karabas Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 (edited) Ok so I've been on these forums on and off since 2018. They've helped me a lot to deal with my gaming addiction. It's not gone, but I manage it a lot better and my relapses are shorter and less damaging. Longest streak off of games has been 14 months! (edit: checked my journal on here and it was actually 18 months!) I don't think I'm the typical GQ gamer. I don't do online games at ALL, my jam is single player stuff - grand strategy, city building, that kinda thing. I don't have gamer friends, I've never been part of a guild/clan/whatever. So your mileage may vary. But a few weeks ago, I was diagnosed with ADHD (combined presentation) at 35 years of age. And damn, it explains so much. ADHD comes with low dopamine, so dopamine-boosting behaviors (games, shows... drugs) are particularly addictive for us. In fact, people with ADHD are far more likely to get addicted to substances... and my guess would be it's the same for gaming, too. I haven't really seen this side of mental health discussed on these forums much (although to be fair, I've been away from this community for a while now, so maybe things have changed). For a long time, I wondered why I was so easily addicted to this stuff when those around me found it no problem to stay away from games if they needed to. Well, now I know. Posting this so that others may benefit from it. Check yourself for ADHD symptoms. You don't have to be physically hyper to have it. Once you understand how your brain works, you can then actually work with it to improve. There are a bunch of things out there for ADHD that can make a huge difference. Not just meds, but those too. Hope this helps some people out. Edited April 2 by karabas 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikar Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 Thanks for bringing it up. Myself, I don't have ADHD, but I do have several autistic traits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gafsi Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 (edited) I also suspect ADHD and also suspect Asperger syndrome (or Autism spectrum disorder in DSM5). Going to pshchological testing in July. Edited May 22 by Gafsi 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitaru Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 Same story here! Grand Strategy single player, same two or three games compulsively. I don't have an official diagnosis yet (ADHD gatekeeping is nuts) but I'm starting with some light meds, been a life-changer so far. Now I barely come here (and supposedly I'm a mod, eeep) but I just had to tell you, you're not alone in this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gafsi Posted May 23 Share Posted May 23 It is likely that both ADHD (impulse control, inatention, need for stimulation) and Asperger (obsessive interests and poor social life) are great predispositions for game addiction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildermyth Posted June 28 Share Posted June 28 My collegue has ADHD and while she doesn't game all the time she REALLY gets into it when she does. She even brings her portable gaming device to work so she can play whenever she has a break. Sometimes she even games during work time, if we don't have a lot of customers. I'm autistic and this has played a big role in my addcition as well. I have lots of compulsive behaviours and I get very stressed out by certain routines not performing the way I want. This behaviour made me restart games almost endlessly in order to reach some form of perfection and the ultimate feeling of fulfillment. As soon as I thought about a game I instantly thought about how to organize things in it or make the "perfect run". It was very exhausting and time consuming to say the least and just like you gaming is what brought me to investigate if I had some sort of diagnose. Turns out I did and with this knowledge the step to quit became even more crucial. I've also looked back on many instances in the past where I've felt defeated by games and they have mostly all been related to my compulsive behaviours. It's just so fascinating that it took SO long for me to realize this and finally reach the core of my issue. But hey, better late than never, right? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikar Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 On 6/28/2024 at 2:31 PM, Wildermyth said: This behaviour made me restart games almost endlessly in order to reach some form of perfection and the ultimate feeling of fulfillment. As soon as I thought about a game I instantly thought about how to organize things in it or make the "perfect run". It was very exhausting and time consuming to say the least and just like you gaming is what brought me to investigate if I had some sort of diagnose. This! In the games that allowed it, of course. But I really spent many hours doing exactly what you described. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D_Cozy Posted September 27 Share Posted September 27 I have ADHD as well... for me my addictive behavior is at my worst with online forums. Hehe yeah I know it's ironic that I have to find online support groups whilst being addicted to online forums. But here I am. Limiting my time to 30min a day. Anyways, posting here to say I get the ADHD struggle. Doing things you like is very easy, things you don't like feel like torture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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