FDRx7

I've often wondered this myself. In alcoholic addiction, you often hear the term "functional addict." It's someone who is addicted and yet is still able to keep their job, have a family, etc. This doesn't mean it is healthy, nor that their functionality is effective, just that they are able to keep themselves afloat. I think there are many functioning addicts in the gaming world. I have a few friends in their thirties who have children and jobs and play regularly. With the amount I hear about them playing and see them playing, I am always baffled at how they can still get good grades (we are in graduate school, but finishing soon) and have a functioning family. I don't get to see home life, so maybe it's worse than I think or maybe it's totally fine. It just boggles my mind because, trying to do the math on the gaming time vs other responsibilities, I don't see how it works. That's why I suspect some people may indeed be functioning addicts. They talk about gaming all the time, they move quickly from one game to the next (that's partially why I stopped playing casually with them; I would buy a game at their behest, thinking it would be a good social time, and we would literally play it twice before they moved on to something else -- it was a waste of money for me). They have the latest gear and are constantly upgrading. But if you ask them what it is, they say, "It's just a hobby." And maybe it is, I don't know. But I suspect there are many more functional game addicts than statistics would have us believe (which is why addiction is probably underreported).

You should be very careful with YouTube. It can become an addiction in itself because the algorithm is very good at feeding you what you want to watch. Thus, continuing to watch becomes almost a compulsion. Trust me, I know because I was there (just not with videos about video games). I would encourage you to do a YouTube detox as well and find a new hobby to replace watching videos. You can use the handy hobby tool or get some ideas from others on here based on your interests. The most important thing is to have the courage to give yourself permission to be someone else. Try a hobby you think you wouldn't normally like. You may be very surprised that it becomes something you love (happened to me with statistical programming).

Hey congratulations! I was drawn to this post because I realized we started on the exact same day! Keep it up. 60 days will be here in no time!

Thank you! Yes, I currently have YouTube blocked on my phone and can only access it through my browser for 1 hour a day (using Cold Turkey which I LOVE). This makes it so that I need to be conscious of what I spend that hour on. If I use it for just messing around on YouTube, then I can't do anything education with it. It really helps to have this budgeted time (many days I don't even use the budgeted time; I try to treat it as something like you said that will enhance the things I'm doing in my life).

Echoing what a lot of others have said, if it isn't a trigger that causes you to want to play/relapse, I don't see it being a problem. You should reconsider only if it makes you want to play again.

Thank you! So far this has been great and I feel like I'm really making progress. YouTube had been a weak point for me as well and I am applying the same game-quitting principles to that and web surfing.

Hi everyone! I'm FDRx7 from the United States. I used to game a lot when I was younger but when I went to college, I ultimately stopped. I don't know if it was just being busy or what, but I didn't touch a console (save for a quick game at a friend's place or something) or PC game for probably 7 years. Then, last year I started a two-year graduate program. I have a few close friends in the program and one of them convinced me to download the Halo Master Chief collection for PC (I had never PC gamed before). I enjoyed it and played through the campaign, reminiscing about my middle and high school years playing with friends. Ultimately, I didn't stay with it because I wasn't very good and didn't want to invest the time. I did however download some more games on my PC and played them, but not quite to the point of addiction. Some of these games were purchased because my friend would say, "Download it and we can play together!" It frustrates me now thinking back because he would have me do that, we would play together literally a few times and then he would move on to a different game. So, I was left with a game I likely wouldn't play on my own and out ~$20 each time. The problem really set in just recently. I wasn't doing an awful lot of gaming, just here and there. Then, another friend of mine told me I should join him and some other friends on a Minecraft server. I figured this would be a good game for me to play in between study breaks as a reward. I used to play the game a while back when in high school. It was fun to get back into it at first and I enjoyed staying connected to my friends during lockdown. However, I suddenly found that all I wanted to do was play Minecraft. I was still getting my schoolwork done, but I was starting to neglect all of the goals and personal responsibilities that I had. I was up until this point an active weight lifter, had academic and language goals I was working on in my own time, as well as engaging in leisure activities like reading. Now, all I wanted to do was play Minecraft, whether my friends were online or not. All other activities were becoming dull and boring compared to Minecraft, despite the fact that the game involves so much grinding. I have had and still have this problem with watching YouTube as well. It can be easy to get lost when wanting to escape, but then waste a ton of time online. I never thought that I could become addicted to Minecraft or that it would be considered anything remotely close to addictive. I wouldn't say that I am a true addict, but I am seeing warning signs that are alarming to me. I want to make sure that I continue to pursue the things that are most important to me and stop the behaviors that are destructive. I signed up for Respawn not only for the gaming, but to also apply the tricks to YouTube as well. I am happy to be here and looking forward to the journey of getting my life back where I want it to be!