Mercury

Hey Mercury, I can totally relate here. I went through the same process. Some activities I've found useful on my journey: Reading (non-fiction for intellectual stimulation, fiction before bed to turn off my analytical brain and wind down)WritingMeditationLearning to juggleLearning to cookGoing to social eventsBodyweight exercise/runningDrawingRediscovering music and moviesI have reading list (fiction and non-fiction) and I think I'll dive into that when I'm feeling drained from work. Yeah, just something enjoyable to relax from work ... although I have to admit a lot of things still feel like "work" right now in comparison to gaming. Some exceptions are: lifting, cooking, board games with my roommates, and certain subreddits I follow (non-gaming related). I used to play a lot of basketball and it was something that I really enjoyed... but now I barely have the motivation to start again despite being game-free for a length of time. Any idea if this changes over the next months? I intend to do at least 30 days but I know the 90 day full detox will be significantly more effective. I also used to devour novels as a child/teen, though that's been completely replaced by gaming over the years... will that desire come back over time?

Thanks for the encouragement everyone; indeed finding a new activity seems to be what I should focus my energy on. I keep doing only "productive" things and I feel that will burn me out very quickly.

I'm currently at 15 days... I've been WAY more productive but I'm feeling the urges still, my brain is telling me that I'm "good" to play in moderation now. However, knowing how dopamine and addictions work, and the fact that I've tried this before... I feel deep down I need to resist this feeling. It doesn't help that the game I was hooked onto was an MMO, and I realize now that at some point I wasn't playing solely for FUN anymore, but moreso a thirst for reward each time I played. Anyone else have similar experiences/encouraging stories in light of all this?