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Games cause depression - The Sun
http://www.x404.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=7188		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  pcernie [ Tue Mar 23, 2010 1:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Games cause depression - The Sun
Quote:
A 'leading psychologist' has claimed that video games are addictive and cause depression in The Sun newspaper.

Steve Pope wrote in Saturday's newspaper that Modern Warfare was "highly addictive" and that games were "one reason we are becoming more violent" as a society.

Pope's claims come after actress-come-'sexpert' Julie Peasgood said that video games "promote racism" on ITV1's Alan Titchmarsh Show - a comment disputed by CVG on air.

Pope wrote: 'Last year a premier league football club called me in to try to find out why the players weren't playing well in away games. I found that on the coaches to the matches they were all playing computer games.'

He later adds: 'One of the games causing many problems is the warfare series Call Of Duty. It is highly addictive and people play for hours on end. They spend all day killing people, then come off it and have to go about their daily business. I believe such games are one reason we are getting more violent.'

In one final swipe, he comments: 'I've got several patients who are what would be clinically termed addicted to... computer games. These things set the brain up for a pattern of gross fluctuation, too many highs and lows. For a short time, they can make people feel valued and boost their self-esteem. When they realise these feelings don't last, some people - particularly youngsters - can become down, even having feelings of depression.'


http://www.computerandvideogames.com/ar ... ?id=239855

Can just anyone be a psychologist these days? Or has The Sun been very selective about this guy's findings? :oops:
Author:  jonbwfc [ Tue Mar 23, 2010 1:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Games cause depression - The Sun
pcernie wrote:
Can just anyone be a psychologist these days? Or has The Sun been very selective about this guy's findings? :oops:

Anyone can claim to be a psychologist because the term has no legal meaning, however there is such as thing as a chartered psychologist, which is a bit like a chartered engineer in that they have to do work that conforms to certain standards and have certain qualifications. Claiming top be a chartered psychologist when you aren't one is actually a criminal offence.

Hmm. Assuming this is the same people - http://www.stevepopeassociates.co.uk/- then the Sun has, amazingly, got their facts wrong. To quote their web site

"Steve Pope Associates is a team of psychotherapists, counsellors and life coaches" ... specialising in ... "Treatment of addiction and mental distress".

A psychotherapist is not a psychologist, like a doctor may prescribe drugs but is not a trained biochemist. Psychotherapists and Counsellors train in certain techniques which are based in psychology to treat patients but they don't necessarily have any formal psychology training. And don't get me started on 'life coaches'.

So in summary, I doubt very much that Steve Pope is a chartered psychologist but I equally doubt he's ever claimed to be, I suspect it's more likely the relevant Sun journo either doesn't recognise the difference or is too lazy to fact check his articles.

Yours, a member of the British Psychological Society.
Author:  belchingmatt [ Tue Mar 23, 2010 1:28 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Games cause depression - The Sun
The guy would probably find that reading certain media brings joy, happiness and freely formed opinion if you paid him to.
Author:  Amnesia10 [ Tue Mar 23, 2010 1:34 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Games cause depression - The Sun
Games promoting racism? Wow I never saw that coming. I play strategy games all the time and never once has a racist though come into my head as I kill the vikings, or americans or what ever nationality is in my particular game.
Author:  pcernie [ Tue Mar 23, 2010 1:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Games cause depression - The Sun
Amnesia10 wrote:
Games promoting racism? Wow I never saw that coming. I play strategy games all the time and never once has a racist though come into my head as I kill the vikings, or americans or what ever nationality is in my particular game.


Resi was accused of racism cos you had to shoot black zombies. In Africa, I believe :roll:
Author:  Fogmeister [ Tue Mar 23, 2010 1:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Games cause depression - The Sun
I prefer this outlook on gaming... http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal ... world.html

Worth watching if you have 20 mins spare.
Author:  Linux_User [ Tue Mar 23, 2010 4:51 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Games cause depression - The Sun
pcernie wrote:
Amnesia10 wrote:
Games promoting racism? Wow I never saw that coming. I play strategy games all the time and never once has a racist though come into my head as I kill the vikings, or americans or what ever nationality is in my particular game.


Resi was accused of racism cos you had to shoot black zombies. In Africa, I believe :roll:


Presumably GTA is OK then, since I can murder people of every colour. :roll:
Author:  belchingmatt [ Tue Mar 23, 2010 6:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Games cause depression - The Sun
Linux_User wrote:
Presumably GTA is OK then, since I can murder people of every colour. :roll:

As long as your spree is indiscriminate then you have nothing to worry about. ;)
Author:  Fogmeister [ Tue Mar 23, 2010 9:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Games cause depression - The Sun
belchingmatt wrote:
Linux_User wrote:
Presumably GTA is OK then, since I can murder people of every colour. :roll:

As long as your spree is indiscriminate then you have nothing to worry about. ;)

How about multiple discriminatory sprees?

i.e. round 1, see how many black guys you can kill.
round 2, see how many Jews you can kill.
etc...
Author:  Amnesia10 [ Tue Mar 23, 2010 9:35 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Games cause depression - The Sun
Fogmeister wrote:
How about multiple discriminatory sprees?

i.e. round 1, see how many black guys you can kill.
round 2, see how many Jews you can kill.
etc...

Still racist if there are no multiple white killing sprees. Inevitably you will miss out one group or another. Then there will be the gay killing spree and the straight killing spree to avoid sexual discrimination. :D
Author:  JJW009 [ Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:13 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Games cause depression - The Sun
Sounds a lot like Snooker.

First you knock off the reds, then all the coloured saving the black till last.

At the end, only the white is on the table.
Author:  Linux_User [ Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:18 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Games cause depression - The Sun
JJW009 wrote:
Sounds a lot like Snooker.

First you knock off the reds, then all the coloured saving the black till last.

At the end, only the white is on the table.


LOL! A civilised analogy for organised genocide. :lol:
Author:  belchingmatt [ Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:18 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Games cause depression - The Sun
JJW009 wrote:
Sounds a lot like Snooker.

First you knock off the reds, then all the coloured saving the black till last.

At the end, only the white is on the table.


:shock:
Author:  Amnesia10 [ Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:55 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Games cause depression - The Sun
Linux_User wrote:
JJW009 wrote:
Sounds a lot like Snooker.

First you knock off the reds, then all the coloured saving the black till last.

At the end, only the white is on the table.


LOL! A civilised analogy for organised genocide. :lol:

+1 :D
Author:  LaptopAcidXperience [ Wed Mar 24, 2010 2:09 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Games cause depression - The Sun
The snooker analogy is awesome, very funny, it's going in my notebook.

As a player of MW2 I would have to agree to a certain extent, it is highly addictive and if I don't play well online I get very angry, although my girlfriend (a chartered psychologist) says this is due to my competitive and aggressive nature. I do actually think society is getting more violent, whether the two are connected or not I don't know.

Funnily enough, I can never get passed the first level of MW2 campaign as I keep shooting the Jewish soldiers in my unit because I don't trust them.
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