Gaming vs Porn: what are your experiences?

Gaming and porn (though night and day when it comes to the damage they do to your brain) have similarities. Novelty, fast rewards, ever-increasing challenges that move in lock-step with the size of the rewards are some of them.

I have observed two schools of thought. One is that gaming is harmless and can actually help you quit easier and the other is that you must avoid it completely during recovery.

I can see both reasonings behind those two opinions and they're equally strong.

Gaming can "replace" porn, in the beginning, helping your brain to decrease the amount of dopamine it produces in a gradual way, helping you get fewer urges.

On the other hand, gaming is a gateway drug and can get you back to porn in a heartbeat. So, it's better to not replace porn with such strong stimuli as gaming and go "all-in" dopamine fasting.

Based on my experience, I subscribe to a middle way. Regulated gaming (in terms of playtime) can help you best.

But you always run the risk of not abiding by the playtime rules you set and get back to porn very fast; I know this is the case from experience. So, if you find yourself unable to discipline yourself and conform to a specific time frame of gaming per day/week, then gaming may have to be completely removed from your routine while abstaining from porn.

My longest streak (550+ days no MO and 200+ no porn) taught me that you will soon not want either very fast. I got bored of gaming after two months (maybe even sooner).

So, I don't believe that replacing porn use with gaming can get you very addicted to the latter. No porn means no digital SEXUAL stimulation. So, very soon you will be preferring hanging out with friends and meeting new people from the other sex. That new social life will gradually replace gaming.

But YMMV so I am looking forward with great interest to your experiences with gaming and porn...

 

Yeah, totally. It depends on many factors.

My longest streak's start was accompanied by playing games that did not require much time and didn't hook me (story-driven). If I have no work though and I have recently relapsed to PMO, playing an RPG without time limits can create very strong urges to watch porn that I otherwise wouldn't have.

Many parameters. It depends on what you play, how much free time you have to play, what you do the rest of your time, how hooked to porn you are, etc.

 

Let me note that what you quoted was merely displaying two contrasting opinions about gaming and porn. But if you're asking me why I think people may believe this is because if you exclude substances and sex, the closest thing to porn in terms of dopamine blasts is gaming. But I think that only long periods of gaming can desensitize your receptors to the point where you need a stronger stimulus like porn (if you're addicted to it of course).

 

Yes, it's very important to not use gaming as an escape. Gaming as a way to relax and have fun after a day of work makes sense, but if you have just relapsed and you want to regulate your emotions through gaming, I must agree that it's better to not game at all for a while.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience! Do you perhaps remember how many hours of gaming you averaged each day or week? Also, do you remember what you were playing (genre, online or offline, etc.)?

 

I hear you. This is indeed an interesting topic as it's highly debatable because of the many parameters that go into the subject. For some is helpful and for others a gateway drug.

Here's an interesting article I read before I made this thread. That guy quit gaming after he quit porn. These two addictions are indeed connected for many, but I am finding that the longer I go without porn, the less I am interested in gaming.

At the same time, I realize how gaming every now and then during your reboot can help you not starve yourself dopamine-wise.

 

Interesting! Indeed, 4 hours of playing a strategy game can easily equate to 1 hour of intense multiplayer COD sessions, dopamine-wise.