ozm8ey

When I try and quit I find most passive activities don't interest me, like watching movies, reading, etc but playing video games like tomb raider i can still get lots of excitement out of it, probably because i never play video games while drinking so i dont rely on alcohol while playing but watching tv i do.

Forward12

I also find video games and also reading to be helpful to keep my mind busy vs. just staring at the tv. Whatever helps keep you sober, go for it!

time4change79

It probably depends on the person. I associate playing video games with getting drunk, so for me, video games aren't really as fun while sober. Maybe 6 months from now it'll be different. I've quit for a few months at a time multiple times over the years with the idea that I was just taking a break. This is my first attempt at actually quitting drinking because this is the first time I've ever actually wanted to quit.

If you enjoy it, and it keeps you from drinking, I say go for it. Just don't let it become a problem. I have a brother-in-law that destroyed his marriage over online video games. He was spending every waking minute while not at work online. His wife eventually grew tired of this and found herself a new man.

Everything in moderation. That's what my dad used to say.

biminiblue

I think it's good to do whatever it takes.

Sometimes I do online puzzles. (Old school, but it keeps my hands and mind busy)

NewRomanMan

Whatever doesn't make your life unmanageable. Besides, keeping the brain occupied is a good way to keep from thinking about drinking.

ScottFromWI

I think it depends on what you are replacing - the activity or the addiction? If you are playing games so much that it's interfering with your regular activities, then its probably not a good idea. If you are using games as part of your plan to stay sober then it's probably OK. People can absolutely be addicted to video games, just as they can be addicted to a drug, gambling, sex, you name it.

Even for an alcoholic, the physical drinking of alcohol is only a small part of the problem.

biminiblue

I'm gonna disagree. The physical drinking of alcohol is the only problem that makes someone an alcoholic. In my not so humble opinion, of course.

Can there be coexisting problems? Of course. But they aren't alcoholism. That's one point where I disagree with the recovery groups.

ScottFromWI

Perhaps I didn't state that as clearly as I could have. For me, getting sober was a process. The physically act of ceasing to drink was only a small part of it. Learning to live my life without alcohol, facing my fears and challenges, all that was significantly more work than the actual act of quitting. So in that sense, getting rid of the beer was only the very beginning. I'm still working on all the rest of it 4 plus years later. And for the record, I don't speak for any specific recovery "group" - my recovery group is SR ;-)

mecanix

Alcohol was going to kill or severely disable me if i carried on in the way i was , i relied on it quite a bit as mindless fun when i first got sober , a few hours each night till i felt tired and maybe quite a few marathon weekends

A few years down the line and i play when my partner is out doing shift work in the evenings but it's not the focus of my life like alcohol once was, Living is .

Bestwishes, m

BetterIsBetter

I don't look at it as having anything to do with alcohol, but I've been playing the hell out of Horizon: Zero Dawn since it came out!