GAMING ADDICTION! HELP!!

Hmm I'd say different things work for each person. I eventually just got bored with games and moved on to more productive fulfilling things, but after a year and a half the first game I played I am really invested into. I would start by filling up the day with things that people expect you to be at because of requirement or you tell them. I.e. a job, a hobby group that meets Thursdays, etc. I'd also go to the gym and focus on eating healthy as that really gives you extra will power to stop. I would then initially just limit your gaming to the weekends or use child settings to only let yourself game so much a week. Hope this helps in finding where to start.

Cheers!

 

It's more of a one and done sorta thing as I still really don't have a desire to play any other games. But Mass Effect series my man, very compelling story.

Cheers!

 

I have def been there, and also go back to it in some of the more depressed periods of my life.
My own story is something like this: I spent 5000 hours playing dota, 1000 hours on HoN, 10000 hours playing guitar hero/rock band, 10000 hours playing wow, 2500 hours playing Path of Exile, and then of course all the random stuff like a few hundred hours in Oblivion fx. This is across a period of 8 years or so. You could say gaming has been massively ingrained as a habit and it was just what I did. What do I have to show for it? Nothing I want to brag about. I made some friends along the way, and had a lot of fun.

It changed when I started replacing it with something I would rather do. It's not like I'd remove all gaming at once. It would be more like "Hey I'd think I'd like to go for a bike ride around the lake" - not really much different from thinking about that game you want to progress in.

Anyway that's just my perspective on it. Here's a little exercise you might want to try: the next time you feel bad about playing games WHILE PLAYING, take a 5 minute break. Just pause the game, sit there, and think about your situation. Don't think hard, just try and feel what you need right now. You might be surprised what you can tell yourself in such a situation.

 

Just find something else to do. I now just read books, exercise (cardio) and talk to family and friends (and hang out with them when I can) instead of playing video games. If I wasn't injured, I'd be lifting weights and practicing martial arts again - please heal me god. I know this is easier said than done, I'm only really avoiding video games atm (and hopefully for a long time) because I got so bored of them from playing up to 8 hours a day - finishing games like RDR2, GTA and Minecraft many times to the point where reading a book is now more satisfying, and I hate reading. The games (and PMO) also fucked my studies up so bad that I'm now taking a break from university to get my shit back together - another reason why I'm not playing games rn.

 

Thanks for a great book tip! Will take a look at it myself hehe

To the point about gaming, I think it is not a right or wrong answer, specially during COVID-19. Gaming have made it a lot easier for me to stay happy during lockdowns. But at the same time, it is important that gaming does not create problems for other parts of your life. If gaming make you skip workout, doing your studies, meeting friends, etc. It is a problem in my opinion. But if you complete all the daily tasks, I don't really see a problem spending an hour or two gaming with some friends.

I live far away from some of my friends, and I think it is a great way to stay in contact with them too. Because for me it is not only gaming, but also a way to stay i touch with friends.

But as said, it is all about balance. If it stops you from doing the daily tasks, it is a problem. I'v been playing videogames for many years, a few years I played too much. Now I feel like I have a greater balance, which I don't really mind. But the more and faster you want to reach goals, the less you can play videogames. But at the same time, it is important to not rush into change, it will easly become a fallback if you rush. In my opinion the best way for change, is to gradually change.

But this is just my opinions.... and there might be better and more effective ways to become a better verison.

 

gamequitters.com
reddit.com/r/stopgaming

 

You may be addicted to games or you might just be binging a lot lately. There is gamequitters and there is also a 12-step group that can help with stopping games.
Most people who are not true gaming addicts or even porn addicts can succeed with using self-help websites like nofap and game quitters, which is great for those people.

But most people who are physically and emotionally addicted to a behavior or substance will have a very hard time being able to stop by using a self-help website alone. Addicts need will need more help and support from others to stay stopped. This is why you'll see some people who have been coming here for years who haven't got more than a week off of porn. You can easily see this by looking at their counter compared to when they joined nofap. By the way, there is a 12-step group for pornography and sex addiction as well, but you will rarely hear of them because they are anonymous non-profit groups that prohibit advertising. However, they are statistically the most successful for long-term sobriety. You may have heard of AA for example.

It really depends on how powerless you are over stopping and how unmanageable it makes your life.

I am a true addict whether it be smoking, drugs, alcohol, gaming, or pornography. Gaming was the most destructive of them all suprisngly. I failed out of high school and didn't get a job for years. I eventually tried working for whatever construction company that would hire me, but always screwed it up because of my addictions. When I was 26, I eventually found the 12-step groups and my life did a complete 180. I got a nice job and saved up to go solo travel across the world for an entire year. Then came back to pursue college which I'm about to be graduating with a 4.0 AA degree and transferring to a 4-year university soon. It's not all peaches and cream though as there are many ups and downs in recovery, but the overall progress shows.

Hope this was helpful, good luck!

 

. Check out Universal man's view on video games

 

For me it was minecraft,I got so good i was a pvp god and had better building/redstone skills than most YouTubers,i still play a lot and even got my friends into it,but I can stop at will,the answer is why you game,is it because you're bored? Are you trying to procastinate something else? Do you just need that dopaime boost? If its any one of those then you probably already know what to do, anytime you want to game ask yourself why,then if the answer is because im bored then do something productive which you like,if its because you're procastinating something then play for 15minutes and then start what you're doing,it really is in the why
Edit- your profile says 27,i take back the gane for 15 minutes,do something else and then start