I don't think it's playing online games (or games period), that does any harm. Anyone should know not to put video games ahead of real life. The minute you start doing it, you should understand you have a problem. Some people have this way of finding any excuse they can for their behavior. In your case, it's video games and the internet.

You should talk to a psychiatrist about your problems. Because i'm sure online games are not the cause, only the excuse. And by the looks of it, you may have some sort of chemical imbalance. Depression is a chemical imbalance. And so are certain social anxiety disorders. In fact, most mental problems are simply chemical imbalances. Judging from my extensive experience in psychology, I think you could use some professional help.

If I broke my leg, I would go to the doctor to get it fixed. Seeing a psychiatrist is the same thing. But instead of breaking your leg, you break your brain. Most people get freaked out about seeing psychiatrists. They start getting paranoid and defensive about being crazy, as if they developed the disorder deliberately. But the truth is, it's exactly like accidentally breaking your leg. If it happens, it's not your fault, and you need to get it fixed or you'll be a gimp your whole life.

Depressions are not monocausal - they're not all caused by neurological anomalies.

i'm sorry to say this but you are very ignorant. drugs are not the answer to depression because in the end they don't fix shit. in fact they should only be used if the decision leads either to suicide or drugs.

the guy needs to get his life sorted rather than be all about self-pity. yes you may have liked to spent the last 5 years in a different way but it's over now and you got enough time to do anything you want from this very moment on.
so it's hard to meet people if you're not going out? guess what - go out and meet people. it may sound harsh but it's true in the end.
university is the one place to get in contact with other human beings. there are also lots of uni partys free for everyone which have the sole purpose of letting all the people who came from different places and don't know anyone at their uni get in social contact.
plus don't tell me it's actually hard to start talking to the girl near you in a lecture so boring you'd love to just smack your head on the table...

excellent advice.

Archive.

nice

Idiot. What's your extensive knowledge in psychology, please, do tell? Since if you did know anything about psychology, you'd know that not everything is related to brain chemistry.

I've been depressed for the very same reasons, but lately I've realized that the reason I put so much time into games was that I needed to waste time. I've started going out several times a week and am in a relationship for the first time in years - it does get better, so hang in there cyronix.

Depression isn't insanity - it's not craziness. Anyone who says they haven't been depressed is lying, but only the most extreme cases should see a psychiatrist. If you can't get out of bed for days on end and you start cutting yourself - THEN go to a psychiatrist, but first aid is always the best choice. Talk to friends, parents, and just sort yourself out before you go tell any outsider - usually it doesn't help anyway, as with my sister.

There is a difference between psychiatry and psychology.

sound advice, but I think depression is just as much of a crutch as the laughable 'online gaming' device. this is such a common problem and I certainly know a little about it. I used to have 200 people on my buddy list (maxed out constantly) and then I reduced it to 5. you push people away because you're cynical and you think you're above them. it's a mental problem - not a physiological problem.

i fucked up 2 of the most important years of my life, by smoking weed/playing q3 2 much, Doing my a levels and came out with shit grades! DOH!

You're outdated.

Same here so I laughed ;p

somtimes i feel like gaming is the only thing that keeps me sane.. i mean; if i just hang around i get bored very quickly and start flipping out, i need something to chew on besides school :)

If you focus on one thing i can't see how you can't make friends.. i mean if you play games, go to lan parties and meet other gamers? if you study a subject you'r interested in you will meet ppl that you can connect with? the people i know i'm gonna hang out with in the future are ppl with my interests. ofc you have family and good ol pals, but the ones you gonna be spending most of your workdays with are the guys at work. it's strange tho, maybe i was lucky, maybe it's because i'm younger, but about 70% of the guys at my school play games. girls are a problem tho.. maybe just going to random parties with good ol pals :]

your situation sounded very very familiar, especially cause the game involved was (and still is) quake2 for me too :)


i think the only solution is to take distance, being less involved into the whole gaming-irc-forums thing, also you shouldn't be affraid or ashamed to talk about your passion for online gaming to people. When you keep that for you, you just get locked in your own world and the vicious circle is there.

the first step is to talk about it with people who are close to you or who you can trust (people who won't mock you or threat you like a sick internet junkie). No need to discuss your latest ownage with them either cause they will find you boring then but if you explain them a little bit what's it's about, you will feel less "guilty" about it.

then as said above, you should change your mind. Partying helps a lot, meeting new people, going to new places etc.
The most effective cure is a girlfriend tho :)

yeah, agree.. my brother is 25 now; he went on a trip around the world at like 21 or so.. went hitchhiking all over the place for about 7 months or so. In addition to seeing lots of new places and getting away from the computer (geeek), he also got a girlfriend from estonia.. he met her hitchhiking in turkey or smt, they'r still together ..

MY recommendation to you.

Build out your 3d graphics card, if you still have one. Never game again (for a few years at least). You will never reach the same levels of pleasure from gaming, unless you dedicate as much time as you did with Quake 2. (which you do not want due to its sideeffects on your real life)

The only thing you can do now, is place yourself in situations where you meet as many people as possible. My advice would be to join as many of the "clubs" (sports, Aiese etc...) that the universtiy has to offer. Even ones you initially might not like. After all the goal is to meet people, and who cares what the activity is?

Remember it takes time to get to know people, often these people already have their "group of friends" so you will have to probably put more effort to keep a relationship going, initially.

At the end of the day it really is up to you. University is the easiest and best chance of meeting people from your peer group. You will never be in a situation like that again. There really is no excuse not to find friends. The only problem is that it will take time. Relationships are normally not built over night. It takes a while to get to know a person.

btw those people who say you meet people when you "go out", that is true. How ever I do not believe you will make friends with people in a bar, and I think it is easier to get to know people outside of bars.

P.S. The best place to pick up chicks at any university is are the libaries. gl have fun.

no, no.. the problem isn't online-gaming, it's just that you're an anti-social freakbag like the rest of us.

of course it's just a phase that will pass. this is often a side effect when you're so cynical of people and their intentions that you detach yourself from reality, never feeling the need to connect with other humans on a personal level again. it happens early in childhood.
don't worry about it son, it's not your fault.

P.S. on a third, serious note:

ok, you gave up on life. you're too advanced. you're too good for everybody else.
no, you're not. neither am I but I choose to believe I am even though I realize the truth.
you're not special. you're just another person. you need to learn that people aren't bad and you're not better than them. stop being so selfish. connect with people. then listen to pink floyd. for word.

Holy shit, I agree.

holy shit daryl i never thought u could post something like this... respect.

I always post things like that, you just don't look for it. (in fact I prepared this post 24 hours in advance!!! booya)

Archive.

You're a good example of what daryl was talking about, people who think they have all the answers. You remain funny sometimes though, the only quality you appear to have left.

Actually, daryl is also a good example what daryl was talking about.

I think Brandan is quite funny

When I was reading parts of some of his columns (until today haven't managed to read one until the end), was always thinking how is possible for someone to write such bullshit after bullshit ... and I found why.

The guy is writting all this crap nonsense in purpose. He is doing it to make fun of ppl. He is thinking "I am writting all this bunch of crap that even I don't know what the hell I am saying and the morons that read them, they found them clever and they even plus me ... hahaha". And each time challenges himself to write even more bullshit and get away with it.

I really give him credit for that. None would have been writting such bullshit columns for real and I am amazed that he has tricked so many ppl and they haven't understand that he speaks nonsense in purpose

gg brandan

yeah i suppose your right, lets tell all paralysed people to shut up and run the london marathon.

shutup idiot

thats just ignorant bs

I just wanted to give you a feeling of the situation I'm in.
It's moreover meant as a warning for some younger readers, whose relation to onlinegames is online only, it's not really a call for help, but I like your advices and it's good to see that some people care.
Gaming is not anymore the problem, I quit it quite a long time ago.
It's moreover the consequences of my wasted youth I'm dealing with. Gaming is just another factor that led to the situation I'm in, there are also factors such as the contrast between my 2nd school and my childhood ... but I'd say that the impact of Online gaming to my current Situation was still about 25 % and that is quite much. It's not that unprobable that if didn't do onlinegaming and did instead some reallife activity I wouldn't be in the situation I'm in now ... the older you get ... the harder it gets ... I'm 22 now, I'm not anymore 14 to 15 ... all the people in my age I meet ... they have already a social position and friends they stick to and an experienced social backround ...
people are not anymore as unstable as in earlier years ... they are more superficial, they do not really search friends ... they just do some finetuning in their system ... and they prefer people with social experience ... but of course there also some people that are more like me ... it's just a bad situation I'm in... I will go on my way and I hope get out of this shit somehow.

I don't know if gaming had a bad effect on you, but your thoughts seem very mature and clever.

gl

I'm 22 as well, and go to university but the rest is slightly different. I dont have many friends but they are the best ones I could imagine, but still they aren't many. With the rather small circle of friends comes a lack of females, however I'm catching up on this, but still it's hard. I only got my own pc when i was 18 which had rather bad effects but I spent way too much time in front of it, now it's better, but still the time i spend in front of it could be used for building more relationships with people.

In the end, I realize my life is wonderful even if I had no girlfriend in years and have only few friends. I'm healthy and in the best shape of my life, my family is great and supports me and my future is a total blur but it looks good nonetheless.

Reading "Krishnamurti - Freedom from the known" helped me answering my own questions (doubts) that made my life miserable at times. A really recommended read.

duno how u can be both to read and write all this crap, tbh, imo!!neoeoenoenoasdffffff

cyronix i see what your struggling with, im 17 now and tbh i don't mind new friends.. my friends have other interests than me tho i know them whole my life they still cba what i do.. and no way there are ppl @ this age who're in the need of friends.. it's like this when u never played any onlinegames seriously, you wouldn't have spend so much time to it and wouldnt even know what the fuck it was.. i wish i never started.. it is true what they say gaming fucks you up

you could call my friends : "doyouhavesomethingtooffertome-friends" else they care shit about you.

Not sure if it has affected your life but one thing is for sure.

Your 'formatting a text in a readable fashion' skills clearly did get affected

get some self confidence and you will be fine, it'll get better tomorrow, it always does... gotta go now

There was this bum that wandered around in the lil town i used to live in.
One day, he won a nice little amount of money at the lottery. He didnt get really rich, but still. He even found his daughter back, and he started living a brand new life, he wasnt a bum anymore and looked happy n all.
A few weeks later, he got hit by a car and died

:|

the moral of the story is: once a bum, always a bum.
no, no, no wait..
the moral of the story is: don't have children???

well you tell me!

but a few weeks isnt tomorrow :(

:D

...
..........
..
....
.. . . . .
...............