Sarai Posted August 26, 2022 Share Posted August 26, 2022 Hi all! I'm not like the regular gamer who has been gaming all my life to the point where it consumed me. Yes, I did play a few games here and there as a kid, but it was mostly offline games and multiplayer with my brother and cousins, they were pretty fun! Then in my teenage years I fell a bit deeper into the gaming realm and played a lot more shooter games and strategy. It kinda felt thrilling but life took over and in that business I kinda let go of the games - I used to wake up and sleep with just checking the games. I was doing pretty alright until the pandemic struck. I was introduced to Valorant, an mmorpg game with interesting lore and characters. This is what my problem has been for the past 2 years, playing games everyday in neglect of other responsibilities and work. Staying stagnant in real life while also being hard-stuck in whatever rank I was put in. The more time I poured into the game, I could just see marginal improvements because unlike skills in real life- the game overall depended on ping, team mate luck and other factors. I was always sleep deprived; sleeping late and getting up early for work. My weight has increased by just staying in one place for so long. I don't really like the person who I am today. Before the pandemic struck I loved learning and experiencing new things, but now it feels like when there is extra time, I could try to sneak in a game before doing something else. I want and hope something better for myself. Ive always tried uninstalling the game, but a few days later its all set back up. When I'm away from the game I'm always feeling called to it. I need to get past this and I hope with the community here I can really face this problem with understanding rather than just axing the game off and then it sprouts back again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amphibian220 Posted August 29, 2022 Share Posted August 29, 2022 (edited) Hello Sarai! I can say this forum has several benefits. You can learn more about addiction by looking at the pitfalls that other people have discovered, how they overcame old patterns of thinking and established new meaningful lives. One of the most frequently cited cases here is what you have described: ease of access of video games in a pandemic situation. If you think about how gaming products have changed- easy to purchase, never ending progression and variety, then it only makes sense why this addiction is hard to combat. At times a member stops playing video games, but struggles in changing his or her life. This procrastination can go on for months. From this it follows that it is not merely enough to stop playing games, you’ve got to direct your thoughts and energies to things that really matter and change your character. There was a discussion in one of the threads on books that focus on psychology of addiction. Some of them have helped me greatly. Also, there are bite size Vlogs by Cameron Adair where he covers various aspects of the addiction to games and social networks. Should you have any questions, feel free to ask. Edited August 29, 2022 by Amphibian220 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael9 Posted September 12, 2022 Share Posted September 12, 2022 I feel this. Just joined and have the exact same challenges. I've mostly been a casual gamer. I'd play 1-2x/week for a few hours and get off at night at a reasonable hour to get enough sleep. Then March 2020 hit along with Warzone, and I find myself staying up 5-6x/week way too late. I don't have enough sleep before work, and try to take naps throughout the day (I work remote). It severely impacts my productivity, and I've simply lost my work ethic. Worse yet, I went from spending most nights with my wife playing board games, watching TV, or just talking/hanging out to now spending 1, maybe 2 nights a week with her. I struggle paying attention to our conversations and it's simply not fair to her. I've tried to uninstall games and sell my xbox, but that doesn't work. I wish I could go back to my original gaming attitude: 1-2/x week while going to bed at a reasonable time. All in all, I feel you. Hope we can both reach our goals with the help of this community. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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