I stopped playing console games, around April 2025, and put that energy into gardening.

However, during the lulls of waiting/growing time, ive taken up playing games on my phone.

Sometimes I go fishing, I have a canoe i never use.

👋

I recently decided to stop playing video games specifically so that I can once again focus on improving myself. Although I have successfully completed a 90-day detox in the past, I am now wanting to reimplement not only because I've began wasting my time again but also for my health. After having a bit of a health scare, I decided to get back on the horse of taking my life seriously. Currently I'm 20, male, and in community college (started this spring). I might provide more on my background later, but for now my goal is to create a progress thread and get started.

My goal is to "get back on the horse" which includes going 90 days again without gaming and instead to be outside for at least 30 minutes every day. It can be walking or just sitting still. It sounds so easy, but the fact I've gotten to the point where it felt like a chore just to step outside is enough for me to intervene and change things up. I'll likely track more stuff along the way.

That's it for my introduction. I'll be sure to start that thread tonight after I've been outside.

I didn’t buy the program before as I kidded myself that I could stop without actually changing any other parts of my life, but this time I’m serious. Looking forward to working with you all!

I believe I am struggling with either gaming compulsion or gaming addiction. Right now I own a Nintendo Switch 2, a Gaming Laptop, and I used to game on my phone, and I play for about 10 to 20 hours per week. I usually don't count the hours I spend gaming, so that's a rough estimate. I also tend to avoid playing online games because of their addictive nature. Recently I got super into Marvel Rivals because my girlfriend was into it and we played a lot, but after we broke up I realized how addictive that game was and went ahead and deleted my Rivals account.

Last year was when my game quitting journey started. I got into a toxic sell-buy-sell loop. I would sell my PS5 and Nintendo Switch, tell everyone I was quitting gaming, but then buy them again during major sales, or when a big exclusive game was announced. Then I moved overseas for a bit over 2 months for work and purposely sold all my consoles, as to go there without any gaming devices.

Long story short I was happy for the first time in such a long time while there. I played Tennis, Pickleball and other sports with my coworkers constantly, went to the GYM, had a healthy social life, and so much going on in my life that I quickly started feeling the positive effects of it; However, gaming was always at the back of my mind, and now that I had to return to the US I have been gaming more than ever before.

I managed after another sell-buy-sell cycle to sell my PS5 with all games and accessories. I am now down to the Switch 2 with like 8 games, my Gaming Laptop with over 300 games on Steam and tons of ROMs, and my phone, although I don't play games on it anymore. I also have like 5 controllers, and I used to have a ton more but I sold them all.

I'm a musician too (Classical Pianist), so I want to get back to that, and I love reading books, but the issue I have is that even when I'm not playing videogames I am always thinking about them, so even without playing they always win the battle for my attention. As a result I am very distracted and prone to ADHD. I also have a hard time being in relationships long-term, or having meaningful friendships, and I struggle even leaving the house sometimes. It doesn't help that I work fully remote too, and don't make that much money.

My goals are to become a digital nomad and travel the world, lose some weight, get my finances sorted out, and thoroughly enjoy all the other aforementioned hobbies and activities just as much as I've enjoyed gaming.

Sorry for the long text. That about sums it up. I'm fully committing to the 90-day gaming detox challenge, but I'm still not sure if my goal is to fully quit gaming forever, or to learn to moderate it. As a musician I get very inspired by the soundtracks of masterpieces such as the NieR, Zelda and Final Fantasy seires, and my dream is to be part of a Videogame Orchestra. Since I see Videogames as a form of art, I think learning to play in moderation might be a better fit for me in order to get inspired by them as much as I get inspired by good books, movies, TV shows, etc.

Sorry for the broken english too, I'm a first generation immigrant, which is one of the main reasons why I game, as I've always struggled making friends and fully integrating here.

I haven't use a forum in a long time, apologies if this looks quite messy.

I enjoyed videogames since I can remember I remember playing in the super Nintendo back in the early 2000. As I grew I would always try to convince my friends to sit down and grabbed the second player controller, fortunately back then kids would go and play at the park pretty often .

Now, recalling my journey I would say that my parents were quite loose in limiting my screen time as I could often play for many hours, as a teen ager I got my first personal PC and then I can remember my mother saying the words 'You've got an additiction" of course I thought she was being dramatic.

I have been into gamming a lot during high school and Uni, fortunately many group assignments kept me accountable (didn't want to let down the team) to not let games take over the important responsibilities in my life. Now that I am trying self directed online studies I realise how easy was and still is for me to just game instead of getting studies done specially if there's no external pressure.

Moving forward, now I am 30 years old and I feel like it is out of control, I moved to live overseas 7 years ago and eventually cut gamming a lot, sometimes I would get hooked to one game for 2 or 3 weeks and then lost interest and kept up with my life. I can be considered a geek and always been in the loop of manga, games, art, movies and animation.

Four months ago I decided to try an old digimon MMORPG game that I used to play as a teenager.

And that's why i am here now, for the last 4 months I have been sitting on my computer for 2 to 5 hours a day just grinding in the game, and have spent a good chunk of cash on the game. If I am not playing on my free Time I am constantly looking for content on YouTube/Reddit related to the game. and even during my gym workouts I actively search content on guides to improve in the Game ( this takes away a lot of my focus) .

I have tried to uninstall the game several times but always end Up installing it again as I keep telling myself that I can still enjoy it with moderation, and most of the times when i log in and set a timer end up playing a lot more.

I am starting to feel concerned as my fitness is decreasing and my mind feels cloudy and my focus and short term memory are pretty bad at work.

I think cold turkey would not Work for me but neither does trying to play with moderation, SOS

• Mental Fatigue
• Stopping after tilting 
• Quickly achieved goals in sessions

By creating so many intervals between sessions, game completion for me has been slow. 

Here's where my problem manifests: 

Because I'm bored with my current games, I buy more to excite myself into completing them. 

Slow game completion for me is caused by Achievement Hunting or 100% Completion.

Mastering something, even slowly, gives me great satisfaction. Seeing my backlog grow year on year does not.

This issue even extends to F2P titles I've never launched. I feel the FOMO.

I aim to stop purchasing games or start any F2P titles.

My name is Nick. Singing together. Thanks.

One of the reasons is cost. One game costs at least £60!

It is time to stop!

I am ZenYogi I wanted to change my name on here to ZenYogi @admin support?

I think I tried to make a new account with that but don’t know where it went heh. I could be ZenYogii

That’d be fine too

Om

Right so I was clean off games a good four years ish and relapsed then learned to moderate and be a functional gamer. Like going to bed in the 1030-1130 range with maybe 3 hours games a day. Sometimes more or less.

But, fuck all that it needs to be gotten rid of for me. For me it’s a no go on game time. It just sucks the damn life right out of me like a leech on my thumbs on my neck as soon as I start playing as soon as I open a game.

It starts to drain me. I find myself falling off on all my goals: financial, fitness, social and mental health, it all gets watered down.

People, even my therapist tells me, “well you’re doing well overall. You have a good job, you’re saving money, you have good mental health and social life. You’re healthy etc.”

But it’s not good enough for me. I’m not satisfied I’m not healthy as I can be I want to be my best self and thriving. Not just getting by at a better than average clip. I WANT TO EXCEL!!! I want to perform optimally for me. I want to be the best zen yogi I can be. I want to chase my paragons to be like my heroes who accomplished such heights who made the plays to keep moving forward. One step at a time and not plateau. Not settle for what other peoples standards were. But to fulfill the standards within their own hearts and souls

For most of my life, gaming wasn’t just entertainment — it was my escape, my identity, and the only thing that helped me survive some very dark years. I struggled with depression, addiction, isolation, and losing people who mattered to me. Gaming kept me alive when nothing else did.

But today, I’m not in that place anymore.

Over the past few years I’ve rebuilt my life from the ground up:
the gym, discipline, routines, finishing school, reading, learning to code, quitting weed and alcohol, and learning how to actually live again. I’m proud of how far I’ve come — but gaming is the last addiction I haven’t fully conquered.

That’s why I’m here.

I don’t want my life to revolve around a screen anymore. I want my time, my focus, my energy back. After watching one of Cam’s videos, a simple question hit me:

What happens if I finally let gaming go completely?

I’m here to find out.

There’s a long history behind my relationship with gaming — addiction, depression, and slowly rebuilding myself.
If sharing parts of it can help someone here, I’m happy to do that.
And if some of you can help me stay accountable along the way, I’d really appreciate it.

I’m not here as a victim — I’m here because I’m choosing to grow.
I’m looking forward to walking this path together with you.

– Kevin

I'm introducing myself on this forum for a very simple reason. I want to quit the "hobby" that has consumed almost 90% of my life - gaming. I'm 26 years old, and I have been playing since I was 3. I began with a gameboy color, pikachu edition, and the game I had was pokémon Yellow.

During those first years, gaming was just a hobby among others, and actually helped me learn English and how to read. English is not my first language, but funnily enough I began reading in English, not in my mother tongue, because the game was in English, and my childhood brain decided that learning English was a small price to pay in order to play the game. Perhaps, right from the beginning, there were signs I was going to be an addict (Additionally, my father and paternal grandfather were gambling addicts, so the genetics were definitely there). Other hobbies I had at the time included playing in the park, and reading books (learning to read early due to gaming made me a precocious reader).

As you probably guessed by now, my relationship with gaming did not remain controlled like it was in my early childhood. My father, a recovering addict, was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, and unfortunately that vulnerability made him return to gambling, and the person I loved the most in the world, a man that did not just help my biological parents raise me (my parents were over the age of 40 when they had me, and a couple that was their friend, who had no children of their own, offered their assistance in raising me), and ended up being the most important person in my life. That person had a stroke when I was 9, and died suddenly. The loss of my best friend, in addition to my father's illness, and the beginning of adoleescence, spelled disaster. And disaster occurred.

It was not a sudden change, but slowly, gradually, gaming began consuming me. My school grades, the top of my class, began to suffer, my social interactions with friends and family began to suffer, and my mental health began to suffer, while my gaming hours increased. From 5th grade to the first years of university, the situation worsened until I almost took my own life. I realized that I had to stop.

At the time, the game I played the most was not Skyrim. Skyrim was 2nd place, with the undisputed king and ruler of my life being League of Legends. In 2020, I deleted my original League account, and although I had many setbacks since then, I haven't played league in over a year now, the longest I've been without it since I began playing in late 2013 (This marked an intensification of my mental health decline). However, in more recent times, I've been falling back to playing Skyrim, and another game called Kingdoms of Amalur. I began playing those games before League, and while League vastly overshadowed them from 2013 to 2020, they gradually took the crown from League.

A few months ago, I created a new steam account, and only played three games in it - Kingdoms, Skyrim and Morrowind - all open-world RPGs, that allow me to pretend to be someone else, in a different, magical world, where I am the undisputed hero, a God among lesser beings. That account is queued for deletion (although I did send an email to recover it, I did not cancel the deletion), but that did not stop me. I downloaded a copy of SKyrim, and played that copy for tens of hours already in the last weeks, and that needs to stop.

I'm currently working in Cybersecurity, specifically in the GRC field, and I want to improve my skills so I can find a better job. Concurrently, I am finishing my master's degree in Computer Science and Management. I entered college in 2017, meaning that I have been in tertiary education for 9 years next year, when I'm expected to finish my master's (I am already a year late, because I failed a class and I still need to deliver my Thesis). I am tired of using games as an escape, and I really want to be free from universities, and I want to build my knowledge in my field, allowing me to move abroad, and get a relatively high income.

I've been free from games for relatively high periods since 2020 - 3 months, 7 months and 9 months, my PR, but it is not enough. I want to be free permanently, and I want to fully enjoy my life while I still can. I have three main goals right now:

• Finish my master's

• Move abroad with a well paying job

• Find a girlfriend (as a result of my gaming addiction and deteriorating mental health, I never dated)

And I want to replace gaming with:

• Reading and Writing (I like to read books, and I eventually want to write a book)

• Going on Walks and lift weights

• Study Cybersecurity

• Find and listen to new music (I would like to learn how to play an instrument, but it is not a priority right now)

I already have a journal in the stop gaming discord server, but I think I will transfer it to this forum.

This concludes my introduction. For those that read it until the end, thank you for your attention.

I’m also a big food lover — cooking and trying new dishes is something that keeps me grounded and happy.

Looking forward to learning, staying positive, and connecting with you all.

I have seen a few of Cam's videos on YouTube, and read some posts from StopGaming over the last couple of years, and I've set myself a deadline of getting rid of all remnants of gaming (essentially a media blackout) to be 1st January 2026. It's a long process as I have YouTube accounts I'll need to clear out (or just make a new main YouTube account), Chrome accounts I need to clean out (or again, create a new one), sites to block, game accounts to close or sell, etc.

I do also play a game a little bit on the weekend; as it's a live service game, its end of life is now, but there are a couple of things I wanted to complete before closing the book entirely on gaming - so instead of spending maybe 14 hours per week playing (a couple of hours per night) since a couple of weeks ago, I'm now spending 2 hours per week playing, which is a lot better, but by 1st January 2026 I want it down to 0 hours, permanently. (Hopefully it's okay if I journal even though I still play games a little bit temporarily, but if the mods would rather I wait until I'm at 0 hours 1st January, I don't mind that as well, as I understand you might only want people journaling and discussing that are focused on no gaming at all) Update: Thinking about it, let's just cut it out completely now. Why wait? There's no point of completing anything else. Day 0 starts today. Let's go 👍

However, I thought I'd start a journal now and get into the habit of journaling so that I can be around more like-minded people (as the rest of the internet that isn't self-improvement-based seems too anti-gamequitting, anti-pornquitting, etc. etc.).

Admittedly, I need to reduce all time spent on my computer, but I'm thinking one thing at a time, and the low hanging fruit is completely quitting games as I'm basically almost there anyway.

I'm a slightly older quitter, having started things like NoFap back in ~2011 or so (I'm early 30s now, the average age range seems to be early teens to late twenties) and managing to be in complete control, which is something that was initially very difficult, but more-or-less saved my life. So with quitting games I'm not necessarily looking for anything that extreme, but having those extra hours in the day back and having a clearer conscience I think will really improve my life.

I have my doubts about certain things (like getting back into dating again), but I know that hey, even if I fail at dating and need to take a break from it for a while, I'd much rather not go back to playing games and just do something much more fulfilling with my time (like getting better at dating so I don't fail as much 😂) It feels like gaming is life with training wheels, but eventually those wheels become a crutch/excuse rather than an assistance.

It's not so much I have an issue with playing 16 hours per day - although I used to when I was younger, but luckily I naturally became more bored with games and played them a lot less due to needing to spend more time on productive things e.g. studies, work, relationships, etc. - but it's completely cutting out ALL gaming-related media and not spending that hour or two I have per day either playing a game or watching one.

I have some topics I'd like to share with the forum in my journal, and hopefully get some discussions going on them. I'll also take some ideas from the existing journal templates and apply some of the subheadings to my own journal, specifically the goal-setting.

I still also need to set up a badge on the StopGaming subreddit.

I will also try my best to read at least one or two other journal entries per day and interact with others.

Thanks for reading, speak soon 👍

It has been nearly a decade since I first posted here. I cannot say I quit gaming completely, but I have played much less over the years. During Covid I built two gaming PCs and got back into it for a while. Eventually the habit faded again.

Recently I found myself pulled back in. I was not even looking for a new game, but one caught me by surprise and drew me in completely. At first it seemed harmless. Then on two weekends I ended up spending almost the entire time playing. I ignored what I needed to do, but more than that, I hated how it made me feel inside. Empty, restless, and aware that it was not good for me. I also noticed how it changed how I interacted with those close to me. I became irritated more easily, less patient, less present. After each session, I was left with a mix of guilt, sadness, and emptiness.

Yesterday I deleted Steam and every game I had. Not out of guilt but clarity. I realized it is not just about lost time, it is about how gaming affects my mood, my focus, and my relationships. The most important reason is my teenage son. He is into gaming too, and I cannot guide him away from something I am still doing myself. Maybe I had to go through this again to truly understand what it does to a person.

I am not against playing a video game, but for me it has to stay social. That means only when someone is over and wants to play a quick game on the console, like FC 25. I know I will not play on my own; it is just something I do for others, and that happens rarely. It is not only about avoiding video games but also about showing that there are better ways to spend time together, like board games or conversations.

I am still not sure if I will open a journal yet. I am thinking about it. For now, I will be around, reading and learning. My next goal is to find a way to help my son play less, not through cold turkey, but gradually. That is the hard part, but I know I cannot help him if I am still playing a lot myself.

TL;DR: Back after almost ten years. Played much less over time but recently got a clear reminder of what gaming can still do to me. My son plays too much, and I want to help him reduce, so I need to set the example first.

I'm Horacio from MN. I've always enjoyed video games, and I think playing Mario Kart with friends is perfectly fine. However, my gaming behavior is bordering on addiction, as I often spend hours playing without accomplishing anything else.

I've had a PS5 for a while now, and there are Sundays when I find myself gaming the whole day. I love reading and studying things related to my work, but my gaming habit takes up all my time.

As I'm preparing to move, I'm starting to consider selling my PS5. I would really appreciate hearing your success stories about quitting gaming to help motivate me to make the decision.

I'm glad to join this forum.😁 Cheers!

I'm Emilia from MI. Starting today, I’m committing to giving up gaming completely.

I used to spend 6 to 7 hours daily on CSGO, Hearthstone, and Paladins. Losing frustrated me, and winning no longer felt rewarding. Gaming has hindered my college studies and other interests, like going to the gym and reading.

I have many passions, from finance to Eastern religions, and I see gaming as a waste of time. After successfully giving up PMO two years ago, I’m now determined to overcome my gaming problem.

I decide a 1hr gaming session, but it extends to much more causing to have a lack of sleep and underperformance in job.

attempt at moderation failed...., so decided completely quit.

My name is Adrian and I just started reading the book myself and came here to try out this method of saying "hi" mentioned in the REspawn book.

It kinda of feels like going to AA meetings and i'm trying to get used with the idea :)
I think it's an interesting approach, I'm just curious how much it would help me :D , or how much this helped someone else.

What I can tell you about myself is that I'm 29 years old, working in IT ( Infrastructure support not programming / developing, although i'm forcing myself to get into Python programming ) as a Linux Infrastructure Engineer and I have been playing games since I was a child, but it was never too serious or too addictive.

I always played a bit of CS GO, Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed games etc etc, but I never actually had issues with gaming , I was fine with not playing for a few days or even an entire week.

Until Path of Exile 2 was launched in december 2024...that's what was unhealthy for me...

I played it since it launched like a maniac and I got to the point where I wasn't taking good care of me and I started having fights with my girlfiend with which I'm in a relationship for almost a decade now.
I stopped playing games entirely in May 2025 after a big fight with my girlfriend and after noticing how much weight I lost and I struggled a lot with my decision to quit gaming, I wanted to play and all I was thinking was just about gaming.

Two weeks ago I relapsed and I played Last Epoch thinking it won't be so damaging as POE 2 was but I was wrong, somehow I squeezed another 8 hours of gaming and of course now I feel bad about myself and I unisntalled the game after I came clean about it to my girlfriend (i hid playing , and she caught wind of this; in may i made her swear she will stop me when she'll see me playing again, so she kept her promise :)) , i don't know why I asked her to stop me from playing, what was in my mind ? :)))) hahaha )

My main problem is that ever since I stopped playing in may 2025, up until I relapsed two weeks ago, I never any drive/motivation to continue studying and preparing for new certifications so I can further my IT career.

I was pretty occupied with job interviews and I recently just started a new job with a new company, but somehow I still don't get motivated to study more ( I'm relly trying to get into python programming ) and this is exactly how I discovered the Game Quitters youtube channel, which in turn pointed me to the website and the Respawn

I found Respawnand I'm trying to see if this would help me :D

Did it help you guys in any way?

I like to think about myself that I'm a person who can never get an addiction, but judging by how I felt for the past months , I thought it's worth it to introduce myself here.

Anyway, good luck to everyone and I'm happy to meet you and join the forum :)

Gaming is unavoidable. There is no hiding from its existence. No completed sanitization of the nation. Someone, a friend or co worker will mention their game play. Will invite you to play. Unless you isolate yourself completely and stop living your life. There is no escape from exposure, but there is an escape from addiction. The cycle. Of uninstalling, reinstalling, buying gaming equipment, selling gaming equipment. Doing well in life and being happy. Having a rough traumatic experience and relapsing due to lack of support .

There in lies my answer; support. This forum. Other game quitters. It’s the only answer that’s ever worked for me. See hear read game quitters.

Delete the games, lock away the controllers, hide the key from yourself somehow. Maybe even just throw away the key. You can always break apart the lockbox if you need to someday. It’ll keep it healthier…..let’s try locking them up and writing POST TO GAME QUITTERS on the box to remind you.

When you wake up

I realize how this post sounds as I’m just laying out my honest experiences recently after waking up at five am with nightmares. Also, please don’t worry too much I am in therapy have been for years. I am on medication and working to manage my symptoms I’m safe.

Warnings: It has trauma in it.

Lotta stress these days. I have a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder and I got hit in the back of the head the other day on accident. But that’s kinda been the icing on the stress cake. So I’ve been like having weird dreams, being out of sorts. It’s concerning I’ll be more careful from now on.

I think I’ve always been really arrogant and that’s been my problem. Thinking I could quit games or moderate them on my own. Then falling apart. I’ll try to just focus on being more humble. Reading people’s journals.

I was maybe gonna go to a gaming anonymous group. I’m so tired. It’s 520am. Those groups tend to be really scary sometimes but when I went to one of them the people seemed nice. I could feel that intense feeling where everyone was resisting the urge to game.

I’m……I’m gonna put away the gaming stuff like in a lockbox I think. I’ll try to replace it with anime and manga. I already exercise so that’s good. I’d like to make my own food now too. Or just make it together with Hina so I can manage the calories. I have a really sensitive stomach which sometimes messes with me.

Definitely going to not mess with social media as that’s kind of just a replacement addiction. Not a replacement activity :)

Right, most importantly post here or go to the gaming anon meetings or both. That’ll keep you focused on game quitting. Alright.

I had some bad dreams two nites now. Gonna try to journal them out here. warning

I just remember being really hot and angry feeling. Feeling really mad at my mom. We were on a nice couch in a big fancy house together. Just like we always were. She was on my case about getting more tests, more accolades, more money. I told her I hated that she did that. That she wouldn’t try to help me go live on my own and leave the house for once. That she always kept me down and rained on my parade. I couldn’t ever feel happy or confident for two seconds before she’d criticize me. Bully me. She’d laugh, but it was never funny to me. Ask her to stop and she’d reply, “You’re just being too sensitive and insecure. You got no confidence. Not like your sister, she’s a warrior.”

My sister would chime in telling me, “You’re not a real man.”

Then they’d wonder why I didn’t want to spend time with them.

I wasn’t yelling in the dream. I was just upset. Just mad at her. On the couch, nagging me to work harder when my mental health was falling apart. When adding another hour to the workload was just going to push me further into the depths of insanity. Of insomnia, depression, anxiety, delusions of grandeur, paranoid delusions of persecution.

I don’t know what to do. I like reading and writing…..they’re nice. Sometimes they don’t seem to like me back though. I need strength training in the mornings and mindful minutes. It’s just limiting stressful activities really. I live on ten squares of life. So long as I stay on those squares I am okay. When I leave them I’m in trouble.

Heh

They’re the approved activities. Well that’s enough about me. I’ll try to keep writing out my dreams. It helps me stop the scary dreams. Also just stopping eating by 6 or 7pm. I already cut spicy foods.

I’m just trying just trying . Hina would take care of me. I just hope I can stay mentally healthy and keep my line of work.

I'm FDRx7 from the United States. I used to game a lot when I was younger but when I went to college, I ultimately stopped. I don't know if it was just being busy or what, but I didn't touch a console (save for a quick game at a friend's place or something) or PC game for probably 7 years. Then, last year I started a two-year graduate program. I have a few close friends in the program and one of them convinced me to download the Halo Master Chief collection for PC (I had never PC gamed before). I enjoyed it and played through the campaign, reminiscing about my middle and high school years playing with friends. Ultimately, I didn't stay with it because I wasn't very good and didn't want to invest the time. I did however download some more games on my PC and played them, but not quite to the point of addiction. Some of these games were purchased because my friend would say, "Download it and we can play together!" It frustrates me now thinking back because he would have me do that, we would play together literally a few times and then he would move on to a different game. So, I was left with a game I likely wouldn't play on my own and out ~$20 each time.

The problem really set in just recently. I wasn't doing an awful lot of gaming, just here and there. Then, another friend of mine told me I should join him and some other friends on a Minecraft server. I figured this would be a good game for me to play in between study breaks as a reward. I used to play the game a while back when in high school. It was fun to get back into it at first and I enjoyed staying connected to my friends during lockdown. However, I suddenly found that all I wanted to do was play Minecraft. I was still getting my schoolwork done, but I was starting to neglect all of the goals and personal responsibilities that I had. I was up until this point an active weight lifter, had academic and language goals I was working on in my own time, as well as engaging in leisure activities like reading. Now, all I wanted to do was play Minecraft, whether my friends were online or not. All other activities were becoming dull and boring compared to Minecraft, despite the fact that the game involves so much grinding. 

I have had and still have this problem with watching YouTube as well. It can be easy to get lost when wanting to escape, but then waste a ton of time online. I never thought that I could become addicted to Minecraft or that it would be considered anything remotely close to addictive. I wouldn't say that I am a true addict, but I am seeing warning signs that are alarming to me. I want to make sure that I continue to pursue the things that are most important to me and stop the behaviors that are destructive. I signed up for Respawn not only for the gaming, but to also apply the tricks to YouTube as well. I am happy to be here and looking forward to the journey of getting my life back where I want it to be!

last semester went.. pretty bad.

i was stressed, overworked, studying and doing another project as well. for 2 weeks i was at uni from 9am-1am (i wish i was exaggerating)

my project was done, but i was behind at uni. i didn't have the time to study, i actually had to skip lectures to focus on the project.

i passed only 4 courses. i was terrible, mentally. i really thought i could do everything

i spent hours upon hours scrolling.. to forget that i was failing

now, i'm 13 days sober. hopeful it'll stay that way.

~ Trying To Become An Engineer

It's been a few years now and over that time I've  allowed gaming to get the better of me and I'm looking to take back control.

Over the last few months, my time playing video games has increased mostly because of  being unemployed at the moment. With so much free time, apart from spending time with my wife, my family and doing other important daily activities, I would spend at least 5 or 6 hours gaming, usually 2 to 3 hours during the day and another 2 to 3 hours at night. At times this also could vary and may even be more than 6 hours, depending on the day and what type of mood I was in.

Over the last few days I've been thinking about what avenue I'm going to take and have wondered if I may be able to keep gaming in the proper place and only play in moderation.

I will give it some time and then reevaluate the situation to determine if it's possible for me to play in moderation. If I realize that it's not possible for me to game in moderation, I may need to consider quitting video games completely.

I'm new around here. Only discovered Cam's videos a short while ago.

I have been gaming since childhood and grew up in a gaming household. Earliest gaming experience that really sucked me in was Zelda: Ocarina of Time. During my teens, I played Diablo 2, Morrowind, EverQuest 2, Flyff, Rappelz, and countless other games I cannot even remember to be honest. In my 20s I gamed a lot on newer titles, especially, Guild Wars 2, Diablo 3, Path of Exile, and Grim Dawn. I threw in WoW and Heroes of the Storm (MOBA) for good measure. Somehow, I managed to work full-time, go to school full-time, and stay somewhat involved at church and social events, while keeping my marriage together. It meant every bit of free time was gaming, with late nights and long weekends all too often.

When I turned 30 and started my master's degree I was smart enough to put the PC up for good. Apart from a 2-week relapse into Hearthstone, I didn't game at all for 6.5 - 7 years. I still spent time on the phone and watching TV shows, but the game-brain was gone for the most part.

Somehow, amid the stress of life and in the middle of a second master's degree, I stumbled into Diablo Immortal and downloaded it. It just felt good to do the old loot grind again. A few binges on that, and I quickly remembered that they had remastered Diablo 2. This was a craving for me even back when they first released it, but now my guards were down all the way. So, I bought a PC rig I couldn't afford just to play Diablo 2: Resurrected. Got a hardcore necro up to 86, died before I beat Act 5 Hell. Started another necro and made it all the way through. I felt accomplished and loved the rush of nostalgia attached to that game. I relived the old times. Then I went to see if my old stuff was still on Heroes of the Storm. Yep, all my characters, especially Illidan, were just waiting for me to play them. I did, and man, it was so much fun! However, I started pulling 8-hour sessions when I only planned on 2-3 hour sessions. That's when even the wife was like, "Man, you're playing a lot again, remember, that stuff can be addictive for you." 

That stung a bit, but it got me to realize it. Not long after that, I had my Blizzard BattleNet account deleted for the first time ever, all gone now. So I haven't done any more gaming since then (that was like 2 weeks ago). However, I still find myself scrolling, YouTubing random stuff, putting off work on my thesis, and feeling that "other stuff is boring" feeling again. I still have the PC I bought, and I find myself planning what I am gonna play once I get some real time on my hands again (winter/summer). I know however, that this will just suck me in to a pure gaming mindset, no matter how many times I promise to play a game "just to experience it once" (looking at you Skyrim). These games are designed to make you want to come back to them over and over. Even when you get truly bored with a game, hundreds are being marketed in your face, just waiting for you to take the bait.

I decided today to do a real detox (90 days at least), not just from games, but from scrolling, needless TV, YouTube, and all the other digital mind-numbing stuff that is just a click away. I'm hopeful.

Thanks for listening!

My name is Travis and I'm 38 years old from Pittsburgh, PA. My main reason for coming to GameQuitters (and Respawn) is that I've always felt there is a better (or more productive) way to be spending my free time. Historically, I've been a big Final Fantasy and Pokemon fan and have put WAY too much time into both of these games. I've also had a bit of an unhealthy attachment to Pokemon GO - however I'm a bit nervous to lose this hobby as I play with my boyfriend and several other good friends.

I think ultimately my goal would be to spend more time working on personal and professional development, finances, and growing a YouTube channel as a side hustle.

I'm looking forward to journaling on here and getting to know you all!