Primmulla

I wonder whether I am addicted to reading books? (I'm 37-year-old woman) I have always loved reading ever since I was a little kid. The fact that I was rather a shy child helped to develop reading into a life-long passion. I have always read a lot, though there were periods in my life when I tended to concentrate on something else, for instance, during my studies, I used to reduce reading during the academic year in order to focus more on the studies and I used to read during the holidays then. Fast forward a couple of years to the pandemic and my first home office job, I guess it was then when my reading got really obsessive since I spent all my evenings after work reading, I had subscriptions to book "streaming services" and some of them even made access to their library free during the pandemic. I also read before going to sleep, and I became obsessive about completing a whole chapter in one go. I always spent my weekends reading books for a longer chunks of time than it was possible on weekdays. After the pandemic ended, the time I could devote to reading shrunk, and the real revolution came when I met my boyfriend and began to spend every weekend with him, in this way my reading time got reduced only to some 'stolen time' during the weekdays. I really care about the relationship but at the same time I miss my reading weekends, when I could concentrate on reading for a longer stretch of time. When I cannot find time to read I feel like I am missing something, and often when I spend time with my boyfriend I think how many interesting things I could have read in that time instead of just sitting and doing nothing or some small talk. I also have to fight the urge to get hold of a book during a weekend with him. I guess this proves I am addicted to books? I also some underlying fear that I would become completely stupid if I cease reading books and this also keeps me coming back to them. How should I quit? Should I consult a psychologist? Would it be better to gradually reduce my reading time or quit cold turkey? Should I get rid of all my books, cancel book subscription and library card, avoid following Instagram or Facebook pages dealing with books? These are some of my ideas, maybe you can help? Thanks 🙂

For anyone who is curious about the question in this topic, today I got the message that my Netflix account was finally deleted 🙂 I wrote to them on 5th of February, so it took only eight days, though it seemed too long for me 😉 I hope other people who want to get rid of Netflix would be as fortunate as I was.

Any ideas how long do I have to wait before Netflix deletes my account? I couldn't get any information from the customer support. I decided to delete my account to protest against the immoral programming the platform offers rather than to combat any addiction to it, but since I found the details about permanently deleting Netflix account here, I guess it is a good place to ask. I am not talking about the automatic deletion after 10 months of inactivity, I want to get rid of the account as soon as possible. I have already written to the customer support asking them to delete the account, but it still exists and I don't know how long I will have to wait. Maybe some other users who also deleted their accounts can share their experiences? Thanks 🙂

Thank you The website you recommended was particularly useful, after a short browsing I found a 30-day challenge to fight hypochondria, which sounds great, this sort of thing really motivates me. I will try this challenge out and see if it helps. I guess it would be good to visit a psychologist but I cannot find time for it now, I started working full time and I would have to take a day off, since the doctor works during the time I am at work. Have you suffered from hypochondria? How did you defeat it? Would you like to share your story with me? Write me a PM if it is too personal to share on the forum, maybe in Polish if you express yourself better in this language (though I sometimes find it easier to discuss sensitive matters in English, since a foreign lanuage creates some kind of a "buffer" between me and this very personal stuff). Thanks again

I know it is rather off-topic, but I have this huge problem, and I am too ashamed of talking about it with anyone I know so as not to worry them, and I trust you guys and gals here Since my Dad passed away this February, I have been having a really bad bouts of hypochondria, I constantly think I have the same cancer as the one Daddy died of, I know this is completely unfounded, but these thoughts keep returning, it is very unnerving. I know I should probably visit a psychiatrist, every night I feel as if I was dying, I constantly check for "symptoms" on my body and read countless websites about diseases. I almost lost my job because of this hypochondria, as I was so worried about my putative cancer that I was not concentrating on my work and I made a serious mistake. I am so ashamed of this behaviour. Please help me... I am not often on this forum, since I understood that I never really had any problem with games, but this hypochondria is driving me mad. Please do not tell me to go to the doctor to do some check-ups, since this would be only feeding the hypochondria. Anyway, my GP is my aunt so I am ashamed of telling her about my hypochondric behaviours so that she would not totally lose any shreds of good opinion she may have about me.

I guess there is no need for you to use a "gamey" astronomy software if there are plenty of other applications that do not include this element. For instance, this one: http://www.stellarium.org/ I was also very keen on astronomy, however, I had never had enough maths skills to study it, other than reading astronomy books. I remember using some planetarium simulators like the one I mention above, maybe I would look into it when I have some more free time and let you know about interesting astronomy apps.

I am sure that you fall asleep because the content of what you are reading is uninteresting. I cannot imagine falling asleep while reading something engrossing or fascinating for you, no matter where you were reading, on the desk, in bed or anywhere else. Try to read some other book (one which really interest you, which you wanted to read for a long time, do not choose something boring or any "obligatory reading"), start reading it and find out whether you would fall asleep as well. If not, then the problem is with the first book which is apparently too boring for you. I cannot think of any other reasons for falling asleep while reading, unless you are terribly exhausted, which I hope is not the case.

Have you started the blog yet? It definitely looks interesting, I would like to read your blog

I am slowly returning to the forum after completing this year's NaNoWriMo challenge I managed to write 50 000 words in spite of falling sick in the second week of November, and now I continue to write (though of course I do not write as many words per day as I did in November) since my story is far from finished. Cam mentioned that many other people from the forum also participated in NaNo, I wonder if you would like to share your experiences?

Maybe choose a book which is more interesting for you?

I know I was not terribly active on the forum of late, but I will be even less active in November. I participate in the NaNoWriMo challenge and I will try to write 50 000 words in November, so I would be pretty busy with that, taking into consideration my other duties. See you in December

About night time, maybe listening to audiobooks or music would be a good solution? I am not a big fan of audiobooks because I am a "visual learner" and to remember something well I have to see it so with audiobooks I have to concentrate closely on what I am listening to in order to retain information, and as a result I cannot listen to them while doing something else at the same time. So I gave up on listening to them, since there is really not much point in doing so if I don't remember them well. But if you don't have problems like that, audiobooks are definitely an option to consider.

I am a bit worried as the cravings started to increase significantly since I finished the 90-day detox, I wonder why is this so and what can I do to make them go away? I was hoping for some advice from you guys and girls here, though I guess you cannot help me much because, as mentioned earlier, the book/series cravings have different reasons than the gaming ones. Maybe you could suggest another on-line place where I could get help? Thanks

A quick update: a couple of days ago I completed the 90-day detox from "Game of Thrones" in all forms and shapes, I am still curious what happens to the characters (particularly as my best friend constantly discusses books and series in her emails), but I know that my life is better without GoT than with it. I decided to continue avoiding GoT-related articles even though my detox is past. How to get rid of the cravings? I guess they must be fought differently than the gaming cravings, since they fulfil different needs than gaming, I don't want e.g. challenge or constant measurable growth, but I am intrigued by what happens next to the characters. Any suggestions? On the more positive note, I completed my word goal this Camp NaNoWriMo and I am a "winner" I keep writing my fantasy novel, though inspiration is dry sometimes. All the best

I wonder if I am in danger of relapsing to GoT? I was reading an article about legal streaming and piracy, and it said that pirates have an easier access to films, series etc., the example was given of one of GoT episodes appearing in HBO streaming service much later than it was supposed to be there, so that fans pirated the episode rather than wait for the release on HBO streaming website (behaviour I cannot justify from a moral point of view, anyway, but let's not diverge). Of course there was nothing about the content of the episode in question, naturally I do not read any re-caps or anything of this kind. But I come across GRR Martin's name sometimes in discussion on fantasy writing, I am learning how to write fantasy and read a lot about worldbuilding, character creation etc. Martin and GoT show in this context. I was wondering whether reading some writing advice by GRR Martin may be considered a relapse? I was tempted to read what he has to say on this subject, but I resisted the craving, or it is over-reaction?