This habit is like a boomerang...

[BrycenK]

Hello all, my name’s Brycen from Canada

I like most, have been having difficulty tossing the stupid video game habits to the curb. Whether it be on my phone, console, pc, etc. (I don’t know how to work forums as well so I hope I posted in the right area) I’m not sure where to start, all I remember is I was around 6 years old when my uncle brought my family the original Xbox, I was the one using it most of not all the time playing Sega racing 2000 & James Bond lol. I don’t know how or why I got addicted to it I just did and found there was a bit more freedom there than being a kid you want to be an adult so bad so you can do all these cool things. I’ve been addicted to video games all through middle school and high school yet I was active in my other responsibilities for some of the part such as sports teams. Except my job and by that I would just stay up late and be late to start sometimes, and my entrepreneur hustles I’m doing, it’s quite literally taking time away from them and keeping me from being productive since I thought maybe I can play games and make a lot of money, truth is, no you can’t it’s one or the other...
 

Lately though in the past 2 years especially I’ve been really pushing to get this habit gone done and destroyed. It came to a point where I had all forms of gaming almost (pc console and phone), and I was getting frustrated more and just didn’t have a good sense of myself whenever I walked outside for example in a Walmart. Feeling I had to really cool myself down and adjust (which can sometimes take a couple hours to a couple days!) to reality like even doing a simple conversation required some effort to come up with certain words. Normally I’m a very humorous, nice, and great, active and fun guy when I’m not gaming... Personally I’m a bit hard on myself which I think is from being what’s called an “achievement hunter”. So I thankfully noticed this bad habit quickly and I sold my gaming laptop, sold my Xbox one X which was a gift to me (I did feel a little bad for it) and I was clean for about 3-6 months and felt great. My good friend and I had a conflict and didn’t talk within that time period and he’s also a gamer which did help with removing the bad influence. After we resolved though he lent me his Xbox (which in my head I’m thinking oh no not again...), and back to playing for a little bit in my down time for 30 minutes. I felt like crap after but the short term pleasure was there and the nostalgia kicked in which made me go back to it for another few more hours per night. I thought ok let’s put a blanket over top of my TV and console and everything (which I literally did)  because out of sight out of mind right? You would think, and it did help a bit. But knowing what’s underneath doesn’t...

 

Now I’m trying to completely get rid of the Xbox and situation and give it back to my friend but he wants it at my place, not to mention the games on my phone as well... I’m not a social media guru or anything so I don’t get hooked that long on the phone but it’s one of those fillers when I’m working or doing whatever that somehow preoccupies my mind while I’m in a “boring area” or if I’m simply bored I play. I have been countering this with my interest in how the brain works, psychology, energies, and really scientific stuff as I’ve been trying to break this for what I think is a while (and I’m only 22), and found it is because your brain is in a high stimulative state and is it’s normal and wants to constantly feed it distractions. To really counter it you have to force yourself to do something that is very boring like counting how many 0’s are in Pi, like when you were a kid counting how many red cars there were or I Spy. This brings your brain to a detox to the boring state and it takes your brain about 8-9 days or so to detox the high stimulation to normal flow. Once done, your brain will have more focus, which I’ve noticed, and be able to stay concentrated better on other things asides video games (if this helps anyone I hope it does). But the funny part is, since I’m typically a high energy guy with a constantly building confidence, I’m still being taken back to the same old stupid habit I’m trying to get rid of. I feel I’m almost there but I’m missing one thing... ? 

 

I hope my message flowed well and wasn’t jumping all over the place. I feel like there’s a lot of more information I’m forgetting but I think this is all the info I need for this.

 

Thank you everyone in advance for your support, help, and suggestions ? 

[Amphibian220]

Hey Ismail Kanaan, let me ask you:

i stopped playing games 6 years ago, but for some years i continued watching youtube streams.

For about half a year I have not watched youtube streams at all and quite recently i started to block any memories, thoughts about games (one of my habits was constructing and improving games in my mind). I could spend 1-3 hours thinking about games in this way.

I am unemployed and helped by my parents. Im worried that unemployment leaves a lot of time, i try to fill it as best as I can

Is it normal that I still get anxious, worried about my health and well-being? Can i still be suffering from the effects 6 years after stopping playing?