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NEW VIDEO: The Dark Side of Gaming (Documentary)

Dpesuti

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  1. You have to remember that its all about your dopamine tolerance and the things that increase it. For me it was high energy electronic music, binge-watching youtube series, gaming, and watching youtube videos about the games i was playing. All of those things increased my tolerance and contributed to my addiction. For example, you can think of your dopamine tolerance as a computers cpu. The more high-stimulation activities you do, the harder that cpu has to work. Eventually it has to work so hard that it starts to heat up, and this can cause numerous issues in a computer. Similarly, if you have too much stimulation, it will cause you problems such as gaming addiction. Its better to choose several low-stimulating activities and only one or two high stimulating activities to keep your tolerance from increasing.
  2. I’ve seen this video before! Glad to see someone else has as well. This video helped me to discover that it’s not just video games that contribute to high dopamine tolerance and make other activities less fun, but several other things contribute as well. take me for instance. When i first moved out of my parents house, i was just watching tv and playing games intermittently. This was not much stimulation, so i still viewed other activities as fun, such as hanging out with friends, eating out, rock climbing, and board games, and i put these things first over games, even though i still filled any leftover time i had with games and i had trouble getting enough sleep because of it. However, soon i started to listen to high energy electronic music every time i drove my car and eventually i started watching youtube videos about random things. This made things worse, but i could still put other activities first even then. However, it was when i started regularly watching youtube videos about the games i was playing that games started becoming my prison. That was the proverbial last straw. I always wondered what made my situation worse than what it was when I moved out of my parents house, but now i know. Between high energy electronic music, 5+ hours a day of video games, binge-watching youtube shows, and viewing youtube videos about the games i was playing, i was being buried alive by my extremely high dopamine tolerance. It got so bad that when i lost my job in April, i was playing 24 hours and then sleeping 12 hours. At that point, I felt like my life was over and i wanted to die, but thankfully my parents helped me back on my feet, and thankfully i found the game quitters community. I realized that in addition to quitting games, i needed to make some changes to other parts of my life. So far i have started listening to electro-chill instead or high energy music, and i’m currently reducing my time on youtube. If i do watch something regarding games, I don’t watch anything regarding gaming communities that i may be tempted to join and contribute to. for example, I watch hermitcraft, which is an exclusive minecraft community for youtubers, and i feel no temptation afterwards as its not an easy community to join. This has helped tremendously with my dopamine levels and i now find other activities enjoyable. knowing what i know now, if i ever wanted to try to play in moderation, i now know what to avoid in order to maintain balance in my life. Anyway, i hope this makes it much clearer to other people that other activities can indeed contribute to gaming addiction.
  3. Yeah, i think its for those who have low dopamine levels, which obviously isn't anyone who has gaming issues. Then again, someone could be born with lower than natural levels, and maybe that’s why some people can play for hours without becomming addicted, because games would only serve to balance their dopamine levels then. Who knows. My dad used to play rts games like starcraft and supreme commander for hours and stop whenever he wanted, and yet he never understood why i couldn’t manage to control myself while playing the exact same games for the exact same amount of time. This lead to a lack of empathy between us, as he was the one who disciplined me more often. A dopamine antagonizer could theoretically make you resistant to increases in dopamine levels and tolerance, but i think you would be playing with fire if you went that route. Most meds that do that are anti-psychotics. Plus, if your dopamine gets too low, it may reduce your attention span and cause depression. You might end up having to flood your brain with stimulation just to reach normal dopamine levels. Then again, I'm not a pharmacist or a doctor, so i could be way off left field with all of this.
  4. Hello, I take bupropion, which i thought would help me focus better since i started losing my focus right after quitting games. When i started taking the medication, it helped me focus, but soon i started to get stuck watching youtube videos for hours. However, this does not count as an addiction since i’m able to quit when i need to. Its just worrying. I recently learned that medications like bupropion and concerta inhibit dopamine reuptake, which means that it increases dopamine concentrations in the synapses of the brain. Logically i would conclude that this medication is making things worse, as this would increase dopamine tolerance, making instant-gratification activities even more desirable than long-term reward activities. Let me know if you’ve experienced similar symptoms or have taken bupropion after quitting games.
  5. Sorry guys, a lot has happened I. The last 5 days and I haven’t been able to post it. I can say that I haven’t played games though. I’m now on day 20, well, in 30 minutes I will be. I’ll try to post the journals when I wake up tomorrow.
  6. Day 15: I got to talk with my friends this morning on zoom. It’s good to be able to keep in touch even during the pandemic. In the evening I went out. I had several minor drives to play games today, but those were triggered by seeing images that reminded me of them. what I’m grateful for today: my friends, zoom. why I want to quit games: I’ll develop stronger relationships with my friends. Why I play games: because the process of building something from the ground up is Very fun, especially when you have a good friend with you. What triggered me to play games today: I saw a picture that had black cubes in it and it reminded me of Solid fuel from Factorio. In fact, I also think of Factorio every time I think of power lines, malls, trains, pollution, etc. I loved that game, and still do. It’s just so sad that I’ll never be able to play that game again. But I can’t, or else I’ll never find true enjoyment in life.
  7. Day 14: I think I’m spending too much time on here. I need to focus on my life and getting a job. I’ll still write my daily journals and respond to messages, but I really need to focus on other things in order to get my life going again. Nothing major happened today yet. I haven’t had cravings today either, but it’s 12:46 PM. I’m just trying to study for my Windows 10 exam and it’s been hard to concentrate on it. I’m also having trouble keeping to a routine, since I keep forgetting to do certain things. What I’m grateful for today: my car, subway restaurant, my mom, having a place to live. why I want to quit games: because I’ll be able to think clearer and have a strong routine. why I play games: to escape the guilt of my own incompetence. What triggered my cravings today: nothing so far.
  8. Ah, so DHA Omega 3 also helps improve brain synapses on top of being an anti-inflammatory. I never thought reading, sports, and going for a walk would have such an effect on synapse growth. Thanks for this info @creationlist
  9. I found more information: DHA Onega 3 fatty acids are a natural anti-inflammation in the brain and can be easily supplemented with cod liver oil pills. Although the might not be an instant cure for mind fog due to brain inflammation, they can help to reduce the severity of brain inflammation in the future based on how much you take. In other words, if you take them daily, you’ll get less severe mental fog. They are definitely a better source of anti-inflammatory than medicines like ibuprofen because DHA omega 3 already exists naturally in the brain, although the effects are much more subtle. I hope this information helps. I’ll be taking them myself.
  10. Thanks @Erik2.0, I’ll do my best.
  11. Day 13: Going out to town today. It’s 10:30 am now. Will edit this post later with more info. Things I’m grateful for: my car, restaurants that let me chill for an hour or so and work on my phone, department stores. Why I want to quit games: I wouldn’t be able to go to town very often if I played them. I would have more time to think about other people and my feelings wouldn’t be so dull why do I play games: because I want to be a part of a community, but my cravings for better highs force me to frequently leave the game and look elsewhere. what triggered my cravings today: i saw a gaming video on my YouTube homepage that I could’ve watched, but instead I hit the not interested button. That makes videos from that person appear less frequent on your home section.
  12. Thanks for the welcome and advice, I’ll definitely give that a try.
  13. Thanks @BooksandTrees, I just found that the burning brain feeling Is asociated with brain inflammation, while brain inflammation is asociated with mental fog. Another site asociated brain inflammation with cytokines and drug and alcohol addiction. This must mean that the brain becomes inflamed due to gaming addiction, but it’s not strong enough to be detected as a burning sensation, but strong enough to create mental fog. However, if you push hard against that fog, the inflammation gets worse and you get all kinds of nasty symptoms, like burning brain, headache, and lightheadedness. That would also explain the massive headache I get for playing games for too long or trying to work hard. sources: Burning Brain feeling and brain inflammation: https://www.holisticcharlotte.com/is-your-brain-on-fire-symptoms-of-brain-inflammation/ Drug/alcohol addictions and brain inflammation due to autoimmune response: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4804710/
  14. Glad to here, I’m having trouble with painting though. I’ve never done it before and I’m trying to start from scratch.
  15. Day 12: the hurricane is gone. I haven’t really done much at all today but look in this forum. I write a big reply to a post about mental fog today. I thought of games a little today, but no serious urges today. Why do I want to quit games: I want to have a life and a routine that I can control. I want to get rid of the mental fog, exhaustion from getting 4-5 hours of sleep every night because of games, going to bed worrying if I’ll wake In time for work tomorrow even with multiple alarms set, and the loneliness that comes when you push you’re friends away. I want to have a happy life, and that’s not going to happen while I’m addicted to games. why I payed games: for an escape from my negative feelings and because I have an obsession with organizing things. what triggers me to play games: stress, guilt for past mistakes, boredom, loneliness, a newly released sequel to a game that I loved, gaming youtube videos
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