JPM_SH5

Hey all, I found this video the other day on anxiety. I myself experience anxiety at times (as does every human being), but I found it insightful. Hoping this helps anyone who's dealing with it. Enjoy!

I like the points that you laid out. Accountability and the idea of staying in touch of those who are trying to quit gaming (or moderate it more) are the foundation for success. However, it may take an individual several tries to regulate (whether that's quitting or moderating) gaming to fully succeed. In my case, I found Respawn to be a WONDERFUL resource to use. What's it's best at, is giving practical ways that elevates how you manage your time. For me, that was a big asset. Making a schedule for myself has made me more productive, and focused. Heck, even someone who isn't looking to quit video games can benefit from it. If someone relapses, that's not entirely a failure. One can look back and see why they did, which better prepares them in the future.

Right now I'm actually reading two books. Meditations by Marcus Aurlieus and The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson (it's the sequel to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo). Don't know if it's my ADD, but I like reading a non-fiction and fiction book at the same time. Guess I like the option to change what I'm reading depending on my mood ?‍♂️

During my experiment so far I made a realization: Gaming is small part of my life, not my entire life. I read through the entire Respawn e-book and modules. I've implemented some of the ideas presented, and noticed improvements. For one, managing my time has gotten better, among other aspects with my life. All in all, I've looked back at my relationship towards gaming. It's never been an issue for me, do I get sick of it sometimes? Yes of course, just like anything. To be honest, I do not feel as though I need to do a full 90-Day Detox anymore. I'm going to finish November, because I think taking a month to challenge myself is a good thing to do. For me, gaming can have a place in my life. A minor part, a supporting role. An extra in the feature film that's my life. I've learned a lot during this time, not only about myself, but about how I can manage my life. I'm not going to say that gaming addiction is not real, it certainly is. I think there are similar people to me in this regard. Those who do game, not to astronomical levels but perhaps "default" to it since it's all they really did. For those people, who felt as though they want to experiment with their life, I think just taking a month off from gaming can be just as beneficial as the 90 Day Detox. At the end of the day, everyone is different. Some people need longer or shorter than others to adjust their lifestyle. I'll continue to update as this month continues, and I wish anyone luck who wants to quit permanently, or only for a bit!

That's a fair point you are making. It's foolish to think that gaming addiction is not real (it certainly is!). Throughout my experiment I've coming to realize that perhaps my attachment to gaming is of nostalgia. Everyone on this forum can attest the fond memories of playing video games without consequence when we were younger. However, as we get older naturally we come upon more responsibilities. At the moment, I've been able to juggle it. Even still, there's always been this yearning for more. So far, I've been reading more, and devoting more time to my school work (which has already paid off since I got the results of an exam back that devoted the time to study for during this month. Suffice to say I got a score I'm proud of). During this I'm committing myself to the challenge. I will be honest, I had one "relapse" last weekend. I asked a buddy of mine if he wanted to hang out with some of our other friends while we were both at work. I went over to his place and everyone was playing Mario Party on the Switch. I only played a little bit of Super Smash Bros later on. The reason I decided to play was for a couple reasons. One, in the past I really only enjoyed video games when it was couch co-op titles. Secondly, I remembered listening to Gaming The System (one of two podcasts ran by Game Quitters) and Cam mentioning the fact that asking someone to hang out takes no time out of your day to do. Which I decided to do. Keep in mind, the majority of my friends play video games, with that though, it's not the only reason we connect. I still haven't touched my Nintendo Switch since the start of the month. Despite my relapse, I'm still going through with the challenge. Because honestly, I've been enjoying my life without gaming so far! Do I still have cravings? Of course but that's part of the process. Hopefully my experience helps you out. Also, feel free to message me whenever you want I'm more than happy to speak more with you.

Hey man, I think its commendable that you're doing all of this to better yourself and your situation. I'm similar to you in the fact that I hold different beliefs than others, and for the longest time that caused me to not be as good at socializing as I would like. But here's the thing, you don't need to change your beliefs to get along with others. At the end of the day, we're all just a bunch people, on a big rock, in the middle of nowhere, attempting to make it through life. In the grand scheme of things, beliefs really do not matter. What does matter, is how you conduct yourself with others. If you're respectful to others, they'll see that. Granted some probably won't, but that's not in your control. At this point in time, focus on making yourself feel good about being you. Explore your interests, and enjoy yourself. Anyway, I wish you luck on everything you're doing!

This is really good way to do it. What I recommend is if you go on Spotify (or really any music streaming service) and look up a nature sound playlist. Once you do that, set up a 10 minute timer. You can focus on your breathing by doing the following: When you breathe in say to yourself "In", and when you exhale say to yourself "Out". Thoughts will come up randomly, the point isn't not to think, but rather to get wrapped up in it. Let's say your having a thought that's negative such as "I'm a loser", at this junction you have two options. The first is to continue with that thought and make up reasons as to why you are (which you aren't, let's get that straight). The second is to simply acknowledge you have that thought. Just observe you had that thought, like you would observe something mundane in the external world. Don't worry about getting "better" at meditation, that'll distract you. The first couple times you do it you'll have multiple thoughts and probably get wrapped up in them. However, you'll reach a point where you realize you're getting absorbed by that thought, and that's an accomplishment right there! Try to make it habit that you do daily. To get started though, commit to doing every two days. Daily practice will benefit you immensely. Keep in mind, that "meditation" (the act of sitting down, closing your eyes is what I'm referring to) is not the only way to meditate. You can achieve the same thing with exercise, or really anything that you focus on in the present moment. Speaking anecdotally, I find that when I don't meditate consistently, I get more stressed out and less able to focus. It's much like exercise, the more you do it, the more you get out of it. Try guided meditation for awhile (that's what I did), but after consistently doing it I actually find guided meditation to be more of a distraction now. Feel free to experiment, and most importantly, have fun and relax.

Much like you, I lead what most would consider a "normal life". Despite that, I feel as though I can do more. I played games in my free time, however, it's gotten to the point where I don't fully enjoy them but continue to do so out of habit. I'm doing the 90 Day Detox as well to challenge myself and to see what my life is like without video games in that time. You got a hunger for more, and I think you'll gain a lot from this. Really hope it goes well for you. You got this!

Hey all, I'm a 23 year old guy whose been gaming since a young age. I want to be honest with you guys, I don't plan to quit forever. However, gaming has become a habit in my life and I've yearning for more. I discovered Game Quitters almost a year ago, and I've toyed with the idea of the 90 Day Detox. Recently, I discovered I haven't been having as much fun gaming as I used to. But I continued to do so since it was really all I knew. I'm in school, have a part time job that I actually enjoy, and have other hobbies too, so on the surface I "have it together". I don't consider myself addicted to gaming, yet I think taking a break will put things in perspective. I'm doing the 90 Day Detox as a way to challenge myself, and to explore other facets of life. What's funny though, is with 6 days behind my belt I do have some cravings. These aren't very strong because every time I feel the urge, they go away after a good amount of time. In my free time I've been going through Respawn and the modules. And I have to say, the material Cam has laid out is excellent. With his suggestions I've started implementing those ideas. One that really stood out to me was the setting up a schedule, among other things. A nice thing that I noticed I immediately benefitted from not gaming is gaining time. I used to think I did not have a lot of free time, but I realize that's simply not true! Anyway, I realize this may be a little lengthy for an introduction post, but in order for me to gain the most benefit from this, I feel as though I should put in the effort (like anything in life). If you read this entire post, I appreciate it and hope to get to know some of you guys as we go through this journey together!