Should I replace PMO with playing video games?

In my opinion it would be perfectly fine to play video games but in MODERATION. If you play video games very excessively after you quit PMO you may just be switching a bad habit for another bad habit. Try to find productive activities to focus on like exercising, meditating, listening to music, reading success stories on NoFap/YBOP/Reboot Nation, hanging out with friends, etc.

 

Why don't you replace it with something that will help you long-term, like getting a job (or internship), getting a degree, or reading? There's nothing more mind-numbing (and dopamine-releasing) than mashing buttons out of boredom and seeing new novel things as you "level up" or defeat a boss. Spend thirty minutes a day reading something...ANYTHING!

 

No, not as a replacement.

Buying a ps4 to play games in moderation is a perfectly fine thing.

Replacing PMO with a positive addiction is OK, video games are not what I would call a positive addiction, unless maybe you become an e-jockey or something and get paid to play, even then gamers are not really the most healthy individuals in mind or body lol...

How about replacing PMO with what has been stated above, or a sport or some physically active activity that keeps you in awesome health, rockclimbing, some kind of martial art if that's your cup of tea, hiking, running, cycling, surfing, or some outdoor activity?

 

I think playing games instead of PMOing is fine. Yeah, you could do more healthy things like what's been said above but in my mind, you're not doing the one thing that is seriously hurting you and that's a GREAT step forward. Of course, moderation is the key. Excessive anything is never good for you. All this being said, be sure the games you play don't make want to fap. If you find that occurring that may be a sign to do something else.

There is something I find annoying about the whole "you gotta do something healthy" mindset. I think one should strive for the healthy things in life for sure, but sometimes doing that stuff isn't realistic. For me, I've been fapping so much that I just don't give two shits about exercise, working out, meeting people blah blah blah... I've tried all that stuff and I NEVER felt any better because of it. People reject me because I'm moody. Exercise doesn't make me feel any better. Nothing healthy actually effects me in a positive way right now because the pleasure part of my brain is so numb that I just can't feel good. Right now the most realistic thing for me to do is not masturbate and play video games and not masturbate. Once my brain rewires itself then I can actually make a mark in the social world. That's just me. I trust you'll find what's right for you.

 

I find no matter how much I read, work out and all the healthy stuff there are still those hours to fill and I play games. I play kid's games, PG, Wii ect. I'm even watching cartoons to keep it PG.
Anything but porn is kinda my motto right now.

 

Nice. If there's a way to play games and not masturbate this is the way to do it. Stay away from the Witcher games because there's a lot of sex in those I hear. There is nothing wrong with playing video games. I used to fret everyday when I was younger because I played a lot of video games and my family seemed to hate that I did. But I soon learned that its not the game playing they were concerned about but the addictiveness that can come from it. Which did eventually happen. I played for 8-9 hours a day for many years and that didn't turn out very well. Now I'll go three hours at the most and the minute I feel bored with it I stop playing and do something else. I have no intention of being that "hardcore" gamer guy who does nothing in his life except play games but at the moment, I'm with you, I want to fill the hours I'm not doing the other things with games.

 

Only within reason. If you spent 6 hours a day fapping, you don't want to spend 6 hours a day playing video games.

Restrict yourself to an hour in the evening on a week day. I usually play an hour at night, it kind of replaces my nightly PMO habit before bed.

 

There is a certain logic to just getting through the first month and a distraction may just help. I don't know the details but there places that use medical methods to detox people off of hard drugs. Sometimes it's literally akin to putting them under anesthesia for a week. In any advent they sort of get a cold turkey reset without having to struggle through the physical withdrawals...

I am kinda shocked to find that now I'm through the first few months I am at my core a different person. There was a part of me that was basically an uncontrollable puppy on acid for sex... that part is gone... there are still dirty aspects to my thoughts but the are superficial, nothing within me, def not in my core, resonates to it...

If I could hand that freedom to you (magic pill) I would, but what would you have learned?

But in truth I think you have to fight the fight. It's ok to be miserable for a month without distraction. There is something that tells me that if you are not learning how to fight urges, learning the emotional issues that are causing your triggers, then you may be able to make it to reboot but you will just get taken out by something going wrong in your life.

My other experience is that when things were going well for me and I had an upbeat outlook I pulled multi week streaks with out much effort... but I really struggled when my life got harder... I think you have to fight the fight bro and that means not looking for distractions... but understanding why you have this problem and looking at other real ways to truly get your needs met

 

Such analogy. Many wow.

Exactly. You've got to solve the problem at its root, otherwise you're just masking symptoms. To an increasing degree this is my outlook on life, "life sucks; accept that, roll with the punches, and things will be simpler"

 

It's okay to play video games, just let it be more of a hobby than making it the focal point of your life. Playing video games becomes unhealthy if it develops into an deep obsession with playing that RPG on your console.

Focus your attention other activities. Spend time with friends, go out somewhere you haven't gone before, talk to an old friend, browse around NoFap or anything else that excites you (beside PMO, of course.) Play video games treat it like any other hobby. And always remember to have fun! You're playing a video game, ya should enjoy them not rage over the smallest things that happen!

 

I think so

 

Yup as everybody said dont over do it.. I have learned it the hard way.. Used to spend same time on pmo and games.. So quit both 2weeks ago

 

Only you can determine whether or not you're working to full capacity. I worked and did the full-time school thing for a while and it burned me out. I was staying up till 4am in the morning and getting up for 8am classes exhausted. From your description it sounds like you have a busy schedule. But then again who knows? I'm currently working two minimum wage jobs which occupy a good 45-50 hours of my week. And I always make a point to eat as healthy as I possibly can, work out as frequently as I can, and read something challenging for 30-60 minutes a day. Do I use mind-numbing things like YouTube in my free time? Of course. But the vids I watch on YouTube are usually self-help programs; things that better my life. Does shooting someone in the face in Call of Duty really stimulate your mind? If you use games to relax from stress, then that's one thing. But replacing one mind-numbing thing with another seems pointless.

 

Exactly!! Nailed it mate!!!

 

Of course. And you'll continue to escape reality through some other form of mind-numbing entertainment once video games lose their novelty. Good luck.

 

I was a huge Final Fantasy fan when I was a teenager. FFX, FF 12, FF 7, you name it. The thing about those games though is you see how time-consuming it is when you look at the time log. I swear, I must have put in a good 60-80 hours of my life on each of these games. Leveling up, farming, constantly numbing my mind and repeatedly pushing buttons. It fucked up my vision and it allowed me to remember a bunch of useless crap in adulthood.

The people who are making money TODAY are spending their early years learning the equations of Newton; the principles of leverage, the mechanics behind pulleys, the equations that describe force and mass. No company cares how quickly you got through God of War on Chaos mode. They're asking "can this guy make us money?", "does this guy have the prerequisite knowledge or credentials to be in our organization?" and perhaps less discussed but equally as important "does this guy have a high social IQ?". In other words, is he an introvert who escapes reality and enters a fantasy world or is he someone you could go out to the clubs with? Is he secure in his own skin?