Thoughts on Take This Project – Outlet for Gamers Battling Depression

Last month, a freelance writer for the video game industry (wrote about video games, didn’t write video games) committed suicide after succumbing to depression. It was absolutely tragic, but from the ashes of his death, a group of gaming writers banded together to form the Take This project as a way to let gamers know that if they are suffering from depression, they aren’t alone. Everyone who is part of the project battles depression either intermittently or chronically, and they want all gamers and gaming writers to know they have a group of people they can talk to about what they are going through. If this project is able to stop one more person from committing suicide, then it’s undoubtedly a success.

I do not suffer from depression, but I’ve been diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder, which often leads to depression when my anxiety spirals out of control and I feel helpless/hopeless to resolve the stress. As someone who deals with depression every now and then, it’s nice to see that I’m not alone in this fight to be sure, even with people who are doing very well in the writing part of the video game industry. It doesn’t surprise me that so many gamers deal with depression, as gaming is a form of escapism, and most people who deal with depression and anxiety often delve into some type of escapism to well, escape what is making them so depressed or stressed. (When these gamers stop gaming because it’s no longer as enjoyable, that’s a major warning sign that the depression is in full swing and things are going downhill.)

One problem I see with Take This, however, is that most people, especially me, when they are hitting a depression low, they don’t want to talk about their problems with others. When I’m depressed, I don’t want to burden anyone with my problems, because they’re my problems. Seriously, who wants to hear about my problems? Sure, I’ll bore anyone with stories of the near car accident I was in that day or the ridiculous laptop drama I endured. But my real problems? No one needs to hear about that. That’s my thing to fix and/or get over.

Also, there is the fear that if I do talk what I’m going through, I’m going to get a baffled response from friends/family who will simply say, “Just fix it then,” or “Why can’t you just get over it?” This fear is worse when the depression is triggered by something most people will consider trivial, as not all depression is over something life-changing or nerve-wracking. In fact, it’s easier to discuss why you’re depressed when it is over something major. For example, when I found myself exceedingly depressed over Mufasa’s death, to the point that I refused to leave my room or turn on the lights in my room or get out of bed for that matter, if I was asked what was wrong, it was very easy to say, “My dog died and I’m having a hard time dealing with it.” Hardly anyone questioned my behavior at that point. If it was a month later, it would have gone from major to trivial, and then it would have been harder to admit as well as harder to accept, either by myself or others.

And there’s the kicker. One thing I can say about this group at Take This, since they deal or have dealt with depression, they won’t judge anyone about being depressed over the trivial. Most likely, they have experienced being depressed over what someone else would consider trivial, so they understand how that trivial thing can spiral into a major depression. The question is, even knowing that much, would someone who is deeply depressed over something that could be considered trivial be willing to reach out to a group who would understand? I know I would have a very, very hard time reaching out.

I have friends who have dealt with severe enough depression that they have either gone on meds (like me) or sought therapy (like me), and even I would not go to them with what I was going through. That’s the thing about depression…you may know you aren’t alone, but reaching out to get help is extremely hard. One of the symptoms of depression is isolation, and if you get to that point, it doesn’t matter how great of a support system you may have–you most likely will not use it.

As such, I’m skeptical about Take This, even though I fully support what they want to do. I hope they are able to help at least one person out there, and I hope even more that that one person is someone who is truly suffering from depression and not someone who only wants to try to talk to some big names in the gaming industry.