Need to completely quit video games

Well I agree with that. I think you were saying that my view on a need for "play" in ones life relates to video games. But I wasn't saying that video games are a healthy expression of the need for "play". Healthy "play" would be like when kids play on the play ground together I guess, climbing jungle gyms, etc, or at least that might be closer to it. Playing with a dog. IDK, I never did much of it!!!

So I wasn't saying video games are a healthy expression of "play". Just that it was a way I seek to "play" or "have fun" but you're right, it isn't. It feels draining and not really fun. But finding a healthy way to have fun, whatever that may be, is one of my goals.

I also wanted to mention I played TCGONE which was an online Pokemon card simulator. That got really addictive and I could tell the gambling element too. I liked playing physical Pokemon cards too and being there with a physical person was a little more social, but that venue is too far away, and filled with smoke sometimes.

Do you think its healthy for kids to play something like Pokemon cards together, in a physical setting?

 

I also stopped playing video games. They helped me to stop negative thoughts and it was some kind of escape from my problems in real world. In reality it was a mental trap. You will get nothing but addiction. Escapism can’t cure you. We waste our mental and physical potential on video games.

 

FishHook, you're completely right

 

I saw a video on YouTube where one guy says: I don’t need to travel. What is the purpose of traveling? In FarCry I can live in the jungle and enjoy hunting. In Grand Theft Auto I can do whatever I want...

That guy was lost. I saw loneliness in his eyes. Actually I saw myself.

 

That video was in russian. I’ll try to find it.

 

So far quitting video games came pretty naturally. My only thing would be future relapse. Like after a few months and I think I wanna try playing them.

 

Last time I relapsed with ps4 which I took from my friend. One month was thrown out of my life. One month of loosing connection with real life. I couldn’t think about anything besides games. How to kill a boss, how to solve puzzles, etc. It was pathetic. Thanks God that ps4 started to overheat and I stopped playing.

 

Thanks for sharing. Ya. I was off playing ROMS a while up until a month or so ago. I'd do PMO, then be all numbed out and go play some games to get a different form of a high. Or watch DBZ clips. Then once I got my PMO craving worked up again, go PMO again. End goal: Stay deadened and numb as possible! Not goin' there today

I think we have so much more potential for our lives. In really showing up in the world in a positive way. We could move forward and "embody" our favorite heros, out in the physical world.

 

Exactly! We have so many useless distractions in our lives. My hardcore game addiction started when I quit the job. I lost myself. Games, sugar addiction, masturbation, alcohol - ruined my life at those years. Of course the main reason was my weakness.

 

Well you definitely get alot stronger, without games. I think so. I feel alot more focused and effective. I feel on track with the purpose of my life more now. Imagine if all the peple playing games went and helped out in the physical world. It'd be such a better place. Usually people who play games are very oppressed and they can only find expression of their powerlessness in a game. Or their need for power. I think I was like that. Gaming can feel empowering at times, like when you get a big power up, and defeat lots of enemies. However its possible to feel empowered in the physical world, too!

 

I know the struggle man. I was addicted to League of Legends, it was basically how I spent 90% of my free time.

I quit on and off 3 times, and now it's finally stuck.

What worked for me is that I progressed in my life and worked on the main issues that led me to gaming to begin with. As I improved as a person, and the life that I really wanted started to become possible, it eventually was worth it to let go of gaming, which was the last thing holding me back.

I would try to advance yourself in general, around the gaming. There's probably a reason why you fell onto gaming to fill a void in your life. If you can address those source issues, eventually it just won't be worth it to game.

I've been off for 6 months now, and my life has really progressed since then, since free time is spent advancing, instead of stagnating in gaming.

 

Of course. Without games I had so much free time which I used for workouts, books, social activities. I also felt myself more focused and effective. If all people who are trapped in gaming worlds, could get back in real world, it would be great. I spent a lot of time and money on games. Upgraded my game characters and destroyed myself in reality. There is a lot of things waiting for us in physical world. And there is a lot of distractions which can break our will power. Only discipline and focusing on our goals can help us.

 

Hello everyone, I want to add my thoughts about this and try to bear out with me

I believe that porn, masturbation, gaming and youtube binging are all symptoms of the same disease with variations... All of them destroy your life, make you escape reality, waste tons and tons of your precious time and energy. And when its time for me to study, hit the gym, or go to work or even try to pray!! ... I am tired, bored, have no energy and have 0 concentration! work, studying, praying when my mind is somewhere else!!

Offline games were never an issue, you can turn them off after 30 minutes no issues. It's all about competitive online games....my drug over here is league of legends and dota 2. I'm 33 and if I would make en estimate of how much I have played games, I would say 8 years of my life?? more or less

Why did I put gaming, porn and masturbation in the same basket? because this is what happens... I get days/weeks of insane porn/masturbation addiction....feel bad....decide to quit them and 'never come back'..... but it is the same disease... you never switch to something productive!! I start gaming..... days and weeks gaming insanely..... feel bad..... quit games..... next??? youtube, stupid online crap and social media......REPEAT! throughout all of them, the sense of guild, anger, frustration of yourself is only building up....

I will try my best getting my account in Dota 2 and league of legends deactivated (Can you believe that I contacted league of legends again and again to deactivate my account and they refused??! they want you hooked for life)

I relapsed on sex addiction after going 7 days clean but my mind wasn't clean enough and I know the reasons I relapsed was because I didn't take any measures or preparation to win my battle...hence I lost to the enemy. Now I will do the same for gaming and youtube. I will make sure my accounts get banned, I will throw away my expensive gaming mouse which I always keep with the excuse (I need it for work) sure I need it but I admit, I'm an addict, so for now, trackpad will do it for me. Will delete all gaming channels/prank channels/uselss channels from my youtube. Let's see how this works....

Pray for me, and I hope you all win your battles as well

 

Thanks for sharing zicozoma7! Thanks for supporting the thread. It reminds me to be grateful that I have another day off gaming.

 

Hi,
I was in the same situation. I deleted all the videogames i had, the YouTube app, YouTube subscriptions. It's been a couple of weeks now. I feel like quitting PMO is easier than quitting videogames in the first days. Now I don't even think about videogames. The key is to keep yourself busy, and when you are tired of working and you just want to masturbate/playing games it's a good idea to relax by talking with a friend, taking a bath or listening to music

 

My cycle was to fap for a while and then after finishing just sit and play games. It almost became something I could cycle between all day. I'm lucky because I probably almost reached a low point where I started eating "junk food" while gaming or watching shows, luckily I didn't pick that up, or I'd be even worse off. It was funny because even with PMO and gaming I still maintained a very strict eating regimen.

 

The gaming/PMO stuff is an interesting relationship. I can also remember during my long ago World of Warcraft period in the beginning of it, I was suddenly bombed with spam: about penis enlargements, potency stuff, how to endure longer sex pill and blablabla. I had an emailaccount, I have used only for WoW then and the spam was for sure connected to this account. WoW was also highly addictive by itself in the beginning, so easy dopamin kicks too. And if you then power it up also with free porn, like nearly all teenage boys do now, well, that is a pretty strong combination. And no wonder they try to sell them penis enlargement or potency stuff easiest way as target consumers. (of course Blizzard did not sell that spam shit, but they gave my email addy to these companies,people) Also I made experiences with gaming over days, that they can make you feel numb in a way. They keep you away from real life, killing precious time in which you could learn/study/rest/train/work better.

But I used them also to get away from some depressions, because I just forgot my depression by playing a game intenseful enough for example. I broke the brooding cycle with them. So like everything, learn to use it in the right personal amount or stay away from it, if you can´t.