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1 Week into quitting and I lost all motivation for studying


dirac

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So its been 1 week since I completely quit gaming and I have never been this unmotivated to basically do anything ever before. Before I quit I usually just played between 1-3 hours a couple of evenings per night and a little more on weekends and was doing pretty well motivation wise with university and my job. Now that I quit gaming I am basically struggling to get out of bed in the morning and can hardly motivate myself to do the bare minimum in terms of studying. This has been on the same level for the past week now and I am seriously considering going back to gaming because I dont know what else to do.

Has anyone else made this experience ? Will it get better?

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I believe it is normal to feel apathetic/depressed in the first couple of weeks, especially if it's the first time you quit.  Personally, I'm like super motivated for the first 2-3 days and then I have huge cravings for several days.  However, it does get easier.  I've been conditioned to regularly and easily access an large amount of stimulation/pleasure in a single package.  So like, quitting leaves this empty void that needs to be filled.  1) I suddenly have much more free-time on my hands.  2) I don't get the same satisfaction from other aspects of my life.

To address these I picked up a variety of other hobbies; Yes, I have quit video games but I haven't quit on having fun and I don't think anyone should.  The reason why I quit video games as a means of having fun in particular was because I seem unable to moderate my gaming.  So much that there are long-term consequences.  When I think about the long run, what I truly value, what truly makes me happy, video games aren't really there.  I also try to enjoy the little things in life every now and then.  Making a deliberate effort to practice compassion and gratitude towards myself, other people, animals, and other non-living things can be helpful at times.

There's a lot of practical advice like this out there but it's not uncommon that to change our behavior we also have to change our mind.  Sometimes it's our expectations/beliefs that prevent us from enjoying things or moving on from dissatisfaction or suffering.  I know that I for one, have this counter-productive intuition/expectation that things should be "easy", that I shouldn't struggle.  I have this "all or nothing" mentality that needs to change if I can ever hope to accomplish things that are really important to me in the long run.  Anyways, that's why talking to a therapist is a good idea for me.  The diagnosis and therapy is very helpful, in fact, I would say it was essential for me.  A year and a half ago I was contemplating suicide but now I'm starting to have long-term goals and shit.  Pretty crazy (in a good way).

Anw, my point is, as I've said in the beginning: What you are going through now is normal.  You're not alone and this won't last forever.  As long as you keep trying and learn from your mistakes, you will find what you need.

Take care mate.

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  • 1 month later...

I had this initially because I felt "that I couldn't have fun anymore" and "what was the point if I couldn't enjoy life".

 

It's a case of finding new things to enjoy or have fun with. I know that's a bit of an ambiguous statement or a bit of a cop-out, but that's the solution. Now I see spending time with my family my "reward" or simply enjoying the back deck with a coffee and the sun without having any nagging thoughts in the back of my mind of what I need to do or what I have been avoiding.

 

Like anything, this will take practice mate. You're in a bit of a lull, and the detox will have several, but you'll feel amazing once you emerge on the other side.

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It makes sense because we are used to so much easy and artificial successes and wins from gaming. Now that it’s hard to get that same satisfaction, the mind/body wants the easier option.. to just game.

But as with any drug, it’s hacking your system to be overdriven with normal chemicals, which makes you depressed when you don’t have them.

Time will heal ❤️

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