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Need to completely quit video games

Discussion in 'Self Improvement' started by Vedas_fr, May 12, 2018.

  1. Vedas_fr

    Vedas_fr Fapstronaut

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    Hello,
    I have basically been a gamer since forever... At some point it was really bad i basically spent a year playing and decided to quit. I was more or less successful but since that period, i tend to pass a few months with 0 gaming and then get back to it and binge for 10 or more days... Video games are truly addictive because of their competitive nature and the fact that they totally empty your head. After a few days of video game i feel like a zombie lol. This is why i am addicted, either i don't play at all, either i go full no life. I think i need to spend a year without video game to be totally free. In difficult period in my life it helped me to pass time and i think this is where i became addicted.
    But now it just wastes my time and tend to prevent me from taking concrete actions to move on with my life. I know i need to drop this forever. When i reflect about it i think video games have been a huge addiction over my life because i always had this escape relationship to them. To tell the truth i have been successful in quiting them already but i still tend to go back and binge. I need to totally quit.

    Anyone wants to join me?
     
    kayesem, PMO addict and Nugget9 like this.
  2. lion188

    lion188 Fapstronaut

    Hi,
    Your problem is little bit similar to mine , the difference is i'm not as a gamer , but i spend much of time playing , till now i have this addiction , the tips that i gone try is to reduce the time like 1 hour Sunday and 1 Saturday and the rest of the day , go hide anything related to game headphones , cd .... and do another thing the goal is the make the access to game more difficult , and to another activity to drain your energy positively , because went we are filled with energy we usually go for play , me too i'm looking quitting this addiction the sooner possible because it's wasting my time
     
    Nugget9 likes this.
  3. Vedas_fr

    Vedas_fr Fapstronaut

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    So what are you playing? i don't understand that part.
    Anyway video games are really like a drug, but it's an easy quit, if you can stay off them a week you are basically sevred, no more urges to play.... But the thing is that even if i don't play for 3 months, which i just did, i tend to go back to binge video games periods, which last between a week and a month, if i have no job or anything. This is because i used to be really addicted at some point in my life, now i am able to distance myself from it but i tend to relapse. Anyway video games are a major hindrance in my personal development, and if i had not stopped them at some point, i would not have made any personnal progress in important areas of my life, even health matters. I am like alcoholics, it is either full addict mode or nothing.
     
    kayesem likes this.
  4. lion188

    lion188 Fapstronaut

    Nothing special counter strike and other but that depends about how much time i spend and how much free time i have , but after reading your reply you seems right , is not a big addiction we easily overcome it
     
  5. Vedas_fr

    Vedas_fr Fapstronaut

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    Well that's the thing : what you say is somehow right, but in fact it can be very hard in some cases : i had very big mental, physical and emotional issues that would keep surfacing at some point in my life. I was a very disturbed and troubled individual, i was prone to extreme fatigue and insomnia, emotional turmoil, that would come on me regularly and at the time i was totally unable to handle all these issues, and had no idea what to do. This was a very very dark period, amost 7 years ago. Anyway this is where i binged on video games, as a sort of a drug to allow me to forget everything and reset to normal mood. But at the same time it was an escape so i never advanced with my troubles. I was unconsciously aware of it but when i would feel bad i would be drawn to video game instead of trying to progress.... So it was bloody hard not to play in bad phases.
     
  6. Inkpot

    Inkpot Fapstronaut

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    I think I have the same problem. I spend a lot of time playing video games(PUBG) when I am free, watch YouTube (pranks,gaming,pewds etc) and I have become addicted to all these things. And when I have to study or do something productive, I can't concentrate and feel exhausted. I am planning to stop gaming, YouTube etc completely. It is quite hard for me to do this alone but we can do it together.
    Moreover I always have a weird feeling of fear in my upper chest 24/7, with my heart beating faster than normal. Maybe I am going through 'flatline'(27 days no PMO).
    Anyway I am ready to quit gaming. Vacations are about to start and I don't wanna spend each day playing games.
     
    kayesem and PMO addict like this.
  7. Vedas_fr

    Vedas_fr Fapstronaut

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    Hello, well you are welcome to join me. I am at day 1 with 0 videogames. I will stop you tube / facebook and other stuff later on.
    About your weird feeling of fear : i have very good experience with listening to my body and analyzing it's current state, and it is very important you learn to do the same. Become aware of those tensions / perturbations, and gradually learn to understand what causes them and to relieve them with a new way of life. I strongly recommand you start daily meditation / relaxation with focus on feeling the body and mind. In fact i will now do it everyday because i need to follow my own advices!!

    I also noticed competitive video games build up enormous amount of stress and tension in the body, especially in the chest and the heart area. Did you notice the same?
     
  8. What type of game do you like if I may know?
     
  9. Vedas_fr

    Vedas_fr Fapstronaut

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    mostly competitive online games : cs go, starcraft 2 mainly but others like L4D2, dod...
     
  10. JohnnyCashier

    JohnnyCashier Fapstronaut

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    I've been gaming for over 8 years, and I've left over 800 hours of my life in TF2, the same amount in minecraft and around 1600 hours in World of Tanks amongst other games not counting the 6-7 hours wasted every day on youtube, 9gag and reddit.

    Recently, I managed to give up gaming and time wasing on useless websites altogether and here's how:

    When I decided that I need to stop, I simply couldn't help but come back to watcing youtube videos and playing even more, until one day my video card stopped functioning after 6 years of usage, and I didn't have money to buy another one. After this, (when I found myself being unable to play Hearthstone even) I started watching youtube videos for over 4 or 5 hours a day, and I still spent Waay too much time in front of my pc, but I desperately wanted to stop so I disassembled my configuration and I put the pc itself to the top the wardrobe in my parent's room, while leaving the mouse, keyboard, monitor etc. in my room. I planned to stay internet and computer free for a month starting on the 8th of april.

    Of course I started using my phone more and more, and (while fortunately there isn't wifi in our house and in Hungary free wifi spots are really rare especially in the countryside) I still found a way to relapse on my 17th birthday, on the 14th of april and screw up my 12 day streak using my phone, and I got so mad that I folded my phone in half and while I'm still not proud of it, in retrospect it proved to be helpful. I keep telling myself that I still don't have enough money to buy a smartphone so I'm using my mom's old mobile, a samsung GE1170.

    I found myself completely out of community life as I didn't even use messenger, and I also developed the habit of using my dad's slow ass laptop, for watching yt videos and relapsing and while I experinmented with using blocksite to make p unreachable, I always found a way to relapse and I felt like it doesn't have a point to continue so after 20 days, on the 28th of april I moved my pc back in my room, but I've made a few modifications:
    • I've disabled chrome incognito mode
    • Cleared all my google activity and paused all google activity controls in personal info & privacy
    • Deleted my youtube service history (and with that, all my subsciptions) and only resubscribed to a few channels but tonly to those that I know don't upload regular videos!
    And that's how I use my pc eversince and it wors fine for me, as I can still watch youtube videos once in a while but I'm not hanging on youtube watching dozen of new uploads a day while google bots don't try to vomit regular content in my face.

    So I would say that your best chance to overcome PC addiction (according to my experiences) is to
    1. give up the internet altogether for a set of time to really get to know what's important for you and why (you might even find that you don't even need it)
    • manage your devices
    • watch your feeling and habits
    2. only bring back the parts that you really need in your life
    • try and deal with the rest in one way or another
    I hope my story can help at least some of you guys, and good luck with improving your lifes!
     
    Carabu, kayesem and Vedas_fr like this.
  11. Vedas_fr

    Vedas_fr Fapstronaut

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    Hello i agree with you.... 6 years ago i sold all my gaming devices but i ended up building a cool pc a year later ;). In the end, selling everything you don't really need is the best option. The time spent on computers and so is such a deep rooted habit, that i think it is better to go gradually, because this change our whole lives since we will have much more free time and availability, but at first, you really don't know what to do. So right now i'm totally off video game forever basically, i already did a 3 months successful streak. In a few weeks i will totally stop you tube and websurfin altogether. I really think this is not as easy as we can think. But the time and energy wasted is really HUGE for some, it can literally be a life waster if you are not careful.
     
    JohnnyCashier likes this.
  12. Good point
     
  13. Inkpot

    Inkpot Fapstronaut

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    Thanks for replying! I stopped using FB a few weeks ago but still have messenger. Yesterday I streamed playing PUBG with my squad and wasted many hours. Leaving video games completely is going to be challenging for me as I need to find new hobbies to replace gaming.
    I use gaming for getting relief from stress and getting momentary happiness(Just like PMO). I want to start meditating but don't know any techniques. Do you know some? I don't feel stressed playing video games(unless only 3 people are left in PUBG).
    I don't exactly know the cause of stress in my heart area but I think it may be due to studying, seaking good grades etc(I am in 12th class). Earlier I had a positive stress only during exams that yielded positive results but at present, I am facing a negative stress everyday(that isn't doing any good to me). It just makes me feel exhausted and I can't concentrate,study etc and I just feel the fear Everytime(it's really annoying ). The things I mentioned aren't even related to video games(sorry for that).
    I am also looking forward to adopt a nosurf lifestyle(Google it).
     
    Vedas_fr likes this.
  14. Hi, I'm stopping videogames too. i'm on day 2 today ahahah still a long journey. I find very hard to not play when I'm tired of studying and I'm on my computer. I feel like it's harder to stop playing videogames than PMO. Good luck to you!
     
    PMO addict and Vedas_fr like this.
  15. Vedas_fr

    Vedas_fr Fapstronaut

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    Well, i'am already on day 3 and the urges are starting to fade away. When i am playing the first thing i think about in the morning when i wake up is playing lol. It sometimes wakes me up earlier, evene more because the stress of long video games session affects my sleep. (only competitive games).
    You should be concerned about that stress feeling, it seems that some imbalance is installing itself in your body. it might take a few weeks to leave if you are not careful and lead to depression or other stuffs. try breathing with eyes closed on the floor, with a slow music, observe your mind passively...
    Great, what are your objectives in term of days? you should fix yourself concrete objectives to reach for to replace video games.
     
  16. Well I plan to stop forever ahahah if I understood your question. If I fix a number of days then when I reach It I will feel allowed to play
     
    Vedas_fr likes this.
  17. PMO addict

    PMO addict Fapstronaut

    Thanks @Vedas_fr ! My PMO quit date is also my video game quit date and "silly youtube clip" quit date. Just worked out that way.

    I played GBA and DS ROMS. Pokemon, Mario, FFCC, some others. I would have got Citra 3DS for Pkmn US/UM but have a bit of an older laptop.

    I feel better moving forward and thanks @Inkpot the nosurf thing looks cool... I feel that internet is like 600% of my life (literally... I am that overloaded by it)

    I use workaholics anonymous program to help manage my "activity addiction" which kinda relates to nosurf but I could probably benefit from both.

    Anyway I hope this thread continues and I will continue checking back in for support on keeping quit from games. Like vedas_fr I need to stay totally abstinent. No "I can play a little after 5PM" or "I can just play on a weekend" or I will be totally drunk. I am much like an alcoholic with video games.

    I'm like an alcoholic with everything!!! But one thing at a time I guess...
     
    Vedas_fr likes this.
  18. Vedas_fr

    Vedas_fr Fapstronaut

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    Well i think i am on day 4 and i still have some tentations, even more if i am tired or not in the mood to do anything constructive, but i didn't relapse. I think i also reached one month of no pmo :)
     
    PMO addict likes this.
  19. PMO addict

    PMO addict Fapstronaut

    Lately I have been trying to get to know myself better so I got a list of needs. You can google "cnvc needs pdf" and "cnvc feelings pdf" if you're interested.

    What I came accross is a need for play. So I think that I go to video games, seeking play. Also, "order" is a need. And video games seemed to have some "order". There were rules and limitations and structures presented.

    So video games were a way I tried to meet those needs. But it wasn't even always fun. For example level grinding in Pokemon was tedious. Trying to beat this last lava level of FFCC I was in was very annoying. Not even really fun just annoying, tedious, die, revive, get hit by some other unfair opponent. I got a real high off using game shark/action replay. Then I could play Mario or Pokemon with crazy game conditions. Pokemon got more addictive when I got a randomizer because it gave me so much more novelty.
     
  20. Vedas_fr

    Vedas_fr Fapstronaut

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    Video games are a quick fix, a quick way to pleasure and escapism in my opinion. I know a guy or 2 who really spiralled into nothingness just because of video games. Some people get sucked into it hard and they end up alone in front of their computers.
     
    PMO addict likes this.

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