2 hours a week? I guess I'm set for a few hundred years with of mental work.<p>Although if I had to guess this would probably be more related to elderly people doing mental work that stimulates new connections. If a young person today who had been playing games their whole life were to try it when they were old it probably wouldn't have the same effect because they would be so used to those mental stimulation.<p>Just a thought from a person who knows nothing about this field.
You would expect this, because SSRIs perform no better than placebo except in cases of extreme depression.<p><a href="http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=185157" rel="nofollow">http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=185157</a>
Original article: <a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140805/ncomms5579/full/ncomms5579.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140805/ncomms5579/full/nco...</a><p>It seems like they are currently preparing a study comparing the efficacy of computer games and general computer work with regard to reducing elderly depression:
<a href="http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT01979289" rel="nofollow">http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT01979289</a>
Why should a medication which is designed to lift the symptoms but has nothing to do with the causes be better than a simplest CBT, even if it is mere distraction?
SPARX is a game from New Zealand designed to teach basic CBT techniques to teens.<p><a href="http://www.beckinstituteblog.org/2012/04/a-computerized-cognitive-behavioral-therapy-intervention-for-adolescents/" rel="nofollow">http://www.beckinstituteblog.org/2012/04/a-computerized-cogn...</a><p>There's a niche in the market.
I'd be interested to know what their lifestyle is, are they spending the majority of their lives watching insipid TV? (That would certainly be enough to depress me...)
there's also this research about casual games seducing depression and anxiety:<p><a href="http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/123495/Study_Finds_Casual_Games_Reduce_Depression_Anxiety_Symptoms.php" rel="nofollow">http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/123495/Study_Finds_Casual...</a><p>The key question is why:is it only the distraction ,because its known that distraction is helpful against depression , or is also something else ? and how best is to design such games ?