amchow

@Dpesuti To start off, I would not see dopamine as being unnatural. It is something the human body needs to register success and positive emotions. Instead, I would suggest focusing on the size and frequency of the releases rather than whether or not they should be released at all. I don't think music really triggers the same intervals of dopamine release that gaming does as it causes smaller releases with larger intervals in between rather than the multiple dopamine releases in rapid succession that games cause. In all honesty, I still listen to background instrumentals that comes from video games, but I do not feel any urges or cravings to game as I no longer associate them with the act of playing the games and instead just listen to it for the sake of enjoying instrumental music rather than reminiscing about my time playing games. In fact, I don't remember any instances playing any of the games I used to play even when listening to the BGM. When it comes to music, as long as you can do other things with music in the background and don't get too heavily distracted by it, I think it is okay in my opinion. As for hobbies, the way I see it, games trigger dopamine releases in a different way. For example, you could get many large dopamine triggers in an extremely short timespan with games whereas a different hobby that takes more time to master or take longer to complete a project (such as 3D modeling, music/media production, or writing stories/literature) has longer time spans between releases as the dopamine release does not trigger until completion of a task (which could constitute days or even months depending on the size and scope of the project or product being worked on). The one habit/addiction I would warn you of is social media addiction. Namely on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Those use the same behavior mechanics and addiction inducing mechanics as video games and trigger dopamine releases through mechanics such as likes and shares. That's my input on the topic. I hope the answer I gave was helpful. 😅Feel free to ask any other questions that come to mind and I can answer them the best I can.

60 days.... Wow. Time has flown by since I started my journey. I don't regret my decision to begin this journey and continue it until the end of my life. On to 90 days! 😄

7/28/2020 - Day 60 Wow.... I only just realized that today is day 60. 60 days since I stopped gaming for good. The mere fact that counting days is starting to become less and less relevant just tells me this is my normal now. In all honesty, I am happy. I am proud of my accomplishment of making it this far and being strong in spite of working from home and not having much human contact. I intend to keep on going. Every day I don't game is a victory. I am thankful for making that decision on May 28th to begin this journey and I am determined to have it continue until the end of my life. 😄 Here's another cool car to celebrate.

7/27/2020 - Day 59 Turns out I am particularly bad at making sure I journal on the weekends. I wasn't quite as forgetful about it prior to this. I need to get better at it or do it sooner. Doing real life dailies has been extremely fun and I intend to keep doing them. Work is full of business so the days go by quickly. However, I am starting to tire of all the Covid craziness and I wish we could all go back out again, meet with friends and family.... Just in general, more people interaction. Being at the office helped with the people interaction part. Right now, I have to contend with being at home. Today's events (aside from my dailies): Worked a full 9 hour day (as per usual) Did some chores after Had a good lunch today consisting of potato skins fully loaded with cheese and bacon bits :D In essence today was another good day filled with no games. :D Here's more cars I built:

7/24/2020 - Day 56 Working from home is certainly comfortable. The only thing I am NOT liking about it is that there is hardly any variance in my day. At least at the office, I am around people and it makes the days feel more different. This has often caused me to wake up feeling very mild urges and cravings to game, but I have learned to talk things over with my parents and resolve things in the right way. There have also been nights where I have had nightmares in which my dream self is gaming. Now that I am not gaming, such images actually horrify me rather than make me feel good. That tells me that I am not at all willing to return to that state and that I prefer to be the better adult that I am now. I've started calling my recreation activities 'Real Life Dailies' as they are tasks and items I attend to every day for my own development. It feels good doing good dailies rather than the useless dailies in video games. Learning Korean, coding, and touch typing is so much more worth it. To end tonight's entry, here is another product of my LEGO model building:

7/22/2020 - Day 54 Had a good, productive day with work. Filled with the usual problem solving and 3D modeling. I refer to things as being usual now as the novelty has kind of worn off. But truly, I love what I do and it is so much more worthwhile compared to my previous job. Currently looking forward to the weekend and mostly Wednesday of next week when my favorite Kpop group releases their next album. *Jumps up and down with starry eyed excitement* Did my real life dailies with learning Korean, doing typing lessons and learning Python 2. It feels good having a proper routine and not gaming. To end today's entry, here's the last train. I'll be posting cars for a while and then deciding what to start with on the LEGO official models.

@Lunaa__ I completely understand how you are feeling. I am now about 53 days into my own detox (which is going on for the rest of my life) and I can assure you. You can do it. It is a battle of emotions and the mind. Find activities to replace games. I have about 5 alternative activities I make a point to do daily and it is so much more worth it building a 3D model for example. Here's a couple other pointers/encouragement I have for you: 1) I would not listen to what family members are suggesting with moderation. If they choose to not see games as being problematic, that is a problem on their end. You make your journey your own and one day, your testimony will turn them around and you can give a good 'before and after' story of how not gaming has made your life better. 2) I wouldn't worry about deleting game accounts. The problem with games (as Cam has said) is the low barrier of entry. These accounts can be created again as soon as they are deleted. In my case, I had so many accounts I had set up for quite a number of games and it would be time consuming to get all of them deleted. What I opted to do for myself is distance myself mentally from those things and make the conscious choice to not to touch them again. Eventually, they will get taken down anyway due to long periods of inactivity. Better to distance oneself from games as soon as possible rather than spending more time dancing on the edge of the pit after just getting out of it. 3) Find other activities that interest you to replace gaming. While it seems daunting (and yes I was terrified the first time I had to consider this), the long term reward from real life activities feels SO much better than playing games in the short term. Don't be afraid to pick up activities on the computer. Gaming is definitely not the only activity to be done on a computer. There is so much more than that available. Examples: music production, graphics design, 3D modeling and design, writing, computer programming/coding, video making/editing, learning a new language on Duolingo, free online classes. While the first couple weeks will feel difficult emotionally, I want to encourage you that it will get easier. Be patient with yourself and take it a day at a time. Don't look forward so far in time. It makes it harder. Read the diaries of others who have made it far in their journeys to help provide encouragement. I strongly recommend BooksAndTree's journal as he is going 2 years and counting. 😄

Having a couple potential paths is good. Now, what I would advise you do is sort out the different pros and cons for each and determine where you want to go from there. Getting a decent pay for a job is good and both programming and medicine are both really good fields that pay well. It ultimately is up to you what you want to do. If your interests line up more with one over the other, you will love what you do. Even if you start off with a lower pay, the passion and love of what you do for a living will show and can give you potential promotion and career opportunities. Good luck on decision making and I hope you find a path that will make you happy.

7/21/2020 - Day 53 Time has really flown by. I am now one week away from 2 months video game free!!! I am quite happy about it. Not letting myself get too prideful though. That tends to lead to letting down my guard too much. Now, onto my journal entry. I have been getting a bit bad at doing an entry every day nowadays. Mainly because I have established a routine with work on weekdays and recreational activities every weekend + church social small group meetings every other week. I've not even had the time to think about my past life as a gamer since I have become too busy with work and enjoying my new life. In all honesty, being a gamer is such a foreign concept to me. While I sometimes regret the time I wasted with games, I always remind myself of what I have gained with regards to better relationships, better hobbies and being more connected to my life in general. It feels good to be living the life God has given me to live and being more in line with His will for my life in not gaming. It feels good reminding myself of this regularly. Now, to finish off this entry: Here's another train. Got a couple more to trickle out before I start posting car LEGO models after I finish them. Looking forward to another day at work tomorrow. 😄

7/19/2020 - Day 51 I think I am going to resolve to not be extremely hard on myself if I fail to journal on some days. At least I know I am not gaming. I spent a lot of time yesterday watching Law and Order: SVU as I normally do every Saturday. I also worked on more LEGO models and got 3 of them done. I'll post one per journal entry to trickle them out slowly. I also learned more Korean, did more typing lessons, and continued with Python 2 lessons on CodeAcademy. To end this entry, here's another train:

7/17/2020 - Day 49 Today was again another busy day at work filled with learning new things and continuing to develop as a design engineer. I also got an order from higher ups directed at the whole department about working from home indefinitely. Hopefully I can still have social interactions in other areas such as church small group for the time being. Only did learning Korean and typing tonight as I am feeling tired from the day at work and need to hit the sack early to wake up early for Law and Order: SVU season 13 repeats tomorrow. Looking forward to the weekend and finishing more LEGO models + doing some more cooking for myself and stocking up on food later for the coming weeks of working from home.

7/16/2020 - Day 48 I am going to keep my weekday entries somewhat short since I spend majority of my day at work and have limited time to do things at home when it pertains to recreational activities. Work was busy in the sense that tasks are getting more detailed and take longer to do as there is a sort of ripple effect when a change is made to a model. However, I enjoy the journey and learning and the sense of accomplishment when something is finished or a problem is solved. Did my usual learning Korean and typing + started my next train model. Will post it to a future journal entry once I get it done over the weekend. Off to the last day at the office for this week before I get to work from home next week. :D

7/15/2020 - Day 47 Today felt like a somewhat mind numbing kind of day. Not in the negative sense. More like I drank from a firehose at work with all the stuff I learned today and came home completely saturated. There were thunderstorms in my area for the later half of the day so I couldn't go for a walk, but it felt good lazying around at home. Didn't have the mental capacity to do much Duolingo or even starting my next LEGO model and instead opted to listen to Kpop and watch some Korean variety shows for some laughs. Looking forward to bed and another day at work tomorrow.

7/14/2020 - Day 46 I neglected to journal yesterday mainly due to the aftermath of a severe migraine I had at work. Caused by being too hungry and my body decided to be a little kid and debilitate me with metaphorical screaming. The headache itself passed. The only issue was that I had to put up with the aftermath that consisted of extreme fatigue upon getting home and feeling like I got hit by a truck. Thus, I am writing a bit earlier today so i do not neglect to do it today. Anyway, onto today. Today was a productive day at work and I had a lot to do. Came home, took a walk, and practiced some Korean alphabet concepts while I cooled down. Will be eating nachos and working on my in progress train model for an NS 1200. To end this entry, here's a photo of wonton noodle soup (without dumplings unfortunately). that I made from scratch on Sunday and completely forgot to post on Sunday. It is a rather simple dish and I was proud of myself for it as my mom has been making it for me all these years and it felt good making a recipe passed down from my mom.

7/12/2020 - Day 44 I apologize again for not checking in yesterday. I was again busy with all my new activities plus having a church small group meeting in the evening. I finished another train model and learned more Korean + did typing courses. After I spent most of the day watching repeats of Law and Order: SVU as I do every Saturday. At small group, I ate a lot of good food, kept an eye on a bunch of cute kids, and had a good Bible study. Plus, I also took a big step and revealed my freedom from video game addiction to them. The more people know, the better. It will prevent higher chances of relapsing. I am glad they were all in agreement and support of my position of not gaming and the overall negative effects of it. In the meantime, I am continuing to enjoy my more connected life and all the good things I am truly experiencing. Working on a new train model and will post once I finish.

7/10/2020 - Day 42 Today is a good day. Mainly because it's Friday. Anyway, had a productive day at work. Got a good amount of chores done and I am shutting down my computer early. EARLY! Mainly because I want to be lazy and lie on my sofa to read and watch the next repeat episode of Blue Bloods Season 10 a little later on. Funny how my definition of being lazy has changed since I stopped gaming. Now, it is a better picture of rest and laziness. XD Main stuff I did today aside from chores was starting to learn some basic Korean, did more typing lessons, and started on my next Train model in Studio 2.0. Will be working on stuff more tomorrow. 😄 Looking forward to sleeping in. To more days game free.

7/9/2020 - Day 41 Today was a busy day. Felt good but overly tired mentally at the end of the workday. Did my usual activities of learning Korean and typing courses. Watched clips from Korean variety shows and got a genuine laugh out of the slapstick humor which is rather refreshing. Also, I finally finished the trolley tram I've been working on.

7/8/2020 - Day 40 It felt like a productive yet somewhat tiring day today. Strange how being at home for work makes you feel more tired afterwards than when you are at the office. Today, I spent more of my time listening to music and reading. Didn't have the energy to do anything too mentally stimulating. As long as I never return to gaming. Things are going too well for me to return to that hellhole of a man made virtual world. Right now, I look forward to the weekend and meeting with my church small group to get some human interaction and company. I am in that mood where I am sensing I need it and need it badly. Two more days of work.... Will post my next LEGO model once I get around to finishing it.

7/7/2020 - Day 39 Today was a busy day with work (or at least felt busy). I was extremely tired afterwards, but I feel like I accomplished something. Did my daily dose of learning Korean and progressed a bit on my next LEGO model. Also working on details for a fanfiction series I intend to write for fun and not publish anywhere. Ultimately doing very well + urges and cravings are not that prevalent nowadays. Feeling good. 😄 😄 😄

7/6/2020 - Day 38 Well, today was like any other work day. Worked from home today. Finally noticed how every task I have gets stretched out a ton due to using a remote desktop. But I got through the day. Looking forward to another day of being game free. Don't have a LEGO model render to post today. Working on an old fashioned trolley car at the moment. Spent more time today learning Korean and doing typing courses. Am planning on investing more time into finishing the model tomorrow after work. Until my next update, folks.

7/5/2020 - Day 37 Today felt a bit more like a down day. It's been scorching hot where I am at so it's been hard going outside without the heat draining the life out of you in minutes. I mainly struggled with the fact that I couldn't spend July 4th with anyone as most folks I know in the area are doing their own thing + there were no fireworks so no one was doing anything as a group. At least I can talk to my parents about these things. It feels good that being a Game Quitter has made my relationship with them better. Gotta be positive. Anyway, here's a blue tram I built to finish today's entry:

@RB1 What it meant to me is establishing the routine as my new way of life and my new way of spending my time and centering my mind around being a non gamer, I basically had to declare to myself on a regular basis that "Gaming is no longer a part of me" and that I am now establishing a new identity and life as a non gamer. In other words (to answer your question), it takes a lot of effort and time to get rid of something that has been embedded in your psyche for so long. To get your heart and mind to submit, you have to tell yourself that 'I am not a gamer anymore' and intentionally stick to the healthier hobbies you have chosen to replace gaming (such as playing an instrument or learning a new language). What I am saying is: it will be hard to stick to a new routine and life as a non gamer if your mind and heart are still saying 'I am a gamer'. Remind yourself (in your mind) of your new identity as a Game Quitter and use it to counter any urges and cravings for games or game content as (from what I have experienced) they are emotion based. Once your mind is in step with your goal, your heart will be in sync given time (Dang that sounds cheesy but I had to say it XD ) I hope I got this point across properly. 😅 Do let me know if my response didn't answer your question. Sometimes I am terrible at getting a point across.

@RB1 I would like to encourage you and give you some advice. First tip: Remember the horrible emotions associated with relapsing and use the memory of those emotions to prevent future relapses. Second tip: You made a mistake and relapsed, yes. But do not let that mistake define your journey. Reset your progress back to day 1 and start over again. Third tip: Remember that this battle is just as much a battle of the mind and emotions as it is one of habits. Having routine is good but if your heart and mind are not put into submission to this new routine and strategy, it makes it harder to form a new routine and life. In your mind, form a new identity for yourself. Remind yourself that with the start of this journey, you are no longer a gamer and thus it is no longer part of you. Think of it as a new start to a new phase of your life and leave the old behind to embrace the new. (Plus, put this in writing. It helps having it down on paper to remind yourself.) Fourth tip: Don't expect to feel super good right away. When I started this journey, I didn't feel good at first. I was dealing with the emotions and uncertainty with a new life I hadn't really known for a long time, but in the end, I accepted these urges and cravings as being part of the process of freeing myself and that they would soon pass. Don't see those emotions as being abnormal. Rather learn to dance around them when they come at you and learnt to ride the wave instead of the letting the wave carry you. Now, I hardly feel those urges and cravings and I am enjoying hobbies and activities I previously did not enjoy (such as watching TV and learning a new speaking language). Fifth tip: Take it one day at a time. Trying to view the goals from weeks to even months actually makes the journey harder. Take each day as a battle to be won and remember that every victory will help you feel better about yourself. Sixth tip: Don't feel like you have to go through this battle alone. Remember that you have this community of like minded people who are going through the same stuff you are and we are all willing to talk and encourage you when you need it. Also reach out to a member of your family too and get their support if that is what you are comfortable doing (Plus knowing your family supports you in this journey helps a lot and you have someone to be accountable to). I strongly believe you can do this and stay game free. So far, I have been game free for over 30 days and I don't regret my decision. If I can do this, you can too. 😄 Feel free to check out my journal as well and ask me any questions when you have them. I would love to chat with you. 😄

7/4/2020 - Day 36 To start off this entry: Happy 4th of July to everyone in the USA! Hope you are all having the best food and BBQ you all can have given the circumstances. Anyway, here's how today has been. Got chores done and spent time watching Law and Order: SVU for a good part of the day. Worked on a blue tram train in between and picked up learning Korean in place of Mandarin. Enjoying everything I am doing and truly enjoying life. 😄 Here's another LEGO build I finished two nights ago.

@chiliflavor There will be a rocket in the future. :D I have building instructions downloaded for about 2 (maybe more. I will need to check).