Can’t even go through 1 day.

[IlikeCookies]

Hello everybody, I’m a gamer who loves gaming because of escapism, building my online personality, and my gaming friends. I’ve recently tried to quit, but I’m having a hard time. 
 

Sometimes when I have a long work day I can quit for the day and then a few more days, but when the workload is less, I have a problem. I can maybe play no games for the morning, but then I play twice as much in the afternoon—then I play even more the next day 😞 

 

Fortunately, when I can abstain for 24 hours straight, I tend to get less temptation after (though I have relapsed a LOT). However, this time I am determined for no relapse. 
 

Does anyone maybe know a method that could help me through 1 day? For example, should I distract myself? Have a rest during a craving?

[KingslayerXx]

Read a good book - Perhaps one about games might be interesting to you?

[Faroe Islander]

I also personally struggle with this a lot, what I have found usually works best is to have activities that you look forward to instead of games, for myself those where mainly social activities that managed to combine hobbies with relaxation or work like a club you enjoy a group of friends or sports in general.

I guess my best advice really is to not only clarify the reasons why you want to quit, forgive yourself for slip ups and take it one step at a time, but also create an environment conductive to the life you want to live, making it hard to access games and making/creating other alternatives which you prefer and you could see yourself doing long term

[pdallair91]

Quote

[...] should I distract myself? Have a rest during a craving?

Well... that depends.  Or maybe I should say, distraction has its limits.  Distraction does not force a problem to leave, nor does it prevent it from returning.  People often develop addictions because they feel they have no choice but to distract themselves from recurring distress.  So, in between the peaks at least - the moments closest to "clarity" so to speak - working towards changing what we can and accepting what we cannot change would probably be helpful in the long term.

Also, don't mistake all pleasure-seeking as a "healthy distraction".  It's only reasonable to settle for "neutral" or "mildly satisfying" sensations from time to time on a day-by-day basis.  We don't need to be hyper-stimulated all the time.

But yeah, I came here as a "distraction" while I was experiencing cravings, and diverting my attention toward this post (yours and mine) has helped pass the time and the cravings have settled down a bit.  I know I will experience some again tomorrow and I'm ok with that.  In the meantime, it's getting late, I will rest and hopefully, this will give me a chance to accept and cope with cravings effectively when they return.

Good luck on your path my friend.  Peace out.