I call myself an avid gamer. I spent most of my time playing online games. And now I'm on my day 8 of rebooting! Will continue playing video games hinder my progress? I don't call that an addiction, I still can live with that, but after a long time of studying, video games really help me a lot to unwind! Should I restrain myself from this as well or I can just continue playing? Advice needed thanks!
Being so hard on yourself is a bad idea.video games are fine! I am also a gamer(a huge fan of dota) and I can say playing it is ok as long as it won't shape an addiction. Just make sure you won't talk trash and get toxic.Because when I get toxic I have more urge to pmo.Maybe same thing happpens to others just saying try to enjoy it.it is a game after all!
It depends but it sounds like you're playing simply to unwind and/for entertainment. If you find video games consuming your time, taking you away from real relationships and your responsibilities, if you find yourself drawn to it and you need it, if you find losing yourself in a fantasy, if the games you play have scantily clad characters or provocative/sensual scenes and you're trying to break free from porn (I figure that's why you're maybe on noFap), you should reconsider the role video games play in your life. For some, it can be easy to replace one addiction with another.
Just cut back I still play video games but not all day or for more than maybe 2 hours at a time think of it this way take into account how many hours your facing any type of screen and compare to the amount of time you actually do things that give yourself more value you could learn how to do many things for me I'm always trying to cook new things and it's fun also I like to mountain bike and go to the gym and read a book but I make time still to enjoy playing some video games and watch my favorite shows but I don't let them consume my life like in the past good luck
Fun fact is, when ever I've abstained from video games, not even online games that have more impact your your brain, my streaks kept growing and growing. Then, when ever I've played some simple games, Minecraft is an example, I've got urges out of nowhere, even playing good old fashioned Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time. I've decided to quit gaming 2 months ago, I've sold my PS4 and all the games, just so I keep all my behaviors of my past away from my future to build something, but I gonna return to casual offline games once I've achieved something in life. Today is day 36 for me and I didn't have any urges so far, I am pretty sure this would change if I've played some video games, but I donno why...I think I am a special case on this.
I changed since the beginning masturbation with videogames. I don't play a lot, a couple of hours maximum, and not even every day. As my Playstation is not in my room, I have to stay out and so I don't even think to jerk me off
Hey fellow DoTA gamer! haha I actually stopped playing it after the new patch and I started playing Overwatch instead! Well I don't usually trash talk, just mute anyone who is toxic But I don't have any urge to pmo after gaming though. (Even before I started nofap. When I play, I play!) I feel totally fine playing games without feeling to touch myself after that. My concern is the "feel good" feeling that I am experiencing while playing game? You must have understood that feeling right. When you're in gaming mode you're just so into the game that nothing can take away your focus until the end of the game. I'm not sure whether the so-called "dopamine-surge" is the culprit or not in such situation, and that kept me thinking about how it will affect my nofap progress.
Hey there! Well, nothing of the sort though. Probably a little regarding the time consuming thing, but that doesn't make me being anti-social and introvert. I could still survive without playing if someone takes my gaming gear away from me! I would say, gaming is some sort of passion, not addiction. I love the game, and am learning and improving to play the game better, instead of just playing aimlessly for the sake of killing time and getting high like what porn actually does. If there is anyone out there who tells me how gaming affects his nofap progress I would definitely stop playing! It shows how determine I am, and how sure I am that gaming is not an addiction to me!
Hey there! wow that's tough. Come to think of it, I do spend more time in front of the screen, whether just scrolling on social media, gaming, watching tv shows, etc. I'm trying to create a balance, and still working on that. Thanks for pointing that out. Good luck to you too mate!
Hi there! Well if that happens to me I would do the same too! But the thing is, I don't have such kind of urge to fap though after gaming. To me, playing is playing, it never comes across as a trigger for me to pmo. And most of the time after playing my eyes would get tired and would prefer to get some rest instead of proceeding to pmo. I'm just worried that playing online games will produce the same effect as pmo in my brain and hinder my brain's rewiring mechanism. That's my concern, I don't know where's the line regarding what can I do, and what I shouldn't do. Somehow I started questioning all my previous habits that makes me feel good (other than pmo) that I'm still doing
In my past I have camped in lines for system releases I had to be one of the first in my city to have many consoles. I get the allure of gaming. I approach gaming like this now, I do not need an electronic device of any kind to ever change my emotional state. So if I game to cope, escape, or stimulate. I avoid it. I never game alone. Just like alcoholics, you can't call your self a social drinker if your doing it alone. Games are better played together live. Online connections seem real, but <insertusername> will never be at your funeral. I avoid games that require an anxious stopping point. Long stories games and mmorpg etc. If the power is suddenly cut and I lose progress or it ruined my mood because of the lost "investment", then the game has become to intrusive. Games should be fun, not cause anxiety. I don't judge other gamers for thier preferences or what they do. They are not me, I struggle with PMO complusions so because of this I have different boundaries than them. Games are great fun, I own many of them. If you come over I may throw you a controller and say pull up seat and watch me whip your ass, but once you leave. Know that I am working on me. I am going to be PM free! Gaming can make you feel as hollow and empty as porn. It robs time and energy the same. It gives you artificial status that doesn't serve high self esteem. Today I will avoid PM and anything like unto it!
So a little backstory on me: before I decided to begin this journey, I was your typical socially awkward, gaming-addicted procrastinator. I was one of those guys who actually had amazing grades in high school and got full of themselves by the time they made it to college. For nearly a year and a half, I would go to class but barely listen because I was too focused on how many games of League of Legends I was gonna be able to play that evening. Then the exams would come and I’d try to basically learn everything the night before. My grades would obviously take a hit from that and I’d promise myself I’d start studying earlier for the next exam. Procrastination thought otherwise. Some pretty idiotic shit overall. Add to that the fact that I’d use any excuse to go jerk off during those rare study sessions, and you get the miserable piece of shit I’ve been for nearly 2 years. Then comes this sub. I had heard about it before, but never bothered looking into it, until I got really bored browsing Reddit on my phone at 2 AM one night. I had been feeling like shit those past few days, so I decided ”Hey, I’ll give it a try, what could go wrong”.
Dear mate, out of my experience I can say that droping video games and refrain from video games creates a big impact in your life. Whether the saying that video games correlate with trigger responses in your brain is true or not, doesn´t need to bother you. The things that matter, as one of my dear fellows has already mentioned a few posts above, is the question, which role do video games play in your life? Video games for my part hinder me from achieving my greatest dreams, best version of myself and partly a self-sufficient adult. Growing up is pain. Remember those shoes, which didn´t fit you a certain age anymore? Same is true for porn and perhaps even video games. Nevertheless make up your own mind and keep studying rebooting material for making progress!
Sorry but I'm going to disagree with most people here. Gaming is an unnatural source of dopamine and should therefore be avoided. You might play for an hour a day and 'be fine' and that's certainly a world apart from binge gaming on Red bull for 12 hours. But the problem is dopamine. Dopamine is there to motivate us to do something productive. Gaming is not productive. Whenever you do anything in life, ask if you will have gained from it after you've done it. I used to be a former gamer who hasn't played for months. A couple weeks ago I played for just half an hour and felt like a zombie. So even that amount is harmful but you don't know it because you're used to it. No different to porn addicts who are practically zombies but don't know any better. Now there's nothing inherently wrong with fun but it has to be natural. Getting together with your mates every couple weeks and playing an hour of FIFA on the weekend is fine, as it's a situation that develops socially and naturally. Things that I have cut out: Netflix and TV (unless it's a foreign language I'm learning because that's productive) Music (Music is probably the only source of dopamine that literally no-one thinks twice about, but I promise you it's an auditory drug, cut it out) Alcohol. Junk food. Again, it's fine to do these things once in a while. Listening to music at your friend's birthday party. Eating junk food on a day out if you're hungry. Drinking wine at Christmas. But cut these things out habitually. Porn and drugs are the only thing you should never under any circumstances indulge in. And also, MEDITATE! I'm speaking from experience bro. All the people telling you it's fine are no different than porn addicts scoffing at the idea of giving up porn. They don't know any better because they haven't experienced it. Good luck bro!