ajrd2023

Hello all, My name is Alex and I've been game-free for just under a year and a half now. I started gaming when I was a young child, probably around elementary school was my first serious exposure to PC gaming, and I also used consoles and hand-held devices growing up. However, turn-based strategy games on the PC really turned out to be my Achilles heel and what hooked me for probably upward of 10,000 hours on a small handful of games. It got especially bad in college when I was out of the home and living on my own and faced with stressful situations that made escaping into gaming for days and weeks at a time look like a very attractive option. Ultimately it hurt me both in terms of my academic and career progress, and even more importantly it undermined my relationships with other people and turned me into a person that I did not like or respect. There were a couple of other addictions that contributed to my finally hitting rock bottom, but I think gaming definitely stole the most time from me - time that I can never get back. I thank God that by His grace and mercy I've been able to build a truly blessed and prosperous life despite all the time I threw away and the terrible decisions I've made, and I'm here to re-affirm my commitment to living a game-free life focused on what truly matters. Looking forward to being a part of this community, Alex

I'm proud of you for deleting the game, Noah. I know how challenging that can be because I also sunk probably upwards of 10,000 hours into a single game and it took help from my wife for me to finally delete my Steam profile (the waiting period is a real pain and tripped me up during multiple prior attempt to get rid of my account, so I was really thankful for the help). The added friction of not having easy access to games has been a life-saver for me on multiple occasions when I was sorely tempted to game again, as it gave me just enough time and space to re-affirm my decision to go game-free when the temptation to relapse was at it's strongest. It definitely gets better with time and the re-wiring of the brain that everyone talks about is definitely a thig, so stay strong, brother. You can do this! There's a whole adventure called life out there beyond the games just waiting for you to live it. I'm nearly a year and a half out from my last gaming session, and I'm much happier and better off for it. Although the cravings still flare up from time to time, especially during times of high stress, they don't overpower me like they used to and I no longer feel trapped in a vicious cycle of compulsive gaming. Instead I'm making meaningful progress in my life, one day and one hour at a time. Having a community of people that understand the struggle has been hugely helpful for me in my journey, so I'm glad that you found this program. Cam and his team produce really great content and reading and listening to it has helped me shed a lot of light on why I fell into the gaming trap and how to avoid falling in again in the future. Another program that has also helped me immensely has been Gaming Addicts Anonymous (GAA). Having people to talk with that understand the struggle to stay game-free and that I know will listen to me non-judgmentally and offer support and encouragement is invaluable, and being able to tap into that in real time at a moment's notice with the Zoom calls offered by that program saved my butt on more than one occasion. Dropping a link here in case you are interested: https://www.gamingaddictsanonymous.org/online-meetings/ May God bless you and help you on your journey to game-free living!