Playing Video Games When Depressed

There are a slew of studies that have showcased a connection between aggression in adolescents and playing violent video games (most studies have shown it to be short-term aggression, and no causalities in terms of causing real world violence). However, what about a link between playing video games and depression? While the consensus seems to be that playing video games can make depression worse, the true answer isn’t so easy.

A study performed by Susan Tortorello et. al explored this possibility and found that adolescents playing violent video games for 2+ hours a day seemed to exacerbate depressive symptoms like lacking interest in pleasure activities, feeling low energy and self worth, and increasing suicidal ideations. Test subjects were evaluated with the Major Depressive Disorder Scale of the DISC Predictive Scales (for more information on what the test evaluates, click here). The subjects studied were compared to adolescents playing non-violent…