fanzio

Welcome !

Hey g3nscho, managed to successfully quit after several attempts, but I was smoking much more (1-2 packs a day). Istill go out a lot and particularly in Berlin where most of the bars are smoking bars. Never touched a cigarette in a year. How I did it is that I reached a point that I was disgusted by myself. Whenever I could have a craving, I would remember these situations and craving would stop strght away, in 1 second. As for me, the situations are: - I was coughing once or twice when I was talking to anyone, and I could not stand that when I was talking to a woman I was attracted. - I could net stand seeing my yellow fingers on a piano or my fingers being seen by other musicians Reasons are very subjective. There can be many around the smell as well. All the common sense reasons (bad health, money, poisoning people around you, etc.) never worked on me. Find your own genuine unbearable reasons ! Good luck and keep posted !

I never understood anything about girls/women, but I noticed that the same myself could have bad days where everyone is turning face away when eyes are reaching each others, and some days (could be the next day) where most of people turn their heads in the street to look more at you and smile at you. I noticed that it was all linked to how I felt about myself and that no out-of-the-box thinking could influance that. Only genuine works there. So definitly quitting gaming will make you feel much better about yourself, it's a very good step (I never felt genuinely good in a day I had been gaming) to be attractive, and have women make the first step ! (then you don't have this fear anymore !)

Hey Natty, First of all, congrats for your honest share ! I feel i lived exactly the same (and could happen again ?), but hold on ! I know I have had some really very trashed days, and they were many, really very many and very very trash (I remember the day I injured myself and did not realized for a ful day because I was hard gaming, just realized in the evening when I removed my clothes full of blood and then had to go to hospital several times). What's helping me is to watch Cam videos when I feel (felt ? wish I can already speak about past time of my life) bad, and of course get away from computers, but it may be more difficult if you don't really have to. Also, am trying to disgust myself in situations that even in trash days, I could not accept. For me it worked very well for stoping cigarettes: I could not stand coughing in front of woman I wanted to seduce, could not stand seeing my yellow fingers on a piano. For games, it's not that obvious, but I think that my back and arms pains are coming from hard core gaming. And that's hurting a lot my work (also my passion). Will see if it works because it is not as clear as cigarettes effects. Anyway, hold on ! It will change soon !

Day 10. no craving. just a small nostalgia sometimes, checking on forums that my guides are still read, but started to be bored doing that. But I know it's just the beginning... relapsed so often

No no ! I could both smoke and play at the same time! No limits to bad habits ;-) What I realize how easy it was to completely stop smoking without any help, just by being disgusted of myself (particularly coughing every sentence when you talk to someone). I still have many people smoking around me, but I never felt tempted. I was already hard core gaming long before I stopped smoking, so no, in this case I did not replace one bad habit by another. But you are very right about moving a habit to another, I know that each time I tried to stop gaming, I immediately switched to googling. This time I try to avoid facing screen as well. Concerning the book, I am a bit tired of that kind of literature showing processes... It most of the time makes a lot of sense, but it's too rough for me. As Cam said in his first videos, you can not replace gaming by something you just try to escape (processes belong to a phase of my life I want to get rid of). Will keep posted !

Hey Again, Seems it was not the right attempt. I am now again on day 8. There are several things I should probably have mentioned when I made my introduction nearly 3 months ago, but I was to excited to skip steps! I want to tell a bit more about my gaming life. I started around age 13. At that time, internet did not exist, and it's also around that time that I started yo have intensive work and emotions with music (2-3 hours daily practice after getting back from school) . And from the beginning, these video games were the mean to quickly release the pressure my music teachers were putting on me (that's the classical music way... super old school). And also from the beginning, it has been the only reason to fight with my parents. I think it has been like that for 2 or 3 years, and then I think I played less. My computer got too old anyway and I never got another one before I turned 25. I did some non music studies, and there were computers that we could access at night/week ends, and as I did not really like these studies and that games like doom, dune 2, wolfenstein were installed, I started playing them. Whether I played them because I had problems in my life or if I had problems in my life because I played too much, I guess this has often be very linked. And I am convinced that the fact of playing anyway then became the main problem anyway. Much more than the problems I could have had before. Anyway, i then started a job, super interesting - but not music - and everything was fine. I had no computer at home, was travelling a lot and no possibility to install anything on work-computers. Perfect. Then, after 3 years, I felt I had nothing to do in that kind of work anymore, but could not resign because of my private life. I got a computer, and started to have time to play (evening mainly and sometimes week end when I was alone). Runescape was it. This has last maybe 3 or 4 years. I still have some very precise flash memories of some places I visited there, what radio I was listening at the same time. Then I decided to completely change my life, prepared everything during one year and did it. hat were my most exciting years, and even if the excitation is different now, that's the best decision I ever took. No games around. Or so I thought... After 3 years, I managed to have a quite satisfying balance in my new music life, but then arrived a super-vampire-girlfriend that successfully managed to put me in the same situations as when I was 13. I google warcraft as I saw an advertizing and installed wow (world of warcraft). 1 month later, I bought the game and 1 month of game. I was only hopping one month here and there, but I recently compared the days I started monthly subscribtions and events I could find in my emails, and it came out that I always started again as another dramatic situation happened in my couple. At that time, it was ok, I was playing, maybe 2-3 hours, and not everyday. The situation became a higher stage in terms of fights in my couple, broke up, bought the latest extension of warcraft and started playing high level( that was something new to me). I completely facked up all the things around me, but I was living alone, nobody really noticed. For work/studies, I was less efficient, but nothing much. I was not answering phone calls/emails from my friends, they though I had a good new life. I eventually met them for some days of vacations, and I could suddenly be the happy/funny dude they knew before. Meanwhile, I was playing 12-16 hours everyday, eating 2 pieces of bread (sometimes with butter) per day, sometimes not opening the curtains, playing in the dark for several days. And this, for 9 months. I did tell my best friend I "had been" gaming. It was the first time someone would know I would play video games. At that time, I was super slim, was lying to everyone about my "good life" (I had moved in another city, nobody could really check). Then I managed to realize I was officially depressed, took medecines. I magically completely stopped playing for 2 months, then some shadows of my vampire girlfriend came back and I started playing again (free to play that time). During 2 years, I managed to have a better life (sports, music highly demanding activity, friends, good healthy food,vacations, dates...) but with anyway super strong regular playing periods. Sometimes even weeks again. For example between 2000 and 4000 minutes of game per week(sometimes even more), then uninstall for 3 days, get back on tracks on my work/social life, and start playing again. Always, I was on the edge of screwing up forever jobs, relations, health. And I could always at the very last minutes manage to do something which looked like 100 hours work in 2 hours, do few physical exercises so that my body could still be more or less fit, shift to a genuine contemplative emphatic mood. Then I stopped again last week. I have an idea but can not describe it fully today, but I think that I managed to disgust myself of myself. It's not that easy. I know I successfully managed the same way some years ago with cigarette: being disgusted by myself. Hope it will work the same way...

Problem is that I did the same. And 2 months later, I have been whining to the support, and they gave me back my account (just needed to give my name and a brief history of my main characters). I actually did 2 times. And the second time, they even gave me back all my characters for free (normally you can get back only 1 character every month). So this time, there is really no chances ! This is the last email I received: "Sir, Hereby, I confirm receipt of your request for deletion of your Battle.net account. We have granted your request and recorded disabling your Battle.net account. As had been agreed, all information personal and billing details have been erased from our database. Remember that this operation is irreversible and that in no case this account can not be restored. Thank you for your understanding and are of course at your disposal if you have any other question. Regards,"

Hello all, finally found the link to completely delete a battle.net account (warcraft, etc.) https://eu.battle.net/support/en/help/product/battlenet/804/1041/solution Hope this will help some of yours. Was difficult for me to find this ! Just used it today ! Cheers

Hi Joba, I am so impressed you could explain all of that ! I am so ashamed that only two people know I have been gaming: my best friend and my current girlfriend. No one else. Anyway, congrats for your 86 days ! I completely failed my detox, trying again since 2 days, but I won't say more until I reach the end, makes no sense ! For Cam who read this: even if I don't write much, am still (or "again" is a more accurate word) watching your videos and reading. Joba, concerning your passion vs mainstream work, I could share my experience (also in music) as I did it some years ago. Can not write more now as I need to sleep now (tomorrow is important day!) but will definitively do on Friday ! Congrats again ! Wish I were where you are on your detox!

I have to say I could only make 13 days... after that, my girlfriend went on a trip and I had big stress cause of that terror attacks (i live in Brussels). So I reinstalled that wow shit. As I play mainly "free-to-play" (i enjoy more that high level), no need to say that my efforts to erase my characters/account were useless to start playing again. On top of that, I realized that my graphic card had never had never worked at all, or maybe just few weeks. So when I updated the divers again with the correct ones, I discovered a completely new game (I could make precise movements and react 10 times faster). Now it has been 3 weeks relapsed, playing not everyday as I had a lot of work and friends around, but still too much when I was alone (some 5-8 hours a day, with a pick at 19h !). There is something I would like to understand, but still do not find the solution: I managed to completely quit smoking some years ago after many tries. That last stop, it had been no effort. I had been disgusted by myself, the way my voice was when I was talking to people. And that had been enough but go from 2 packs to 0 cigarettes in one day, without any help, and never relapsed since years. For games, I have the feeling it's the same addictive behaviour, I feel that I have even more reasons to be disgusted my myself (cancelling parties, even vacations, screwing work), but still I can do it "one last time" (which is never just one hour game). And it's not a matter of being bored. I am having a wonderful girlfriend, great friends, doing what I want in life (am live artist), am cooking pretty well and very healthy. The gaming compulsion is coming in stress situations : "to make all stressful ideas vanish instantly when I am waiting for the begining of a bg or a raid, whatever shity atmosphere can be". Or after a performance- even after happy parties that usually follow - to evacuate all the tensions that were during the preparation. Of course, like cigarettes, it does not help ;-) I know that, but can not help. I don't know if I should look for a game overdose. I feel I already lived these 5 no-life months and it did not really work to help me stop as it worked for Cam. It just destroyed part of my being. I think that I have identified the main situations that lead me to play, but I can not find alternatives. Duo linguo works a bit (made 30% of german in 5 weeks), but still, it's not enough. I am already a decent reader, but can not find this evacuating power, maybe because am having an already quite intellectual life - with short super intense performances moment though - and reading has a different power on me, but not to evacuate accumulated stress. Sport: I already do a bit, but never got back this sensation of "I don't want to stop running" as I could have when I was teenager. Will write when I find something new...

Day 11 still ok ! Though afraid of monday when I will be alone. I will write more on monday as I am trying now not to spend too much time in front of a computer !

This is something quite similar, web based though. Am using it right now ! https://habitica.com

Day 8 or 9 ! Still clean ! but have busy life now ! WIll write more in a few days ! Hold on and thanks for your messages !

Good job on still going strong! I only have to watch something on the TV and I get the urge to play a certain game haha. It's great that your girlfriend is supportive. My main trigger, was boredom though...are you sure you aren't just bored? Keep up the good work. Thanks Falky ! It's something very similar to cigarette when I was smoking (stopped a year ago successfuly)... don't think it's to do with being bored in this case. Will tell more when in few hours. In between, I completely erased the begining of the installation !

hold on ! I can understand so much all you write ! And am just on day 8. I started reinstalling the game (wow) but hopefully my network is super slow at the moment and could not finish. I will erase that straight away !

Am on day 8, still have big urges but did not game, just been going to fan sites quite quickly. The first have been great, particularly since my girlfriend joined me since a week. I told her about my addiction and now my quit. She supportive in a very cool way. But yesterday, had a bigger urge. Nearly reinstalled the game. And no specific event/sadness happened to provoque that though. I think it's a pure missing gaming. Can that be ?

Hey ! good to see that you have decided to quit as well ! Getting out is really important. Try to see if your neighnorhood is really unsafe or if you are affraid of people (I have been at some time, when I had been too many days without talking to anyone). If it's something in the middle, go out at safe time, and go buy something ! Otherwise, duolingo, the language learning site worked well for me. Keep us posted !

Hey Tanvir, your situation looks somehow very similar to mine as for the aspect of escaping busy stressful things. Hold on ! Am on day 1 too !

Thanks to your nice messages ! That gives me hope ! It's have always be very strange as I have always been able to not play and not miss game at all for few days, and then suddenly play these 10-15hours a day, several days in a raw, sometimes several weeks... all with having NO-ONE imaginating that I was playing. None of my friends knew exept i told once my best friend 2 years ago. But then I told him I stopped (which was not true...I just wanted to stop). So I know I will never be completely on the safe side... But today I have been out doing music ! Then had 3 skype with my closest firends ! Now bed!

Want to say hello !!! After trying to stop I don't know any times and getting back few weeks later because of... need to escape... , I want to do it with support ! Yesterday, played 19 hours... Will let you know ! Happy to be here !