Depression Symptoms in Men & Teenage Boys
The Level 1 Gamer always feels down and sad. He doesn’t enjoy gaming or his other hobbies anymore. He barely has any energy during the day and feels tired. He can’t concentrate in class or his work and his performance suffers, but he doesn’t care. Family members notice he’s different and try to motivate him, but he just brushes them off. He even has thoughts of not wanting to be alive sometimes. And all of this is ruining his future potential because he has no idea he’s even depressed.
The Level 100 Gamer knows he has depression but he’s been diagnosed and treated. People comment how happy and positive he is. He’s always motivated in his schoolwork or career. He’s got a normal appetite and eats a healthy diet. He gets 8-9 hours of sleep / night and always feels rested. He loves gaming with the boys. And best of all, his family and friends notice how much more joyful he seems and he’s happy about it.
Jim (fake name) was a 16 year old gamer who loved playing League of Legends. At first he played casually, but then started playing all night. He’d come home from school and immediately sleep until 8 pm, missing dinner with his family. He’d then stay up playing League late into the night while binging snacks. He was always tired during the day. His school grades dropped cause he kept falling asleep in class. Whenever his mom would bring it up, he’d get mad and storm out the room. When I saw him, he shied away from the camera, kept looking down and spoke in a low voice. His hair was matted and he wore a baggy sweatshirt. He was very clearly depressed.
After treatment in 6 months, he’d quit playing League of Legends. His grades went up from D’s to B’s and he passed his grade (not having to repeat!). He’d lost 10 pounds because he started walking daily with his parents. His mom commented he seemed much happier and didn’t snap anymore. And a few months later, he was able to come off his medication.
I see depression all the time, both in teens and adults. Untreated depression is an epidemic. It’s even easier to go unrecognized in gamers because we isolate in our rooms to our games anyway. Often its our parents or partners who notice these symptoms in us.
Here’s the most common symptoms of Depression in Men & Teens:
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We feel down, sad, empty or hopeless for most of the day, nearly every day. Other people may notice and comment. We might have some bright flashes but they go back to sadness. Teens often get irritable for no reason.
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We don’t enjoy things we used to anymore, or they don’t give us the same pleasure. Other people can notice this. We can often feel like we’re forcing ourselves to like something.
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We gain or lose weight without even trying. We often binge eat or not eat at all. Food doesn’t taste the same anymore, and can often feel gross.
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We have trouble falling asleep most nights. Or the opposite where where sleep too much, especially during the day.
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We have a lot of “nervous energy” and people think we’re on edge. Or we’re feeling slow and brain fogged, and people comment we’re moving super slow.
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We feel tired and low energy almost every day.
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We feel useless, worthless, or hopeless. Or we feel guilty about things that aren’t even our fault. Or have a tremendous amount of guilt for something that should be a minor thing.
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We can barely concentrate at school, work or our career. People talk to us and we don’t even notice. We make stupid mistakes we normally wouldn’t. It takes us 5 minutes to make a simple decision.
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We keep thinking what it would be like if we were dead. We get thoughts wishing we were dead, or wanting to kill ourselves. We might even think about how we’d do it. Or we start putting the plan in motion. We may have even written a suicide note before in our journal or our phone.
If you’re reading this and it sounds like you or your son, you’re not alone. Depression is very common and under-recognized. Especially for a young gamer who already isolates in his room. Untreated it costs us our school, career, and relationships. It sucks.
But we can’t make excuses for it either. Any problem we have, we take the right action to fix it. For ourselves and our sons.
It takes a full psychiatric evaluation by a highly trained mental health clinician to assess for Depression. I’m a psychiatrist who’s mission is to help gamers beat their loneliness by fixing their mental health. I specialize in treating gamers with depression, anxiety, ADHD and video game addiction. If you want to get assessed for Depression, CLICK HERE to book your free consult call.
Remember, real life is the video game.
So let’s level up.
Agam
