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NEW VIDEO: The EASIEST Way to Stop Gaming

This time, I'll have a community


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Hello everybody, my name is Bruno and I am a university student from Germany.

I have struggled with video game and internet addiction for much of my life, which in some phases of my life escalated to where I was commited to a psychiatric clinic, dropped out of school and much more. Luckily, my situation has already improved quite a lot in recent years, and I get by with reasonable grades. Still, this small success builds not on abstinence and self-control, but on cramming sessions in between phases saturated by extensive and uncontrolled gaming and internet use. Often, I waste the entire sixteen hours of a free day on these activities. I am outwardly 'functioning' but not much more.

The situation leaves me profoundly unhappy. Not only does it cause great amounts of stress and pressure, it also leaves me little time to pursue the hobbies I actually want to do, such as cycling and writing.

I have tried many times to control and limit my consumptions. And, optimistically, some of these attempts have actually improved my situation - as I said in the beginning, it used to be much worse. I have, for example, created major hurdles to gaming and internet surfing by uninstalling all problematic software and intricately blocking addictive websites. But at the same time, I seem to be playing a game with myself where I find more and more complicated ways to circumvent these obstacles and continue my addictive behavior.

I think that one of the things that has been holding me back from continuing to move in the direction I want to move in is that I have so far lacked a community. It has, so far, almost always been only me and my computer. But we humans are a fundamentally social species, and a sense of community and belonging has been shown to be helpful with many other addictions, such as with AA. And in my personal experience, having a community often motivates meaningful change. For example, joining a creative writing group took me from thinking about writing to actually doing some writing (Though it has of course been rather sporadic due to my addictive behavior).

That's why I am excited to join this community. I am optimistic that this will help me grow as a person and help solve my addiction. I am also very grateful for Cam and all of you here in the forum for building this community! See you around!

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Hi Bruno, welcome to the community!

I am also new here, as I just posted my Day 0 journal for a 90-day challenge, and am also exploring writing! Really love your username btw. 

There is an AA like group for gaming, called GAA - check out their website here: https://www.gamingaddictsanonymous.org/

I can 100% attest to the power of community. Feeling safe to be completely open and honest is integral to healing. 

I wish you the best on your journey, and look forward to hearing more from you.

-B

 

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