Do video games cause schizophrenia and delusional disorders?

I'd be interested in hearing more research on this subject.

From a layman's perspective I can see how young people playing video games for hours on end could lead to the influence of delusional disorders such as schizophrenia later in life. Because video games can over-stimulate a young person's imagination - and the entire concept of video games is to play make-believe and pretend to be something you aren't (whether it's a superhero, a jet fighter pilot, a pro-athlete, the general of your own army, etc). A young person spending most of their time in the fantasy world of video games, could hyper-stimulate their imagination, and by influencing them from a young age to think that they're a "superhero/fighter pilot/pro-athlete/wizard/military commander/etc" even though they're simply sitting in their chair staring at images of light while pressing plastic buttons - could lead to them having delusions of grandeur, or believing that they have "special powers" or are some "chosen individual" later in life, as well as keeping them withdrawn from reality by isolating them in their room.

I'd love to see more psychological research devoted to this. Video games have only been around for about 30 years or so (and the internet even less than that), so I'm sure that it's influence on childrens' psychology is still a field of research more or less uncharted.

 

Bahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

 

I'm not sure about delusions of grandeur, but at minimum they can lead to obesity and myopia...(near sightedness).

Everything in moderation.
If folks like video games, play them...just set limits on the amount of time you play per week.

 

It's a myth that sitting in front of a TV or computer screen damages your eyesight.

 

Did I strike a nerve?

Why is it that atheists are only in favor of scientific research if it fits their views? There's been no scientific research on this subject at all that I know of, yet you're ready to dismiss it without research simply because you don't like the hypothesis.

I bet if you had lived in the 1950s and been a smoker, you'd have opposed research that showed that smoking causes cancer.

It just shows that atheists are only "into science" because it's "trendy" and aren't seriously interested in true scientific research at all.

 

No it isn't - you simply don't like the conclusion because my bet is that you spend 8 hours a day or more in front of a computer or video game. So you're not that far off from being a Young Earth Creationist - dismissing scientific fact, or new scientific hypotheses just because you don't like what they say or suggest.

 

No, there has been heaps.

 

Being indoors may be a contributing factor to myopia, where did I state explicitly that the monitor or televsion caused the myopia...?
being indoors and sedentary is also a contributing factor to obesity...
which is why I advised moderation in gaming...Go out and get some fresh air and sunshine also...

More recently, an Australian study found that children who spend more time outside don't develop myopia as often as children who spend more time indoors. The study compared two groups of children. Both groups spent an equal amount of time watching television, reading and playing computer games. However, one group spent only 30 minutes a day outside, while the other group spent about two hours outside. The second group had much fewer instances of myopia, leading researchers to believe that the sun may help regulate growth of the eyeball during childhood.

 

No, it's a myth.

Not putting on warm clothing also won't cause you to catch a cold.

 

There hasn't been any research on the hypothesis I suggested - you dismissed it right off the bat without any studies being done simply because you don't like what it says.

So either put up some studies that show my hypothesis is wrong, or quit wasting time here.

 

You were replying to something about sitting in front of a TV screen or computer monitor.

 

Let's see a source then.

 

Are All Christians Schizophrenic? Religious People Fit Classic Symptoms of Mental Disease

No, its seems that christianity causes schizophrenia and delusional disorders.

 

People who attend church regularly show better mental health than those who don't:

http://www.reasons.org/articles/religion-and-mental-health-going-to-church-is-good-for-you

 

Try a 3rd party source for information for once.

 

I saw a doco where they put highly religious people and skitzo people in an MRI. Doctors couldn't tell the difference.

 

iF you could find a link to that, that would be awesome!

 

Try a real source, period - instead of a personal blog by a user called "Powerful Allah".

http://www.reasons.org/articles/religion-and-mental-health-going-to-church-is-good-for-you

For example, last year two psychologists, Rita W. Law and David A. Sbarra, published a study looking at the rates of mood disorders in a large population of people (n=791).1 They looked at the rates of mood disorders in an elderly population (mean age =75.6 initially) over eight years in relation to the rates of church attendance. This study was designed to examine the relationship between church attendance, marital status, gender, and the occurrence of depressed mood among the elderly.

Religious affiliations were reported as follows:
29.6% Anglican
27.9% United Church of Christ
17.4% Other (but 96% of these were of a Protestant or Catholic denomination)
12.4 % Catholic
11.3% None
1.3% Orthodox

To establish the degree of church attendance, the researchers posed the question, “How often have you attended religious services or meetings?” Participants chose one of four response options: never, about once a month, about once a fortnight, and once a week or more. The researchers found that about 42% were non-goers, 25% were consistent goers, 13% were inconsistent goers, and 21% didn’t provide complete information.

Depressed mood was measured with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale.2 Higher CES-D scores (max score of 60) indicate more depressive symptoms. Law and Sbarra found that the percentage of folks with scores of 16 or higher increased from 8.9% initially to 16.1% at the last point in the study. The study used multilevel modeling to assess this change...

 

Me too. I'd love to see it again. Didn't watch it on the net though.

It makes sense though.

Highly religious people hear voices and think someone is telling them something. They see things, etc.

So do skitzo people!

The other cool thing is that scientists can use magnets and make people experience religious feelings.

 

I dont give a (*)(*)(*)(*) what "reasons.org" says. Obviously that will be a biased web site. Try again!

 

Read Epicurus. His philosophy will solve all your problems.

 

Most religious people do not literally "hear voices", and those that do had schizophrenia or a delusional disorder to begin with.

You sound really young and naive so I'll try to bear with you.

 

My theory is based on science and is not related to religion - my guess is that you immediately just thought of fundie pastors who think that a kid who plays "Doom" is going to become a HS shooter, and didn't even bother to read the thread.

 

It'd be nice if you had a grasp on lilteracy. You must be young so I'll try to bear with you.

 

Awwww