AJ_Manley

( Prepare for pointless photos ) Hi everyone First off I am not an English Gentleman! What do I mean by the phrase 'An English Gentleman'? Well for me it brings up a few different things in my head. The first is a picture like this and the second is this song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d27gTrPPAyk Now to be clear I haven't seen even seen Singin' in the Rain nor am I a big Sting fan but to me an English Gentleman is an ideal. Something I can work towards. Why? Well I am 24 and I live in Bedfordshire, a county in England that I have lived in most of my life. You probably haven't heard of it and don't worry your not missing out massively! Though you may know the closest town to my house which is Luton. I have always admired men and women who (at least on the surface) have lots of confidence, energy and care for others around them. The local businessman, the independent writer, the powerhouse musician, we all have different images in our heads but one of the greatest mistakes I every made was to believe that confidence especially is is something your born with. Oh indeed its bollocks. So if your not just born with it then how do you get it? Well I'm not sure yet... but I am damn excited to find out! Hey I am Alex. If you have read through this far thank you, it does mean a lot and as you have probably noticed I talk very randomly sometimes so if you want me to explain something with a bit less memes let me know :). Some quick facts about me. I am 24 years old, I will be 25 on the 4th March 2016. I love music, politics, funny memes, comedy shows, war stories, psychology and travelling. I love these things, but I have never developed a PASSION involving them. I mean that I have never concentrated on one thing I love long enough to use it to further my life or my experiences in any major way. I simply haven't achieved much in my life. I have 'lived' my life in games, and the majority of the time playing games that aren't even online or 'social'. This has meant that I have had largely the same friends I have always had from school, and when I have met new people or groups I have found it difficult to stick with them. The majority of the time because I haven't engaged with them about what they love and what they do in their lives. This week I stopped gaming. Full stop. I want to exercise more. I want to meet more people and have interesting conversations. I want to see places instead of just looking them up on the internet and I want to make my life happier. The best thing I know right now. At this second as I am typing is this.. is that if I am happy I can make the ones I love happier too. I cant think of much of a better incentive than that. This is the first time I have every really written anything about myself and I don't really know at the moment how many times I will update this journal but was fun writing it. Might even become something I update regularly to just write down ideas or get out how I am feeling but will figure that out as I go. Gonna jump back into the forums now but feel free to leave a message if you like, link me any books to read, music to listen to etc... or even just show me a silly meme you found Have a great day everyone !

Hey Tan! I have suffered with depression and anxiety for a number of years really without realising the extent of the damage it was doing to my relationships and to studying. I am 24 is its my first time seriously quitting gaming. The fact that you have tried to quit before more than 10 times is incredibly impressive ! The social side is a big challenge for me too and I wish you all the luck in the world. I think these forums will make a big difference for me and I hope they do the same for you.

Hi I am Alex, or AJ and I am 24 years old. I live in Bedfordshire, England. I have been a big gamer for as long as I can remember. Played nearly every console I can think of, over a thousand hours in multiple games (even before I got Steam!). I have used games as a way to escape from pressures of my life. Everything from family arguments to money troubles, broken relationships and missed opportunities. This has built up over a number of years to the point where I now get physical symptoms from anxiety and depression and as I am sure many of you understand I failed to acknowledge these symptoms till very recently. Yesterday (11.02.2016) I decided to quit gaming. All gaming. To try therapy for my depression and to reach out to others as much as I can to complete any goals I dream up. I realise the immense task I am facing, but equally I know that no challenge is insurmountable if tackled from lots of angles. If I have one thing its the chance to break away at my problems piece by piece. So with that I have set my self a very simple goal for the rest of the week. No gaming. I am assuming that like me many of you have never had goals outside of games... I have always seen them as a failure waiting to happen. For me right now I only see the last ten years of my life as a waste of time and while I realise that isn't the best place to start afresh from it does give me the energy and most importantly the will to try something new. I have looked around the forums a little so far and its been fantastic to see all the posts and responses. I look forward to getting involved myself and hopefully helping someone else in the process. Thank you.