The state of my gaming addiction and current life

[Fortune]

Hello to all,

My gaming addiction took up a lot of time in my life so i just decided to sell all my stuff. I’m currently feeling very anxious and lonely. I would game through the entire day and question my existence in the evening when im bed. But maybe i can summarise my life/past and what’s going through my Head in a few chapters:

My relationship with gaming

My most favourite game that i spend about 2.000 Hours in is Rainbow Six Siege. Every time i faced difficulty’s in my life i wanted to “escape” in my so called  “safe-zone”. I would game up to 9 hours in a day just so i don’t have to deal with my feelings. I’m currently 21 years old and i have been gaming since i was little.

My current feelings

As mentioned i feel very anxious, sad, tired and extremely lonely. I have literally no real friends and no girlfriend. The thought of trying to search for friends lets me back with overwhelming anxiety due to no “knowledge” where to find friends. Seeing other people in my life succeed in those mentioned categories leaves me sad.

My Relationships with other people

I always had problems to win people for my side.  I always struggled to make or find friends. I have never been in an relationship with a girl up to this day and want to change everything my life so badly.

Do you guys have any advice on how to overcome anxiety caused by quitting cold turkey?

I don’t want to tap out but i just don’t know where to start.

thx u so much for reading ❤️

 

[Jason70]

Hi fortune, welcome to the forums!

what you're feeling is what many of us, including me felt when we first quit. we felt lonely and confused. As you said since gaming was our social circle, when we quit we don't know where to go. I'd say if you want to become more social, i'd try to label out what your goals are and find activities that go hand in hand with that. for example if you wanted to become more active you could try hiking, running, or canoeing. i think that common interests are much better on the social side than just looking for a particular person to talk to. another good place to start though is going out and just small talking with someone like "hello! what's your name? what do you like to do?" although that second option might be a bit out of your comfort zone for right now. i hope this helps. i wish you luck on your journey

best 

jason

[mrmmartin]

@Fortune Hi Fortune,

The anxiety will eventually subside, I suggest working through the first chapters of Respawn - 90 Day program which will give you some really helpful tips on how to combat those urges to play again. The biggest takeaways that I had are:

1. Make gaming as hard a possible to interact with - Get rid of gaming accounts, gaming consoles.
2. Replace gaming with meaningful hobbies - Finding hobbies that make you happy and forget the urges to play gaming https://gamequitters.com/hobby-ideas/.
3. Self care - Whether that be in the form of eating healthy, exercise, self education or hygiene.
4. Daily Journal - I have never been someone to Journal my thoughts but it honestly helps.

The road ahead is challenging, you will have your ups and downs but I promise you life does get better. You can do it!

Edited October 4, 2021 by mrmmartin