S.O.'s Gaming Addiction

[wandergrrl777]

Okay, I know that video games seem like a silly thing to be addicted to. I don't understand it myself. What I do understand is that my SO's relationship with these games is obsessive. It's ruining his life and leaving me lonely and miserable.

First it was Warcraft. Then he got fed up with it and threw it out and erased his account. Now it's something else. Both are online games where you play and chat with others. These games seemingly have no end. I had been dealing with Warcraft for over a year when he finally threw it away. I was shocked and happy! I couldn't believe it. I thought, "Great! I'm getting my man back!"

But, he found a new game and nothing has changed.

Here is a typical weekday for my SO: Wake up, go to work, come home, play game, eat very fast with girlfriend, game until late at night, go to bed alone, rinse and repeat.

On the weekends he "games" and sleeps. MAYBE we will go out and do something, but it's always overshadowed by his anxiety to get back to the game.

Does anyone have any experience with this? I don't know what to do. I'm not going to leave him and I refuse to keep putting up with this. He treats me like I'm nothing but a hassle and it hurts.

I feel like I've tried everything. I've tried every different way of being to make him want to come out of this. I've tried to leave him alone and let it pass like a phase. I've tried to talk to him about it and he attacks me. He tries to cut back and just ends up breaking promises. I don't know what to do anymore.

[wandergrrl777]

I agree with you guys too. I feel like I really have done my own thing and given that an honest effort. I mean, just due to the nature of my work I'm gone for a week, sometimes more every month. He's just so freakin' lost and caught up in this crap. He doesn't notice or doesn't care that I'm not around.

As much as I want to be all independent woman about it, the truth is he is the love of my life and I feel like I'm losing him. It feels so counterintuitive to act distant and nonchalant about this.

I guess since I'm not going to leave him for it, no sense in really crying about it. I better just get used to flying solo. That hurts.

You know, I quit smoking a couple weeks ago. Maybe I'm just raw from that. I don't know. Either way, I think I'm going to go back into counseling. It seems like I have a lot of things going on right now and I'm struggling to connect the dots. I don't want to go back to drinking so I'm going to have to find a way to deal with this. And it's not just him. Life has been kinda kicking my ass lately.

As silly as I think being addicted to a video game is...He is acting very junkie about it. He sat on unemployment for months last year doing nothing except playing these games. He is clearly uncomfortable when away from the game too long. He flat out lies about how much time he spends online playing. He's gained a lot of weight. He turned his back on all of his friends. This was an outgoing, social, intelligent, hard working, caring and loving person. I just don't get it. I'm going to get this sorted out somehow.

I think these video game addictions are on the rise. I wouldn't be suprised to see more posts like this one in the future.


Thanks for reading me guys. I really appreciate all of your insight and advice. Sorry for being such a lame b*tch right now. I'll be back in the saddle soon enough I'm sure.