Video game addiction
 

Hello All,

I will quit playing starting today. I played 16 hours in a row, and I realized I have relapsed.

I would like to look for a thread for people for same problem. Can anybody recommend me one?
I realized, support group is the most effective way to get rid of it once and for all.

Your help would be appreciated

Your Sincerely

Withyou

Welcome to the board!

An addiction is an addiction regardless of the drug of choice. In your case it's video games.

Please check your private messages :)

When I was younger, I was totally addicted to gaming also.
We are talking back when Nintendo released Zelda, Castlevenia etc.

The I replaced my addiction with Alcohol..

Then came Diablo, Counter strike, etc. I started playing hard again, but this time I had Alcohol and pot to enhance the experience. Now these days I only play a little, with my son. He is 7 and developing my addiction for gaming!!!
So I force him to come outside and play. I let him play half an hour a day, and skip days as much as I can.

Glad you posted, address this now and save yourself 20 years of misery. Find new habits, healthy ones, hunting, fishing, sports, anything.

Limit yourself to just a little gaming a day, let's say one hour.

Thank you
 

Thank you!!! God Bless you!

Dear Thepatman,

Thank you for sharing. :) I understand you and your worries about your children future.

I believe I cannot limit it. Once I try, I cannot stop. I believe I have to quit for good. I said it a lot of times, but now I have set my goals in life, and I will use this forum to make it last forever. This combination will sure do its impact.

I have no experience with this but I wanted to welcome you aboard withyou :)

D

Hey with you, glad you found us! I don't have a video addiction, probably because I have never played. But I am on my computer way too much, we had a wicked winter here and I got into some pretty bad habits. The thing I realize is that the days that pass that I spend too much time online seems to pass as a blur. What seems really important at the time because it is in front of me, fades, and those hours just blend into each other, nothing to set them apart when I look back.

It feels so so similar to drinking…just one more hour vs. just one more drink. So I would say SR could be of use to you. I think a lot of us understand the compulsions. A friend here posted about when he likes a new song, how he plays it over and over non-stop. I see a lot of our behaviors as similar.

But, the good news is that that focus can also be shifted to something healthy. I mean, it is a part of us right? I have seen aspects of that side of me be put to good use when I can channel it, when I gardened I could plant 15 rose bushes a day, when I get into a cleaning frenzy dirt beware (that needs to happen more), when I used to figure skate I would say just 15 more minutes after 3 hours on the ice. There are a lot of sayings that come in useful "easy does it", "first things first", some basic things that anyone with addictive tendencies can benefit by simply by understanding their own predisposition.

I went to inpatient rehab last summer, there were people there suffering from gambling, sex, food addictions. A lot of us participated in the same lectures, because underneath it all there was a remarkable similarity in the way our brains worked, we just used different measures to try to satiate our brain. Happy you are here!

Way to recovery
 

Thank you everybody who posted. I am not familiar with the forum yet so I don't know if I can directly thank for each useful comment/support.

If people with drinking problem found this thread they are welcomed to comment. I believe we do share the common ground, even though I admit drinking problem is the hardest things to quit, some say the same as heroin.

My dad is a functional, quite successful alcoholic, but his life is going down as his drinking progresses. He quit drinking a month ago, but I think he will relapse without AA support.

In the next posts, I will post my 3 step method which I will use to overcome my gaming/escaping habit.

I went thru a video game phase myself circa 2006-2009, my drug of choice was WoW. Played 5-7 hours immediately after i got home from my 8-hour day job, slowly worked/earned my way up the ranks to a "group leader" position (main tank) and my habit only got worse from there. One day, out of nowhere, i thought to myself:

"WHY am i doing this???? this is SUCH a waste of time......."

Few days later i uninstalled everything and threw my discs in the trash. I went on my guilds website forum and posted a farewell message explaining that i was moving on with my life and that the game was starting to become like a part-time job........ with no pay. They wished me well and i was removed from the roster.

I never went back or relapsed, however the temptation was always there....... a few months after i "quit" my virtual job some of my former guild-mates contacted me and were yanking my chain about "so when you coming back? :) ". One of them even offered to buy me a free 60-day time card, i declined however......... i knew now that the game was a giant black hole that sucks you in and keeps you there.

I think video game addiction is more common than we think, understandably so........ with the state of the economy being what it is (bordering on third-world country status) and the total lack of any decent jobs im not surprised people choose to lose themselves in virtual reality to take their mind off of things. Then there is the time element, people who are unemployed have ALL the time in the world to mess around with alcohol, smoking, video games, and the like.

When one world is so unbearable, boring, or both (i.e. the "real" world).......... its only natural that you go looking for another.


On another note, i am going to whole-heartedly agree with those who mentioned that alcohol and video games "go together". I wont lie, some of the most memorable gaming moments i have had were under the influence. A Halo multiplayer session with friends, with booze flowing, is something else....... good times good times :)

The good thing is, video games are really just a time-waster and other than maybe causing you to gain a little extra weight from the lack of physical activity....... there really arent any downsides to them, at least no where NEAR as serious as the side effects of alcohol, smoking, weed, crack, etc.

To grubby
 

Dear Grubby,

Thank you for the post. I think it is amazing that you could quit once and for all.

May I ask how come you are reading/posting on sober recovery long after you quit the game?

See my other posts.

I recently quit alcohol (February 17), that's why im on here :)

Not a video game addict myself, but lived in South Korea for quite a while, which deals with this very seriously as it has become a significant social problem. It's not uncommon for teenagers to spend entire weekends, with no sleep, in "PC BANGS" or gaming rooms.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yfm-2rEoDg4

I wish you good luck! If you feel you need a additional sponsor when you feel low, just write me a private or a forum message and I will try to answer as fast as I can. I am 100% sure that we change bad habits into good ones, and we can get joyful life with strategic planning.

[QUOTE=nomis;4573238]Not a video game addict myself, but lived in South Korea for quite a while, which deals with this very seriously as it has become a significant social problem. It's not uncommon for teenagers to spend entire weekends, with no sleep, in "PC BANGS" or gaming rooms.

]

hmmm.

withdrawal
 

Hello,

I have withdrawal symptoms. What should I do? :( :(
If you count the days you have not played does it help? Once I went until 100 something, then I lost it...

I mean not withdrawal, but craving it very very much....

See if any of these tips translate for your situation withyou?

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...-cravings.html

I think urge surfing may help:)

I think it's also important to keep busy - it will help take your mind off craving.

The first rehab for video-game addiction in the States recently admitted its first patient. I think it's in Pennsylvania. There was also an article last week that described "selfie addiction." The first known person to enter rehab for this was taking over 200 selfies a day over the course of four or five hours. Staff limited his use of his cell phone on a gradual scale, tapering him downward, during his stay in rehab. I got a call around that time and never finished the article. Ironic, no?

Hey withyou, welcome to the SR forum.

I am here because my personality is filled with addition. I completely understand the video game addiction. Once the console is on, I have no idea how long it will last. It has been 2 years since I played but then the other day, and 10 hours later, I remembered why I have been avoiding playing.

It is just like my alcohol addiction; once I start, I can't stop. At least with alcohol, I eventually passed out! In order to change things, I had to make some major life changes and find more productive uses of my time. I literally fill every last second of my day with something that must get done.

I've always heard the phrase "You don't HAVE to do anything you don't want to". But I tell myself that my list of daily things to do is not optional and is a life or death situation. It keeps my eye on the prize, and in reality, the alcohol really will kill me.

It has been tough watching the newest consoles come out and not running out to buy one. Or seeing commercials for the latest games and not going to make a deposit. I ended my subscription to GameInformer, too much temptation. It all still obsesses my mind on occasion but I remember how much I have accomplished in the last 2 years. Oh yeah, and how much money I have saved too!

:ringHey with you good for you seeking out help.. there is a 12 step group of video game anonymous. if your still having trouble i would recommend trying the 12 steps they are amazing... good luck