From gaming to Discord addiction

[Secondary Woes 1]

Hi everybody (”Hi Dr. Nick!”)

I was addicted to gaming, but with the help of Cam’s videos I managed to quit. Thank you Cam.

For some reason, however, I find myself completely unable to quit my Discord community - I don’t want to leave all the friends I made but just chatting to them about anything is making me have cravings which I otherwise wouldn’t have. (I know this because I deleted my account and felt good - but I ended up making a new one - and here we are again…) There are so many complicated relationships and psychological hooks involved. I was wondering if it’s ok to participate on this forum with this kind of secondary problem? 🙂

It seems like such a great forum and there are so many wonderful people.

[Secondary Woes 1]

Without Discord I wouldn’t miss gaming at all, …you know?

It seems to me like there are a few people in the community who have the same problem but they are too embarrassed to admit it.

[checkercharlie39 6]

I guess it depends on how much a distraction it is for you.

I used to have what we'd probably consider an "addictive" relationship to the game Everquest (I know this dates me). I still post with folks on a message board from those days even though most of us haven't played the game in 10-15 years. Our relationships and community have well survived most of us quitting the game. I still posted there a lot even after I'd stopped playing and most folks there were still playing. It can be done! I don't necessarily think you have to lose the community as long as they're not pressuring you into coming back.

[Secondary Woes 1]

I think it's definitely a distraction. All the time I wasted on games has turned into wasting time on Discord. It's like trying to quit porn and alcohol but then spending all nights with your old friends at a strip club - drinking non-alcoholic drinks and asking for a table facing the other way. 😄

[TerryPHD 1]

So this is a question I have too? Do you uninstall discord as well?

[Vorsicon 5]

On 1/24/2022 at 9:11 PM, Secondary Woes said:

I think it's definitely a distraction. All the time I wasted on games has turned into wasting time on Discord. It's like trying to quit porn and alcohol but then spending all nights with your old friends at a strip club - drinking non-alcoholic drinks and asking for a table facing the other way. 😄

Hahaha that's a pretty good analogy 😆 The temptation always being there wouldn't be helpful and basically guarantees relapse.
I was on some gaming Discord Channels but left them to avoid this same issue, however I didn't have any real connections on there so it was easy for me.

Not wanting to break off those relationships is understandable, but are they more important than risking a potential relapse? Hopefully that's a helpful question.

I haven't started Chapter 2 pf Respawn yet, but I definitely understand that one addiction can just transfer to another and finding an outlet for that energy is important. I've started reading more and working on finally learning FL Studio (which I'll mention in my intro post that I'll make.....at some point...).

 

On 5/25/2022 at 10:58 AM, TerryPHD said:

So this is a question I have too? Do you uninstall discord as well?

Do you mean "did you" or are you asking "do you go to the extent of uninstalling it to avoid temptation?"
To the latter I would say, "what's more important to you- community that causes temptation or avoiding relapse?"