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  1. Right now, I can update my monthly journal. Instead, I'm posting here because my safety is at risk. I have already scheduled an appointment with a social worker. Over the past three months, I have been making great efforts to compromise with my family. Show more initiative at home. My sister consistently brings up a gaming incident from approximately thirteen years ago. Thirteen Years Ago: I made new friends at school, and we all have Steam accounts. My new friend starts asking me for TF2 items. I obliged over generic weapons until he asked for my Bill's Hat. (L4D2 Pre-Order Cosmetic) After consulting with my sister, she rightfully shut down the trade. Despite preventing the most valuable item from being lost, she continuously brings this up in gaming conversations. I have a theory as to why this is her saving throw against me. The situation can never be amended. Previous criticisms were actionable and fulfilled. She left the incident in a superior position. I don't know what her end goal is. Does she want my apology? My relationship with that friend ended very traumatically. And thus, any time it is brought up in bad faith, I shut down. After registering a second Steam account for multiplayer, the initial one automatically became hers. What confuses me is her abstinence from all games outside miHoYo's ecosystem. Her Steam account is largely abandoned.
  2. In my previous post, I shared my goals related to gaming. Here's what happened in a month: I completed two games ( A Physical Escape Game + A Game at the Arcade ) Spring Cleaning for the Lunar New Year More time in my workplace ( Lesser working from home) The above satisfies me because: I aim to complete five games before considering purchasing any more I fulfilled a family commitment I became more active and social Elsewhere: I completed Gaming the System Podcast #11 today. Exposing myself to a painful past (Playing Dota 2 after six years) Threw out expired G Fuel
  3. I've always had a knack for making friends quickly--even while at the University I failed out of, I made many different friend groups with ease (and frankly, games were a way to hide from these people after "disappointing" them). But the area that I live, there just isn't a whole lot of people around--certainly not a lot of young adults near my age group (that quasi group between teen and adult, 18-25?), and those that I knew either game compulsively like I used to, or have moved on past me into university/marriage/whatever else. What do you all suggest for finding people in a community that just doesn't *have* a lot of people? I've considered posting fliers around town but I'm not necessarily the best at coordinating groups.
  4. Hello, My clean date is 11/25/19. This is My Story. It’s 11/14/19 and I decided to recommit to quit today after just thirty minutes of gaming. I was having a hard time dealing with the fact that I’m 31 and single. I’ve wanted to be stable with someone forever so it’s dismaying for me. I just feel like it’s really difficult for me to find someone. I have a job but haven’t saved much money. I’m kind of thin and don’t have the best skin. And I have schizoaffective disorder. That’s a combination of depression and schizophrenia. It means I’m at risk for getting depressed and sometimes have delusions that people are out to get me. My therapist recommended me to a group for people who are chronically mentally ill because I was continually having suicidal ideation for months while working with her. I’ve really got to continue with that group. Anyways. Things didn’t workout with a couple of romantic prospects and I got pretty down. Then I was playing a game and realized. “Playing isn’t making me feel better. It’s making me feel worse.” That led me back on here and now I’m adding to the forums. I've never been an online poster, I don’t even use social media. But for some reason this site has given me the power to quit gaming when I felt completely hopeless. When I get paid I’m thinking I’ll try to complete the respawn guide. If you read my intro you know I’ve been on vacation trying to quit again. It’s hard, it hurts and I’m not really sure what my identity is. “Who am I?” Is a question I’m trying to answer now. I am a Christian. I workout, I practice yoga and mindfulness. I love to read, especially the Bible. I love my family and even though it’s challenging for me to get along with them sometimes. I keep trying. I’m a counselor and I hope to become a licensed therapist some day. I used to be a gaming addict. I just feel like my whole life is at risk when I play a game for even a second. It’s a pretty intense reality, but I think it’s true for any gaming addict. The only solution for me is to stop gaming for life. Sincerely, Erik
  5. Hello there, I am a 20 years old Indonesian studying in the UK. I have been gaming since i was 5 years old and since 3-4 years ago everything become more intense. I play 18 hours a day or sometimes even more during the holiday season. Since i came to the UK gaming has been the only thing that help me to cope with loneliness since i have no friends here. It's been almost 3 years since i came to the UK for the first time and i havent made any real friendship with anyone. I felt that i achieve something while playing video games. During my first year of uni video games really affect me negatively. I was always enjoy programming during my highschool years but since i played video games as much as now i really drop all my hobbies and my interest towards programming, i became anti social, gain much weight and a lot more bad things. Last year i tried to create a resolution to stop playing as much video game as before but nothing works and i went back to my old habit in a couple of days. Today i reflect a lot about how much of a failure i am in 2019. How much i lie both to my self and to everyone around me about how video games affect me. I'm on the brink of failing my year by failing this semester. I feel that i need to do a radical changes on my life. I need to create a real change and decided to uninstall steam and planning on giving it away to my friend/family. I hope that i will be able to fight my self for my self. I have never written anything like this before and please forgive me if this makes no sense at all. I just want to stop lettting go too much important stuff in my life because of video games and start a journey to evolve into a better person. Hello everyone ?️
  6. What's up you amazing ding dongs!? So, correct me if I'm wrong but is it not a common human need to "play" with other people every now and then. I mean, is it not reasonable to have fun with other people every now and then? Personally, I think I need one evening or afternoon dedicated to this at least once a week in order to be happy. As you've probably noticed, this has become more and more difficult because of the global Before quitting, video-games were a medium that enabled me to sort of circumvent these constraints; they didn't consistently feel as good as having people over or going out for an activity but it did provide some relief. Even when I didn't play multiplayer games, at least I was distracted from my social cravings and sense of isolation/loneliness (although sometimes I made it worst by abusing that approach). Does anyone have any advice or recommendations? Is it rational to even try satisfying these cravings for the time being? If so, where should I look? What other social activities have you managed to do and enjoy remotely? Thank you
  7. So today I want to ask about how to develop communication skills effectively. I always find myself either offending others or summoning a moment of silence after conversing for a long time. These happen between my friends and classmates regularly. I also find others making similar mistakes like me. If you have any suggestions for better talk/chats please leave them here for me. Thanks!
  8. Hey community, First of all, I feel like I shouldn't take your time and attention for granted so... how are you? 🙂 My name is Patrick, though I have differing user names such as pdallair (or pdallair91), BuzyD (or buzy_d, or buzy-d), and TooManyNoodles (or 2ManyNoodleZ). Pronouns: He/Him. After trying and failing time and time again to moderate my "consumption" (EAT ALL THE FRAMES), I decided on Feb 12th 2021 to indefinitely abstain from most* video games. I have uninstalled all of my PC games and put my consoles in storage. Trigger Warning: Serious mental health issues Folks, Like most of you, I assume, I have been through a lot of traumatic shit throughout my entire life and this isn't the first time I deal with addictive behavior. I'm not gonna dump it all right here and now but in Feb 2020, suffering from major depression, unable to get the psychiatric care (monitored prescription drug plan) that I reached out for, I had bought a rope with the intention of hanging myself. Luckily, I was too lazy and geeky to go out to the store and buy a rope and I ordered it on Amazon. This gave me time to think and reach out to my psychologist, who convinced me to go to my local ICU where my position in the psychiatric care waiting list was seriously advanced. I've been through Short-Term Disability and am now on Long-Term Disability since. I have been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. I am going through lots of counseling and therapy (Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy). There has been some noticeable progress. 🙌 Now, I feel quite privileged to have an income during this pandemic and job waiting for me to recover but let's not take this privilege for granted; it isn't going to last forever. Every 4 to 8 weeks, my insurance company (yes, it's a private company that puts their profit margins above my well-being but hey, there's lots of room for improvement in the Canadian system), can "investigate" what I've been doing, how much I've progressed and whether I'm ready to go back to work or not. In June 2021, I will need to go through a complete audit-like process in order to get a 2nd and last year of this Long-Term Disability benefit before they cut me off and the government gets involved. But I have lots of free time right? I could "easily" (according to some inhumane authorities) do some research, study, meditate, exercise, practice, organize, clean, recycle, upgrade, etc. to quickly get back on track! ... But that's not what I crave the most... no, you know how it is for people like us? Gotta get those achievements AMIRIGHT peeps!? Gotta jump on those steam wishlist item that's on sale AMIRIGHT!? Gotta play for 12 fucking hours while I put myself "invisible" on steam because I'm too ashamed to let people know I'm gaming AMIRIGHT!? YOU KNOW I'M FU... *mic gets cut*... *deep breath*... *sigh*... every fuckin day I tell myself: "Tomorrow, I will do this and that. You know? Productive things!" But when the time comes: "just 1 hour, or 1 level, I deserve it, right? I shouldn't be experiencing this much pain right? Dear God, is doing the dishes really that painful?" The cycle repeats. To be fair, even if we did have some UBI and I didn't have authorities breathing down my neck, I don't think I'd be happy to continue behaving like this. I just keep procrastinating, not getting closer to my aspirations at a rate I find far from acceptable/admireable. So here I am folks. I've accepted the reality that my video game usage is currently causing me more pain than pleasure in the long-term and I'm going to do something about it. I've managed to quit games before, when it weren't dealing with a global pandemic. I don't remember exactly when and why I relapsed but I did. I know this is going to be hard. It's been less than 48 hours and I can feel distress and cravings rising within me but they too will pass. It's going to take a while but it'll pass and I will learn to find joy in other aspects of my life; I was more than just a gamer. And you can do this to. We can do this, side by side. Most of us will trip and fall sometimes, it's inevitable, but we will pick ourselves and each other up. One of the most meaningful quotes I got recently was from Sharon Salzberg, a well known teacher in the Buddhist loving-kindness meditation circles, when she said "The healing is in the return; learning to begin again." So, here I am, and some of you are and surely have been at some point, learning to begin again. Thank you so much for being here, for reading this; having suffered from a lot of emotional neglect as a child, it means a lot for me to be seen, heard and understood. May you feel safe, happy and healthy my friends. Take care. * I say most, for the time being, because I live alone and we are in pandemic lockdown here in Ottawa (the good ol' Canadian capital) and I need casual, fun, and friendly social interactions. So I allow myself, occasionally, unless it proves to be too slippery of a slope, to play online board games, tabletop RPGs (via Tabletop Simulator and Roll20), and party games (like Jackbox Games and Among Us) with friends and peers (no randos [no offense if you're name is Rando]). When the pandemic is over and people can finally start visiting each other safely again, I'm sure I will be able to find plenty of social activities that I would consider as "play" and don't involve this slippery slope. Everyone needs to have fun every now and then. EDITS: Fix typos, shit grammar and shit details that I noticed.
  9. Like many other people here, I am addicted to gaming. It's something that has affected me for years, and wasted away countless hours of my life along with thousands of dollars. It's costed me so many relationships and opportunities, to the point where I'm no longer truly young (26 in 2021) and yet haven't achieved much of anything in my life. I've tried many, many times to quit. Sometimes I lasted for just a few days, sometimes several months, but ultimately the siren call of gaming always drew me back, screwing me over and undoing all the positive progress I worked so hard to build. On the surface my life honestly isn't too bad. 2020 was a bad year for many people, but it was pretty great for me. I moved out of my mom's place, got a job, and started working full time to take care of myself. I recently went back to school full time as well, and am looking forward to graduating in February with a 4.0 GPA and credentials that will allow me to work in an industry that I'm passionate about. And I have an awesome girlfriend who has stuck with me through some truly tough times. So why am I trying to quit gaming now? Because while I'm doing enough to get by, I know I'm falling so far short of my full potential. My room is a mess. My body and mind have both become incredibly weak from years of sedentary living. Most importantly, I have so many dreams that I want to achieve, and the opportunity to do so diminishes with each passing day, as I piss away my free time playing games and watching TV. I want to get fit, travel the world, make a lot of friends, and be involved in my community. I want to have a job that doesn't just allow me to get by, but that allows me to truly make a difference in the world. I know I can reach every single one of these goals, but I also know that it won't be possible unless I start growing up and leaving gaming behind. 2020 was a great year, but here's to 2021 being an even better one. Cheers.
  10. DAY # - 1 Time I woke up: 6:00am Time I went to sleep yesterday: 11:30pm Physical task: walking Mental task: writing Projects: none Miscellaneous accomplishments: ~ did my oceanography test ~ had the tutoring session of ASL ~ paid $44 to cover the vocal lesson and the shortage from last week Summary of Day It was boring I had nothing else left to do... What I am grateful for today: ~ sunshine ~ spring weather ~ happiness ~ contacting with my father over Messenger Over and out!
  11. Hi all, Here's a few questions that I've been asking myself for a long time now, since all of these questions apply to me as a gaming addict with Autism. If you're on the spectrum, or have somebody you love who has, would you mind contributing to this post? The research says that gaming addiction is quite high amongst those on the Autistic Spectrum, but there is very little research actually explaining why this is (as far as my knowledge is). There really isn't a lot of research out there talking about specifically why there is a link. I personally have been doing recovery related things for just over 2 1/2 years, although it's never really "clicked" yet. I've been doing If I got everybody to answer all these questions, these might make for some very long posts. Maybe just pick a question and answer it to the best of your knowledge, if you would like to contribute. I also will be contributing my own thoughts when they come. Why are video games uniquely appealing to you? What made you pick video games over any other addiction that could be meeting the same needs (gambling, netflix, porn/sex, alcohol, drugs, workaholism, etc)? How has your Autistic traits made it difficult to function in real life: As a kid? As an adolescent? As an adult? What emotional/spiritual/relational needs does gaming attempt to meet in your life that you felt like you had a lack of due to your upbringing as an autistic person? Given what you've experienced growing up, do you think that if you didn't have Autism, you would still be an addict? Why or why not? Coming into gaming recovery, what challenges did you find you now had to face that were unexpected? What battles do you fight that you knew you would have to deal with going into recovery? What triggers have you had to avoid in order to see success in recovery (whether uniquely Autism sourced or not)? (ex: certain stimulants, entertainment, boundaries, etc) Have you noticed any Autistic traits in other non-Autistic gaming addicts? Consider the following statement: "Autism is an addiction disorder." Is this true or false? Partially? What stimming options have you tried to replace the destructive addictive behavior with? Is this a realistic idea? Not looking for perfect scientific answers, but more your thoughts based on experience. (But if you want to reference something scientific and scholarly, that would be cool too!)
  12. First I wanted to say that I believe that games can be enjoyed in moderation, I just happen to be bad at moderation, but I'm getting better. I discovered JockoPodcast in January and you could say I became a disciple in March. JockoPodcast has lots of stories from military people and book discussions focusing on discipline, leadership, and in a broad sense what it means to have a good life. I highly recommend it because it isn't focused on faddish "self-improvement", but on self-transformation through practical advice for attitude adjustment. After hearing all the war stories its hard to think of anything in my soft and pampered life as "difficult". Even before I decided to quit gaming waking up at 4am as Jocko recommended, and consequently going to bed at 8pm, naturally decreased my overall gaming time because there was no longer several hours of "dead" time between dinner and bed. After many hours of podcast I concluded that my life would be better without "most" gaming and I'm here because I'm acting on that belief, one small step at a time. Previously my go-to timewaster was hearthstone or some other card game to fill in the hours I had to sit at my desk for work, a single player game or watching streams between work and dinner, and streams or gaming after dinner until bed. This fundamentally made me a worse worker since I was doing my job between hearthstone games or sometimes while playing a game. And I wasn't paying enough attention to my family and household and didn't have any other goals to pursue. Playing games was my focus and the rest of life happened in between game sessions, sometimes frustrating me because reality took me away from a game I was particularly fond of. Current plan - 30 day timeline: stop single player games for "entertainment" or to fill time stop watching twitch streams (at this time streams and work are my only non-family social interaction so that is rough) Permitted gaming: pokemon go if I'm not at home and waiting for something to happen, like at the mall waiting for auto service desktop/console gaming with my children - the family plays mario kart together sometimes gameplay as long as I am streaming I'm not naturally social so talking for long periods of time drains my energy. Streaming is one way I can build endurance for real social encounters, even if nobody is watching I always continuously talk like they are. I honestly don't like streaming at all, I just started doing it because it was the "cool thing the kids are doing", thats why I feel like for me personally it won't hurt me to indulge in gaming while on stream.
  13. FIRST DAY Good things I have finally tidied up room. That took me 3 bloody hours. Who knew my room could accomodate so much dust, Jesus. More than that, I accidentally found the missing part from my MOTTO Racing gear ? That hit me hard. A sudden wave of playing urge almost overwhelmed me but ya boi stays strong. EDIT. Watching video of other people quitting gaming (HOBEDAGA`s story) helped me. especially this guy. He`s a legend Spent time with my father. That was endearing really. We talked, played chess. Too bad I`ve wasted so much time digging my head in sand. But look redemption is what matters here right? It was funny to stumble upon my urge to leave as soon as we talked. I understand why. My father was often asking about my grades, plans for future, thoughts, anything, hell, he really was trying. And me being a depressed junkie, hating that sense of guilt, so dense I could touch it, I would crudely end the convo and rush to my messy room playing computer games with lights switched off. Bad things I feel like shit already. Well it is an indication of me being an addict, right? And I don`t want that. I want to be free. Thoughts Does the fact I am quitting mean that I shall not play again anymore? Should it be as fawl and wrong as doing drugs or commiting crimes for me now? What about this time I have spent playing games? Should I blame myself for it? What if I turn to pro gamer? Like, isn`t it wonderful to be hooked on something and bring bacon home at the same time. But, from the other perspective, say I have managed to become pro, will I be agile? Active? Socially charismatic? Perhaps it`s my brain trying to find a way to play some more Well, here it is, folks! OH! one more thing.. Here it is my visual XP bar for not playing the game ? How do you like it
  14. Hello everyone. I have a question for all of you out there. What is the biggest issue you’re dealing with when it comes to meeting new people? I know that this might be a sensitive topic, so feel free to shoot a DM if you feel like this is a more private matter, thanks.
  15. I know what it is. Lying in a bed late night, scrolling down something useless, watching a video, then, out of blue a sudden urge strikes me like a lightning, I feverishly browse hot fat latino mommino and boom. I have a wank. But why are people determined about nofap? I heard it`s healthy in moderation and so on (I just do it regardless) but can participants of this challenge enlighten me of the downside of giving it a good ol rub?
  16. Hello, My name is Lucas and I've been addicted to watching gameplays on twitch and youtube for about 2 years. Previously it was not so bad, I've spend maybe 2 hours a day. But lately I've been spending like whole weekends (when there are no lectures) and evenings after my work. I'm studying also at weekends, and I've found out, that the projects, that we've to do are pretty simple so I procrastinated them, and did well, so it did strenghten my addiction. I'm hoping to make a lot of progress in learning piano and electronics design. I've also plans for getting better at Linux and Python. For social life - previously I did play some board games with my friends, let me know, if it is a good habit. Lately I've found, that this addiction is called binge-viewing (like watching whole seasons on netflix, that I've also done). Let me knew, if sb was also making his way through this. Wish me luck 🙂 Lucas
  17. Hello everyone. I have been playing video games from a young age of 6 years old when i first got a computer in my household. My parents were limiting my play time to 1 hour a day, so i had a pretty good childhood and decent teen years, but as my age increased the limits set by my parents kind of disappeared and and i got myself completely into video games. Even though back then i had a group of very close friends and did hang outside fairly often. Another problem was that from a young age I was shy and had problems meeting new people and starting conversations with them. In highschool i started playing FPS games competitively and started hanging out with my friends a lot less. I was pretty much spending all my free time just sitting in front of my computer and playing without a care in the world. After school our group of friends split up to go to universities/colleges in different cities/countries, so I was left pretty much alone. What was i gonna do? I dedicated even more of my time on video games and web surfing in general in my university years. Out of the 30 people in my university group i made friends only with 2 of them and due to my addiction I did not even hang out with them outside of university, which resulted in me having no friends at all after university finished. Now I have been working for 3 years as a programmer without any social life outside of work. I feel like i don't even have the skills required to converse with people. One on one i can manage some talk, but in a group I can't muster a single word, because I don't feel like I can add anything to the conversation. Having wasted my teen years and university years doing pretty much nothing I don't have any stories to share, I don't even know the city I live in that well because I never went out to clubs or bars. Obviously my love life is non existent, I have had drunken sex a couple of times, but never made the effort, or knew how to make a connection with a female and date. I turned 25 this year and realized how much of a failure I am compared to the people I work with, who have many interests, have read many books, accumulated all kinds of knowledge from experiencing different things, created families and are leading active lives. With these heavy thoughts depressing me i tried quitting gaming and it kind of worked, since games for the past couple of years have been just a way to spend my free time, I don't actually enjoy them anymore. I have reduced my gaming time to a maximum of 1-4 hours a day as opposed to 5-8. But it is still not even close to being enough, since i replaced my gaming time with useless internet surfing time. With all of these thoughts in my head i started getting depressed and started to seriously consider suicide. I am having suicidal thoughts around 3 times a week, once a month I would cry to myself about my pathetic situation and what I have become. But before I depress myself even more with these thoughts of mine I decided to take action and completely remove gaming from my life, reduce pointless internet surfing time and add 2-4 hours of some kind of social/active activities. So my goal being here is to quit gaming completely and quit pointless internet surfing in general, find a new group of friends and hopefully create myself a healthy social life, where I could hopefully become more confident in my self and eventually create a family of my own. The biggest problem i will have to solve is how to open up myself to people more to befriend them, because socialization is definitely one of my weakest points at this moment. I wrote quite a lot, if you have read it all you have my thanks. I'll be sticking around this forum looking for tips and advices on where to go on from now and what kind of activities i could take up. So if you have any kind of starting advice, i would love to hear them, thanks ?
  18. Hello! My name is William, 21 years old and i'm from Brazil. Let me introduce myself and i will try to tell what is happening right now in my life and why did i want to quit gaming. (Sorry for my english) Have been gaming since i was 10 years old. Playing CS 1.6 till i started to play in 2015 League of legends and Counter Strike: Global Offensive man... and only now i recognized what gaming have been doing in my whole life. Right now i have a Daughter (Yes with 21 years), people are seeking me because of money and trying to kill me i have been playing everyday 12 hours per day and doing nothing about my life. Feeling depressed with lack of motivation, empty with no purpose. Today i have resetted my laptop and i want to give the laptop to my mom. But something inside me tells to not stop gaming, i really want to stop and focus on my studies to give a better future to my daughter and to be a better self reconstruct myself to be a better man a better dad and a man that my daughter in the future will have proud. I will be happy to answer everyone. Thanks!
  19. Day # 1 I have my 6th sem exams in 9 days and I didn't study anything and I just wanted to play dota 24/7 I realized how much i have changed after i discovered online gaming and how little i care about things and how i stopped socializing , so i decided to change and uninstalled my games and i will start going running from tomorrow. PS: I have never written anything outside exams and i suck at it .
  20. Hello there! So first I wanna say, that my school english isn't the best, but i'll try to make it understandable. About myself: I'm 18 years old, coming from Switzerland and have been gaming for over 6 years now. the reason why i started was very simple, but also sad. My dad püassed away when i was 12 and just two years later a got i diagnose of an incurable disease, which meant my muscles were getting weaker slowly but steady. So video games were the only place i could get rid of all these very big problems in my life. It was a very rough time since then. I have to mention that I'm super grateful that my marks never dropped and I'm still under the top three in my class. So that's a positive thing, same as my physical health. I managed to do 2x a week therapie and 4x a week fitness and it helps me alot to keep myself up not only that my muscle-strength doesn't fade, but also mentally. But beside that i also played so much video games. especially on weekends or in holidays. It came thati played like 13 hours a day and I got sick of it really! And i had a few tries getting over this adddiction as many would calll it, but failed and felt even worse after it. Had one year without my computer and smartphone but never found joy in other areas in my life. So I relapsed right at the end of 2018. Since then I sometimes hoped to be able to control my gaming behavior and itt was not even that bad. But just 3 weeks ago holidays started and it was horrible. So I decided to stop this once and forever. As my other tries didnt work out in the long run, I wanna make it public this time and join a forum to motivbate others and also get inspiration on my side. My goals are these: Quit video games completely reduce the amount of time i spend on youtube to basically zero (only music is allowed) find other hobbis/activities that bring me joy read alot about psychology and philosophy, because it fascinates me keep up the good work in health and school write this journal every day As this port goes online this experiment or rather this new life begins and I feel ready for whatever will encounter me. Peace out!
  21. I'm going strong at 17 days game-free! It has been surprisingly easy to not play and to fill most of my time with other activities like practicing my french horn, reading, hiking, and watching hockey (let's go Blue Jackets!). However, there have been a few times that I have felt the void that gaming has left. I have felt the void most when my wife is with her friends or at her own rehearsals or activities. Two years ago, I moved to her hometown for work. I was preparing for my career to take us to the west coast, so her hometown was a great option for both of us. Having anywhere between a three- to eight-hour drive separating me from my friends has been tougher than expected, especially since my wife has no such issue. Also, I was bullied a lot as a kid, and never had many friends, so I used to think that I enjoyed being alone. After being alone AND being without games, it feels like I am feeling what true loneliness is (or I am just not as used to it after living with my friends for grad school and being married). Even with my other activities, I still had an hour here and there that have been open. It has been exceptionally hard to not play some sort of "easy-to-put-down," single-player, noncompetitive game that I feel that I can easily pause and save and drop and not come back to until the next time I am alone. The other difficult time has been at work. There have been days that I have not been very busy at all, so I have turned to YouTube or ESPN/NHL. After watching non-gaming-related videos or listening to music for a while and still having open time, it has been hard to not look at gaming news or attempt to find games that I think will be less of a pull for me for when I try to get back into gaming. There have been several games that have caught my eye, especially since they are indie games that have great stories that deal with depression and anxiety. What I have determined from these trials is this: my addiction is less about playing the game itself, and more about filling the time with something social and/or "productive." I have felt hopeful and free since I dropped gaming and sold most of my games except for these times. Going forward, I am going to try to stay away entirely from anything related to games until my 90 days are up. As before, I still can't see myself without games, especially those that tell a good story or have good puzzles to solve. I am still going to be vigilant and not buy those that are competitive, online-only, weekly-exclusive-driven, or multiplayer because I know that those are where my problem started. Moderation and balance is key, and I am hoping that my 90 days will help me be able to take a step back and play without going down a slippery slope. Good luck everyone, and stay strong! Take back control of your life! -Erik (ydinpoika)
  22. Day 5 off gaming! Imma keep these short so I don't consume too much time. Pretty eventful. I got some video game cravings early in the morning and went into the social media stage. Eventually I got so video game hungry that I played a game of chess, hoping that would fulfill it and it did. As for youtube I stopped that because I couldn't find anything on my reccomended because it's blocked (Thankyou df youtube). As for after school I actually did homework, pretty happy with myself, didn't even procrastinate just went with the flow. I was super happy afterwards and I realize that this is a huge change for me. I'm only now starting to realize how much I rely on outside sources to help me with anti gaming (cams vids, hobby finder, chess.com, df youtube, even some website blockers) I'm really hoping that I will not go back to gaming. Or at least not go back to extreme gaming.
  23. Day # 1 Gratitude Journal One amazing thing that happened/I did today - I made the conscious decision to stop gaming. After 20+ years of this habit, I'm ready to start a new chapter in my life. Workout/run - Today I will do the Coolcicada's PPL Push day. Meditation - Wim Hof's three cycle breathing exercise. Visualization - I see myself as an avid adventurist, and world traveler. The first step is by cleaning up my space and making a plan. Daily affirmation - The good things in life are never easy. Today is one step closer towards the good life. Time I Woke Up - 11:07 a.m. Time I Went to Bed last night - 3:20 a.m. Weekly Goal(s) - Finish my guest list for my wedding. Write in my journal, workout, and read each day. Monthly Goal - Remove all games and triggers for gaming from my life. 3 Month Goal - Rebuild relationships with friends that I have lost due to gaming. What went well today: I cleaned up my apartment and went to the gym. What I could have done to make my day better: I could have went to bed earlier last night. I lose a lot of real social interaction by spending a lot of free time browsing reddit and youtube rather than connecting and planning my days. What I will do differently tomorrow: I will go tonight without playing any video games.
  24. Hello there! My name is Max, I am a 22 y/o university student from Austria. I used to study molecular biology and now I am working on a degree in innovation management. I love to write (poetry and short stories) and making music (playing bass and ukulele), as well as trying various kinds of sports. Other than that I enjoy spending time with my friends, going out dancing and reading books. I would describe myself as quite lively and interested, although that wasn't always the case... Video gaming has filled a large portion of my teens. Unfortunately, I developed addiction-like cravings and gaming started to consume my time, energy and emotional stability. Around age 17 I came to realize that gaming is holding me back from living the life I truly want to live. Since then I am fighting an ongoing battle against my addiction and started to have great results. Slowly overcoming my addiction has been like fuel for my self-confidence, my desire for personal development, my academic success and a lot of other positive developments in my life. The only thing I am struggling with right now is short and hard relapses, which often occur under periods of stress... e.g. exams, loneliness, projects, ... (basically when they are especially inconvenient). They only ever last for a few days or 1-2 weeks max, so they are more of a nuisance than an actual reason to really worry about. Still, I want to leave them behind me and figured that helping others with their struggles might support keeping my focus straight. I am here to share with you my experience battling video game addiction for 5 years and to document it for future game quitters. For now, my goal is to stay clean for the rest of the year while helping you guys out. I am looking forward to meeting you and working with you. Cheers, Max
  25. Hello everyone, this is a post I'm asking for life advice and moral advice about making major life decisions and choosing a career. I originally posted this on Reddit on the subreddit r/StopGaming but I'm posting it on Game Quitters to get another perspective and a second consensus. When I was around 17 years old, I fell into a state of hopelessness and depression and not knowing what to do with my life. At this time the prospects for the real world were looking bad for young people in general and I felt a lot of pressure to make major life decisions on what to do with my life video games were a form of escapism for me. Unlike the vast majority of people on Game QuittersI never actually even came close to ever being addicted to video games and even when I was very young (I started playing video games when I was 4 years old) it never became unhealthy. I did play a lot of video games but I still have a life, other hobbies, friends, went outside, and did many different things with my life. I learned many other different skills and had (and still have) many other interests, skills, passions and a life outside of video games and just electronics, distractions, and entertainment in general. But when I was 17 and 18 it was having a negative effect on me to a point where after procrastinating so much and playing video games not because they made me happy but to escape from my anxiety about my future and the many problems in my life I had to deal with I quit video games and uninstalled Steam, uninstalled all of my video games, and I just pulled the plug on it. I did many other things in my life but I needed to figure out my life and to find out what makes me happy. After eliminating so many of my options one thing I have as a special dream would be to at least work for Bioware on at least one Mass Effect game and feel as though I made something artistically significant and important. considered and know I could go through a program on CGMA or CG Spectrum where to go in order to become is to work in commercial art and work as a 3D modeller, animator, character design artist, or environmental artist. I know some genres such as multiplayer games tend to be more addictive but all video games to my knowledge can cause harm to innocent people (correct me if I'm wrong). The problem I have with potentially planning to make a future career change to work in video games is that I feel as though even though video games did have a negative impact on my life at one point even if I end up doing great in life my work in video games will ruin the lives of at least millions of other people (according to the World Health Organizaiton) such including what it once did to me. Not to mention that its' already negatively impacted or ruined the lives of the people on or ruined the lives of the people on r/StopGaming which is a subreddit on Reddit about game addiction and people who want to quit playing video games. Honestly, I wouldn't even consider working in video games if not for the fact that Bioware exists and I feel as though their video games are not just games but tell incredible stories and are very much art. If Bioware were to be shut down, I wouldn't even think about working in the video game industry. Regardless, I want to be fulfilled in my work and a creative endeavor is something I'm considering. It could also be another form of art or writing or I could become an economist instead but regardless I want to do work that will make me happy and have a positive impact on the world. I know the video game industry is not perfect and I read a book from a video game developer with more than 15 years of experience in the video game industry as a game developer and the truth about what it's really like but I feel as though even if I were to only work for like no more than 5 years if I worked on let's say a Mass Effect game or some video game that is artistically significant and pushes the boundaries of technology, art, philosophy, and pushes humanity forward than that to me is worth doing as long as if I do it on moral terms and don't cause unintended (or worse yet intended) harm to innocent people and cause them to become video game addicts. The fact is that video games have caused harm to many people as proven on Game Quitters and I worry that it would be immoral for me to work in video games and that I would just ruin innocent people's live and be responsible for the rampant video game addiction problem we're seeing now in the world. I understand that addictions can form from various other substances and are caused by other mental problems and external problems such as depression, anxiety, traumatic life experiences, and numerous other problems and causes but regardless I am a genuinely good person with a kind heart and if video games really are that bad then I will not become a video game developer. So I am here to ask for honest help and advice on what I should do with my life. Should I become a video game artist and work in video games? Is it morally wrong for me to get into a career in the video game industry as a video game artist? Is it worth it to become a video game artist or just to become a video game developer in general? Are video games bad for humans and unhealthy for everyone? Are video games objectively a waste of time and bad for you? How should I make my decision of whether or not to become a video game artist and work in the video game industry? To everyone here, please give me the best help and advice that you can. I want the truth, thank you! ? TL;DR I am a genuinely good person who once suffered from problems with video games having a negative impact on his life that is now considering becoming a video game artist and work in the video game industry. I feel as though it is morally wrong and that I would contribute to the video game addiction problem we're seeing now and ruin innocent people's lives. I want to be artistically fulfilled and that's why I'm considering doing this. I am looking for advice on whether or not I should become a video game artist and work in the video game industry and the ethics of making that career and major life decision.
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