Hi everyone,

My name is Adrian and I just started reading the book myself and came here to try out this method of saying "hi" mentioned in the REspawn book.

It kinda of feels like going to AA meetings and i'm trying to get used with the idea :)
I think it's an interesting approach, I'm just curious how much it would help me :D , or how much this helped someone else.

What I can tell you about myself is that I'm 29 years old, working in IT ( Infrastructure support not programming / developing, although i'm forcing myself to get into Python programming ) as a Linux Infrastructure Engineer and I have been playing games since I was a child, but it was never too serious or too addictive.

I always played a bit of CS GO, Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed games etc etc, but I never actually had issues with gaming , I was fine with not playing for a few days or even an entire week.

Until Path of Exile 2 was launched in december 2024...that's what was unhealthy for me...

I played it since it launched like a maniac and I got to the point where I wasn't taking good care of me and I started having fights with my girlfiend with which I'm in a relationship for almost a decade now.
I stopped playing games entirely in May 2025 after a big fight with my girlfriend and after noticing how much weight I lost and I struggled a lot with my decision to quit gaming, I wanted to play and all I was thinking was just about gaming.

Two weeks ago I relapsed and I played Last Epoch thinking it won't be so damaging as POE 2 was but I was wrong, somehow I squeezed another 8 hours of gaming and of course now I feel bad about myself and I unisntalled the game after I came clean about it to my girlfriend (i hid playing , and she caught wind of this; in may i made her swear she will stop me when she'll see me playing again, so she kept her promise :)) , i don't know why I asked her to stop me from playing, what was in my mind ? :)))) hahaha )

My main problem is that ever since I stopped playing in may 2025, up until I relapsed two weeks ago, I never any drive/motivation to continue studying and preparing for new certifications so I can further my IT career.

I was pretty occupied with job interviews and I recently just started a new job with a new company, but somehow I still don't get motivated to study more ( I'm relly trying to get into python programming ) and this is exactly how I discovered the Game Quitters youtube channel, which in turn pointed me to the website and the Respawn

I found Respawnand I'm trying to see if this would help me :D

Did it help you guys in any way?

I like to think about myself that I'm a person who can never get an addiction, but judging by how I felt for the past months , I thought it's worth it to introduce myself here.

Anyway, good luck to everyone and I'm happy to meet you and join the forum :)

Edited September 22, 2025Sep 22 by Adrian

Hi @Adrian , and welcome. It's interesting to read of how you seemed to lose a lot of weight in the habit instead of put it on. That's been conceivable for me of course, but not what I usually hear/think of!

One way I've been phrasing apparent motivation to study (as long as games are a reward) is as 'incomplete confidence'. You know, to undertake a new mission (game or study; they become confused) or something. For me, it's a mindfulness journey - 100 daily decisions to stop and think, instead of plough ahead through a new gaming or otherwise excessive goal. I just signed off because 1) I was drained, and 2) hungry - but also 3) to stare at the computer screen from a few metres away, lying down to ponder what clicking and watching animations on it means to me.

It is also very nice to see that you're in a stable relationship. You might be one of the people who is always going to make their way in life - provided that the 'nuggets' of addictive and entertainment 'gold' aren't allowed to swallow up too much time and effort, with the lure of reward motivation.

If you've got good memories of things simply 'working out' consistently because of intrinsic warmth and motivation (like when programming or during what physical exercise that you can enjoy (that's a big one for me)), hold on to them - and your people! 🙂

Edited September 23, 2025Sep 23 by wheatbiscuit
spelling and tag

Hi @wheatbiscuit
Thank you for the kind words and for your recommendations :)
To your point, I was expecting to get more fat by not taking care of my body, but in reality I lost weight , i think it might actually be the result of stress from the workplace and while I was playing I did not eat properly , sometimes I was not eating for 6-8 hours straight, and definatelly this had an effect combined with the stress from work.

Your point no 3 is an interesting take , and I can understand how this can work because you're asking the big questions while starting at what gives you pleasure (computer )

Good luck moving forward and all the best :) !

Ya man, keep at it, it’s good to see other people trying to get off the games here. People will tell you it’s fine in moderation. Google will tell you the same. Don’t listen to them. It’s not fine for us. It’s not fine for people who get addicted to gaming. Just like Amazon is fine for people who don’t have severe shopping addictions, but those who have with Amazon need to stay off it.

6 hours ago, FunnyDreamer said:

Ya man, keep at it, it’s good to see other people trying to get off the games here. People will tell you it’s fine in moderation. Google will tell you the same. Don’t listen to them. It’s not fine for us. It’s not fine for people who get addicted to gaming. Just like Amazon is fine for people who don’t have severe shopping addictions, but those who have with Amazon need to stay off it.

Well put @FunnyDreamer , well put

Thank you for your comment :D

Good luck to you and all the best 💪