New here!

[digital]

Hello all!

I'm 28 years old and World of Warcraft and League of Legends have been my biggest problem games.

I've been going through PTSD recovery this year along with being newly diagnosed with ADHD as an adult. I almost dropped out of my final year of uni this year because of these issues alongside my gaming addiction. Luckily my uni have extended all of my work with no penalty by 1 year to give me another chance so I really want to make the most of it. 

I have quit WoW and LoL. I cancelled my sub. It was one of the most difficult things I've ever done, similar to quitting smoking for me as I was often playing WoW competitively for 40 hours minimum but sometimes that number would creep up to almost 100 hours. I was an officer and heal lead for my team and have been asked to stay on as an officer to help out on Discord even though I'm no longer playing. 

Staying part of this community, I know in myself, is making it 10x more difficult for me. Every time I see them struggling, down a player, people not parsing well, healers not being coordinated etc. It makes me desperately want to go back and help them. I like feeling needed by them and it feels so upsetting not being able to help them. But I don't know how to step away from them ;_; I'm working on it though, I'm hoping the more I'm quiet and distant the easier it will become to eventually remove myself altogether. 

I'm trying to fill my time now with other activities (Tabletop, knitting, walking, gym, reading). But my goal in life is to be a Game Artist and it's what I'm studying at uni. So I really should be sculpting every day, but I'm finding it hard to return to that with it being a computer based activity and all the temptations that come with being on the PC.

Gaming will always be somewhat entrenched in my life since it's what my partner and I are both doing for our careers so I can never 100% quit as there will always be game nights with work friends or research. But I hope to never go above 10 hours a week again. 

Thank you for reading if you got this far! I'd love to hear from any others who have successfully managed to keep some non toxic elements of gaming in their life successfully without relapsing into the worst side of gaming. Also any advice for stepping away from a community that needs you ;_; 

Thank you ❤️

 

Edited June 9, 2023 by digital

[wheatbiscuit]

One of the first thinking exercises recommended to GQ members was to identify the reasons why we gamed, and then the reasons why we want to quit. I do think 'social' reasons is the big reason for playing for me, and quitting was basically just being obsessed with the competitive side of things (which is why I started gaming), and feeling like I needed to have a presence on-screen all the time.

I did enjoy solo puzzles on the official version of my favourite game, but wasn't sure of how to keep at them; that would be my ticket to healthy gaming (used to do 'KenKen' on my smart phone) - I'm also still curious as to what will have happened after 90 days of not gaming at all. So I'm journalling here too as I keep count.

Welcome to GQ! 🙂 

 

[LemonadeNS]

Hey!

I am new here too. I understand exactly what you're saying. My game was Rust, and I played A LOT. I was great, I am great at it. BUT it ruined my life. I am shutting my discord down tonight, with all 1.2k people in it. I put an announcement telling them this, and the results are an outstanding amount of emotional support. If you feel like you need to step away from discord, make a post. You'll see that people understand addiction, even if they don't understand their own.

 

Much love ❤️