Boards›Player Behavior

Does League Make You Depressed?

Shirvallah·7/15/2018, 10:07:22 PM·19 votes·12,314 views

This might get a lot of downvotes, and by saying that, I'm not trying to farm upvotes, so I'll just go ahead and say what I really feel:

If League makes you depressed, then do yourself and your potential teammates a favor and take a break for a while. That could mean for a few minutes, a few days, a few months — hell, even a few years — all depending on how YOU feel.

My heart was just broken. I was just in a game with someone who was genuinely depressed because of this game (or who was depressed already, but being so immersed in the game made it worse), but they were so addicted that they couldn't bring themself to stop playing by any means. They had such a bad attitude and overall mindset toward this game that they admitted defeat in champ select after their only champion for their dedicated lane was taken. So, attempting to soften the blow, I volunteered to take the lane they were supposed to be in. Even then, they admitted defeat in champ select. They said of the 24 ranked games they had just played, 20 of them were losses, and this one was going to be a loss, too. No matter how positive and encouraging I was, they just kept giving up and not doing anything to help anyone...even when we were ahead. I truly believe that the negativity really dragged the team down, and THAT is why we lost that game.

Does League make me depressed, personally? No. Has it before? At one point, it did, yes. It took a lot to break free from that, but with the help of friends and loved ones, I was able to. They helped me realize that not only was I destroying my joy, but I was also beating down others', too. It wasn't all about me, even though it felt like it was was at the time. I was "the victim," not thinking anything of others because I was always the one that lost no matter what because my team was stupid and fed their carries and needed to pay attention or the enemy got the OP champions and blah blah blah blah blah.......... You get the picture? I was affecting other people's mental health with my blame game and poor attitude — one way or another, and once I realized that my attitude was extinguishing other people's love for the game or their joy overall, I'd made the decision that it was time to stop playing League for a while until I had myself under control — mindset toward the game, mindset toward life overall, fixing the way I treated my body, fixing the way I treated people, etc.

Took a break for a few months. I came back a different person, and I will never look back but will always be mindful of that learning experience.

So, please, I beg of you... Take that much needed break. It will be difficult, but I know that you can do it, whoever you are. If you need encouragement but don't have anyone around you IRL to help you out with that or keep you accountable, let me know, and I will do everything I possibly can to be that light that you need during this hard time. I know that I'm a stranger, but I love doing everything I possibly can to help others.

Have a wonderful day, everyone! :)

27 Comments

MrFawknSunshine7/15/2018, 10:08:11 PM8 votes

no , i have depression regardless of league, hence why im on medication. but then again league isnt life for me , its just a game something i do to kill time

SugeMinPikk7/15/2018, 11:36:17 PM4 votes

Nah man. League doesn't matter enough to affect my mental well-being.

ThıghConnoısseur7/16/2018, 12:35:25 AM3 votes

i have better things to be depressed about other than league

Lonely Islånder7/16/2018, 10:10:18 AM3 votes

League doesnt make me this way, god damn Ghostcrawler does.

Best Vi Earth7/15/2018, 11:20:40 PM2 votes

oh yes every game.

MEXICOMAN7/16/2018, 8:23:57 AM2 votes

"If you or a loved one was diagnosed with League induced Depression, you may be entitled to financial compensation."

JayceGatsby7/16/2018, 10:34:16 AM1 votes

League makes me angry, involved and competitive. When I play I actualy forget my depression.

Toppien7/18/2018, 1:58:16 AM1 votes

league makes me fell all kinds of emotions, but mostly anger, yup, anger every time

but lately yeah, depresion, and apathy...

Jiko shometsu12/12/2018, 11:26:51 AM1 votes

game not fun anymore :D

TsukuX12/22/2018, 3:40:29 AM1 votes

League worsened my mental problems. I started to develop anger issues and my depression turned from okay to severe. The criticism I faced as a new player from others made me want to kill the whole player base in very sadistic ways. When I got better, I started to curse and flame new players when I smurfed because they were bad at the game. Not only that, my grades seemed to drop a few points from this game. It averted my focus, and my parents got mad when I got a 98 in math and they deleted league. I also developed psychopathic problems from this game and ended up deleting it.

roboticreality2/3/2019, 7:48:32 PM1 votes

i am at university and league is all i want to do. I want to climb the ranks of league and i spend so much time on this game i am failing my uni, i really want to be a pro player and it depresses me that i cant 100% focus on league coz i need to pass my uni so i can get a job so I can eat and pay rent and wanna try go pro

Krissi21974/26/2019, 3:23:10 PM1 votes

I have depression that doesnt stem from league at all but I value my rank and LP a lot more highly than its healthy. Whenever I demote I treat it as the worst thing in the world and when I lose games I just spiral and go "if I lose 3 more I demote" or "I dont deserve to be in the rank I'm in rn"

It upsets me a lot sometimes but usually I take a break for a day and I come back fine. I tend to stop playing seriously on weekends and focus on other games to rejuvenate myself and come back stronger and with a clearer head.

Dragnoized8/18/2019, 10:54:25 PM1 votes

yes after I got perm banned i divorced my wife and lost the house and kids this game is an infestation in my life and I cant seem to get rid of it

Dingding1237/16/2018, 10:07:41 AM1 votes

No, but bot lane tries their darndest.

Eryl Fauna7/15/2018, 11:08:59 PM1 votes

[deleted]

afmghost7/16/2018, 12:29:20 AM1 votes

It doesn't, but I can see why someone would be ashamed of being part of the League community.

Zombie Gerbil7/16/2018, 3:43:23 AM1 votes

League of Legends doesn't cause depression nor does any other game. Games can cause mood changes, but not a disorder. Depression is a mental disorder. Isolation, PTSD, poor diet, genetics, and other things will cause depression. If someone isn't enjoying something that is meant to entertain them, then that will sustain their mental disorder. No matter what, your friend will always be depressed if he's not enjoying something. Regardless of what it is. But the true link of depression is their life style and other unfortunate events that happened or currently happening. Not because of a video game.

Primaquarius7/16/2018, 4:22:35 AM1 votes

This game def makes me depressed, since whether or not I improve over time I never see any results from the efforts I put into each match. Its hard to leave this game behind because of my fear that the account gets deleted after some time of inactivity (I got an answer about this, I just meant over career).

Everyone is debating each other over the state of the game, but as long as more people play and more champions are added, this game will be that much harder to maintain

HollowMimic7/16/2018, 6:55:25 AM1 votes

The game made me depressed at some point and I took a break but it was due to Riot's unfair player behavior system. Now I just don't say anything in chat so they won't have anything to blame for and I just play when I feel like it.

ModPrandine8/18/2019, 11:56:10 PM

While Necromancy may be handy (and sometimes needed) in media, it is not the case for old forum threads. Please avoid using such magic and be mindful of how old threads are before posting.

Feel free to contact us at the Moderation Discord or at Discuss the Boards for any questions, comments or concerns about this. Thank you and have a good day.