion), but transferring your attention to other things isn't the same as losing interest in everything, which is more the case when you're talking about depression.



pedro45 posted...

I should be seeing my doctor within a couple months, so I'll bring it up to him.

If it's something you're worried about, definitely bring it up. Best case scenario he tells you there's nothing to worry about and maybe just exercise a bit or try to get outside more. And if there is something to be worried about (which can include stuff like diabetes or low-iron/anemia and not just straight-up depression) , he can potentially help you solve it.

acesxhigh posted...

I just find my free time now is too restrictive to really get invested like I used to. I love games perhaps more than ever, but if I only get a few hours per week to play and there are distractions and interruptions etc, I just would sometimes rather do something else.

Yeah, this is definitely a problem with gaming. Many games become significantly less enjoyable or even impossible to play if your free time is too fragmented, even if the total amount of available time seems like it should be fine. There are others that are designed to be played in shorter bursts, with low-commitment time wasters like Minesweeper and Solitaire being obvious extreme examples of that, but for those that would rather be playing more substantial games that can feel like such a downgrade as to be disheartening and kill your motivation to game because it feels like you're just paying them for the sake of playing something. Subsequent to that, even if you do get a few decent chunks of time to play, if that's too infrequent, it can interfere with your ability to enjoy games you used to find fun. If you only get 3 hours a week to play, for example, a 100-hour RPG becomes pretty daunting and you may struggle to keep up the momentum needed to get through it.

If that's contributing to your lack of desire to game, see if you can reorganize any of the other life demands that are interrupting you. You'll probably never fully fix the issue, but you may be able to consolidate more time than you think.

I take breaks from games for a while. Or mix in other stuff Like Ive been reading quite a bit more these days I feel like I might as well since I got the Kindle monthly plan for books for no extra cost if they are on the list That said, with the switch, I have more time to game since I play them at work quite often

My time has gotten pretty sparse so I can't hit the big games for hours on end like I used to, but getting the Steam Deck and switching to smaller games that are easier to pick up and drop on a whim has helped me get some gaming in when I can. Really been hitting roguelites/likes lately because it's easy to pause it mid run and pick it back up later.

I always chalked it up to old age for losing interest because other old people at work do boring stuff like watch csi and celebrity news

PO said what makes the most sense to me.

I get it's probably changing interests, but I want to game, i just...don't. Books and comics are easier to just open. I'll try to monitor my staring off into the distance and doing nothing.

pedro45 posted...

I get it's probably changing interests, but I want to game

That's not necessarily the right mindset. Approaching it with "I want to game" treats it as more of an obligation than something you really enjoy doing, like you feel you should be playing something because you identify as a gamer. Instead, it should be a matter of wanting to play one or more specific games, or at least having a vague idea of what you're in the mood for.

Basically, play a game because you want to play a game, not because you're a gamer. Labels describe, not define.

I want to play rbi baseball and road rash and gain ground and sonic adventure. That's all possible. Oh, and The Return of the King on gba.
Maybe i am just overwhelming myself with options.
I really wanna play some guardian heroes and world series baseball 98 and nights into dreams, but my Saturn is in the shop.
I don't want to game to identify as one, i just don't feel the motivation and power to sort of.

I don't have the exact same problem but I do find myself gaming less these days. I'm still interested in gaming it's just I have to be in the mood to actually sit and play them. I wouldn't say it's depression it's just other things catch my interest.

pedro45 posted...

I want to play rbi baseball

I love that this was your first example...and here's hoping you're talking about the NES original. I've probably played 1,000 games in my life. That said, there's only so long your brain can be interested in that (particularly as a one-player game).

I want to game and I have spare time at night during which I could do so, but I find myself increasingly uninterested in new releases outside of a few. Is it a problem with me or the industry...it's hard to say. In my case there is probably some depression involved, but I don't think I would suddenly be playing another hundred games of RBI baseball if that went away...your brain does need new interests (at the very least new games) from time to time.

I notice that my mental health nosedives when I don't have a good gaming project, which is sad, but that's where I seem to be at the moment. Octopath 2 and Tears are coming soon in my case, for better or worse, and I think they might be new releases I can get onboard with.

pedro45 posted...

I want to play rbi baseball and road rash and gain ground and sonic adventure. That's all possible. Oh, and The Return of the King on gba.
Maybe i am just overwhelming myself with options.
I really wanna play some guardian heroes and world series baseball 98 and nights into dreams, but my Saturn is in the shop.
I don't want to game to identify as one, i just don't feel the motivation and power to sort of.

You can still play those games if you really want to.

pedro45 posted...

I want to play rbi baseball and road rash and gain ground and sonic adventure. That's all possible. Oh, and The Return of the King on gba.
Maybe i am just overwhelming myself with options.
I really wanna play some guardian heroes and world series baseball 98 and nights into dreams, but my Saturn is in the shop.
I don't want to game to identify as one, i just don't feel the motivation and power to sort of.

Did you know that emulators are 100% legal as long as they don't use any of the console's original code? https://www.zophar.net/saturn.html And they can all run games off discs. Don't have a the disc? Well I'm sure you can figure something out. I know its not the same as playing the real thing, but if you cant, then its a nice substitute.

waterdeepchu posted...

Did you know that emulators are 100% legal as long as they don't use any of the console's original code? https://www.zophar.net/saturn.html And they can all run games off discs. Don't have a the disc? Well I'm sure you can figure something out. I know its not the same as playing the real thing, but if you cant, then its a nice substitute.

I have never heard of that before. You'll probably get modded anyway.

pedro45 posted...

Maybe i am just overwhelming myself with options.

That can also be an issue. If you find yourself struggling to decide where to start, just roll a die or something to pick for you before you feel overwhelmed.

acesxhigh posted...

I just find my free time now is too restrictive to really get invested like I used to. I love games perhaps more than ever, but if I only get a few hours per week to play and there are distractions and interruptions etc, I just would sometimes rather do something else.

Every once in a while something like Zelda TOTK comes out and I just consoom the hell out of it and it takes me back to the old days where I don't give a shit and just game game game.

Yeah for me too I get this nagging feeling I should be doing other things and can't bring myself to game (like cleaning thr house) and I procrastinate on stuff like that so sometimes I never get around to gaming

For me it was because I wasn't playing the right games, was getting tired of a series that was stagnating.

I found indie games and rarely ever play anything else now. Satisfactory, SYNTHETIC, Risk of Rain 2, hades, Valheim, interesting and random games that have a 98% on Steam make me feel like a kid again.

My gaming habits really picked back up after I stopped drinking.

I cant even imagine playing video games anymore

how did I spend so much time doing something, how did I spend so much time inside

Yea the triple A games that people hype up Arv questions peoples tastes in games Arv plays all sorts of games from triple A to indie