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Comment by bithush | Hacker News Reader

I am the complete opposite in that my depression made it impossible for me to enjoy any kind of video games (and tv shows, movies and music).

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That's a more severe depression. I been there (symptoms of a chronic disease), unfortunately.

Indeed. I was diagnosed 5 years ago (age 25) with recurrent major depressive disorder (aka chronic depression) along with PTSD (due to childhood abuse I only started to deal with in my twenties) and generalised anxiety disorder. While the anxiety problems were horrible the worst was chronic insomnia. I have taken part in a number of sleep studies in NHS and private hospitals and two universities as my sleep disorders were rated as "most severe" in that I would sleep for less than an hour per day over a 14 day period which led to all kinds of horrible things such as hallucinations and false memories. For a while I was diagnosed schizophrenic but that was a misdiagnosis as it was simply (ha!) down to exhaustion. I was on 50mg of Zolpidem (Ambien) a night but even that couldn't shut my brain off.

Thankfully my depression and other issues are much better now although I still find it close to impossible to sit down and play a game, watch a movie or read a book for some reason :( It is a great shame as I used to love playing video games as a kid/teen. It is horrible not being able to enjoy something you used to love. It is almost like that part of my brain is been switch off and I can't find the on switch anymore.

Thanks for speaking up. Doctors work between their boundaries, that includes giving medication based on symptoms profiling and comparing those with previous cases or just their medical training, unfortunately that sometimes backfires against understanding some individual case and therefore its treatments and diagnostic. You have to read for yourself everything about your disorder, your symptoms, and its treatment.

I would suggest you to responsibly try two medications, one is Duloxetine, the symptoms you describe (about the sleeping part)are very similar to mine, I coulnd't sleep, I couldn't sit and watch a movie even when trying to force myself to do so, and worst yet, I couldn't enjoy music, and I used to listen music all day long. I would wake up at night sweating for no reason. It may or it may not work for you but is surely worth a try. Just start with one single 30 mg at night, if you see improvements a couple of months later you can start using 60mg; of course if you don't see improvements just stop taking it. If you are taking any anti-depressants better read first about any possible reaction between that and Duloxetine.

The other medication that helps my brain be very focused is Modafinil, lost of focus is one of the symptoms of my chronic disease (Fibromialgy) and it helps greatly on that matter, it also helps a bit with the mood, it is usually taken by people with narcolepsy, a common sleep disorder. Is also taken by healthy people who needs to stay awake for long periods, such as combat pilots and overnight workers.

Evidence that what we awkwardly label 'depression' is some constellation of conditions. Interesting that playing video games could be used in some kind of diagnostic context to separate out these sub-types.

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