Pleased to meet you, I'm Harrison

[DasHarry]

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Edited April 16, 2016 by DasHarry

[AlexTheGrape]

Hi DasHarry, welcome to the community!

There's plenty of young people here, I'm 17 myself. It's great you've identified that gaming is an issue in your life, but what are the consequences of only 'cutting down' on the time you spend? Think about it this way - is your relationship with games like food? When you play for an hour or so, do you feel gratified and do not need any more games for the day? Or when you play games are you subject to 'I want to play just a little longer' thinking? If you answer the last question was yes, perhaps quitting cold turkey would be best for you. If not, it would be wise to identify the reasons behind why you played games so much and how you can restrict such behaviour.

Good luck for your recovery, and I look forward to hearing back from you!

[Cam Adair]

Hey Harry! Thanks for joining us here. If you're in college you'll fit right in here. The best thing I ever did for my social skills was quit playing video games. By removing the crutch in my life it created an opportunity for me to learn how to actually make friends, have better conversations, etc.

Keep posting here and it will make a big difference for you. We're here to help.

If you find you're struggling to quit playing, I'd encourage you to commit to a 90 day detox and check out Respawn.

[DasHarry]

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Edited April 16, 2016 by DasHarry

[DasHarry]

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Edited April 16, 2016 by DasHarry

[AlexTheGrape]

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Hi Alex,

Video games are my go-to activity when I'm exhausted, and I usually play for around 4 or 5 hours a day. My reasons for playing for so long is mainly just to cool down from studying and writing, although I've started to notice I almost use video games as a form of escapism. I'm not sure whether I would be able to quit cold turkey, as sad as it sounds. Honestly, with my best friends playing games I feel I would be left out even more if I stopped. I recognize that 5 hours is unhealthy though, and I would like to cut down and possibly quit cold turkey if it goes well.

I'm also considering a career in computing, and many games offer mods and level design environments I use to put my coding skills to practice.

Cheers, Harry

Video games have also been my go-to activity in almost all situations, and I would spend all my holidays playing them 8+ hours a day. It is initially harder to find activities that engage you, but it becomes easier quite quickly. I had the exact same reasons for playing, as well as rewarding myself for working hard. What it resulted in was myself becoming withdrawn from my social life with people other than my gamer friends, and holding me back from pursuing my real dreams.

Please note that I assume you are a gaming addict that will have trouble playing games in moderation, as I cannot tell how well you have fared in doing this in the past.

I know quitting games completely is hard, but there is no middle ground between gaming and not gaming at all for gaming addicts. You need to chose to play none whatsoever or you will eventually succumb to the temptations of playing 'just a little longer...'. By quitting games you will be prompted to find new activities to fill your time with that engage you, whereas if you game in moderation you will have video games there for you to fulfill those needs and you will not need to find other activities so much. If you rely on gaming hardware for your needs, you will inevitably be drawn to use it more, and eventually be using it as an addict again.

I understand the want to play games in moderation, but in almost all cases where people with trouble gaming have tried this it has failed, including myself. If you have a problem with your gaming and have ended up on this forum, the chances are that you won't be able to hold back from gaming large amounts of time in the future. I have seen many people in this community, many of which I have tried to help, who have tried to game in moderation or to not completely forbid themselves from gaming (e.g. by uninstalling steam but not removing login access to the account). They quickly disappear from the community and into their gaming caves when the going gets tougher for them, and are drawn to the fun of gaming more strongly. They will likely have experienced an 'extinction burst' in which the brain creates abnormal cravings to do a previously rewarding activity in an attempt to satisfy your emotional self (which often stops people from quitting games or smoking from quitting for good, occurring after several days of not doing these activities), and as a result they install their games and lose their way to success. I wish the best for you, and if you do not want to end up like these lost game quitters, I'd highly recommend you read Respawn and then go through ALL the steps it shows you (including the quitting process...). That will be your foundation to changing your life for the better.

This community is not all about quitting games (as it appears), but rather to live a more fulfilling lifestyle where people can achieve their goals with a better social circle. Think about this: If you could improve your life, would you? "If I could, I would." - Cam Adair.

[DasHarry]

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Edited April 16, 2016 by DasHarry

[AlexTheGrape]

I'd have a look at the 60+ hobby ideas that Cam has made, but otherwise have a look at your own aspirations and dreams for ideas. I knew I wanted to be able to perform in front of people and be able to produce electronics, so I renewed my efforts to play the guitar and learn programming. In saying this, you may be already doing activities that would be beneficial and engaging for you, perhaps you may just need to spend more time on them instead.

If you don't have any ideas about what you should do and can't think of any possible ones, I'd suggest that you just find some ideas online or from the hobby ideas document and just experiment with them to see if you'd like them, and have fun!

[DasHarry]

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Edited April 16, 2016 by DasHarry