Ridding of my gaming addiction

>>17440483
Keep it to weekends for now and save up for a therapist if you want it completely gone.

Because of the nature of gaming, it is an INCREDIBLY hard soft addiction to drop. Unlike smoking weed which is just a fun high with plenty of draw backs, modern video games give you rushes of multiple internal drug releases. You get all the sensations of real life success and adventure without ever having achieved either and there are no distinct physical draw backs to it either.

So really, if you keep it to a weekend activity ONLY, it should help you open up time during weekdays and, with a bit of discipline, force you to make choices between seeing friends and playing vidya.

I'd -strongly- recommend against playing MMOs though. They do all the above with scientific deliberation and also allow you to see friends. This will mean they'll easily dominate entire weekends and make choosing friends over vidya a very unbalanced choice.

Good luck OP.

>>17440501
Thank anon but another question
What other entertainment or hobby that can replace game for relaxing after I did what I wanted/need to do for today or stress reliever after a hard day working?
Also, I'll give that weekend gaming a try, starting today.

>>17440501
Please listen to this anon.

I was fresh out of high school, and my sister introduced me and my mom to an MMO. We all became heavily addicted.

Instead of asking me to get a job/life, my mom would just have me contribute in ways that benefit her in-game. Like farming in-game monies so she could buy mounts.

It was such a vicious cycle. Wake up, vidya all day until bed. Rinse, repeat.

I had to move out to break free, because there was no incentive for me to do anything other feed my fantasy. Now I'm in college and things are much better for me personally and professionally. Most of my gamer friends (who I have on FB) are still very much addicted to the game. I suppose they lead healthy lives, but I sure as shit would not bet on it.

>>17440531
I didn't replace my addiction with anything. I went cold turkey and just tried to fill in my time with productive things.

I don't think it's bad to play in moderation. If it makes you happy, that is important. As long as the happiness doesn't affect your health or financial well-being, then who's to judge really?

Exercise helps too. I did take up running/jogging when I quit and it provided a sense of accomplishment and came with all of the other perks.

>>17440501
Not Op but in same issue. I tried to restrict to just single player but that fell into my internet addiction. What is a good way to get a "rush" with a non computer hobby?

>>17440542
Learn how to do something. Play guitar, build shit with your hands, draw, paint, write, so on. The rush will come from seeing your progress and completing said project.

>>17440538
For me, that would be hard for me to do, just quit gaming of all a sudden, limited playing games to weekend.
I have other interests that I want to explore such as archery but gaming tempt me to play but I'll give it my best!

>>17440542
>>17440531
Write, read or watch films/TV shows.

You can still game on weekends just don't do it on weekdays. You'll find you stay at work longer, see friends more often and try more new things during weekdays because you know gaming just isn't a good option.

There's nothing more to this than keeping unproductive hobbies to weekends. I sometimes get smashed on a friday night and find myself out of order on the saturday. Its no different from just gaming all day saturday if you feel like it.

>>17440572
How do you manage the withdrawal though? If I cant game I end up browsing aimlessly or here. I got no energy when back from work so its insanely convenient to flip on my console or handheld and just go.

>>17440575
Not that guy, but I would suggest cutting back slightly instead of only gaming on the weekends. If you usually come home from work and game for 6 hours, try only playing for 3 hours and fill those extra three hours with other activities, like hanging with friends or working on a productive hobby. That way you still get your fix, but you are also doing something that has actual value outside of your computer.

>>17440483
>Is there an alternative way to replace my game addiction?

I don't know about your life but videogame addiction for people here is not really addiction. Rather it's a replacement for a social life they don't have.

>>17440483

Why not combine best of both worlds?

https://habitica.com/static/front

or play Pokemon Go.

>>17440596
I believe this is true. Most people are playing multiplayer games that have an addiction. They like the social aspect that comes easier compared to real life.

>>17440644
Except I don't play multiplayer game for social aspect, only with friend who I can play with but what >>17440596 said is true in my opinion

>>17440531
i used to play too many videogames and didn't get shit done. now i watch too many yt videos i dont care about and browse 4chan and dont get shit done.
the only good replacement i could think of would be reading. on one part its very relaxing (just like games or watching videos for me) but on the other hand you dont really get addicted bc it still takes way more concious effort.
another good thing to replace it with is making music. improvising guitar stuff almost feels like playing a game but is still more productive and you dont feel like shit when you go to bed after playing guitar all day

put your steam login details in a public forum.

>>17440531
I belive this thing that can replace your gaming for relaxing is anything within ur confort zone, for me its to chill in the living room maby talk to somebody one the phone, with a room mate or at a friends house, as long as im not on the pc, this stuff also usually leads to other stuff.

sorry for bad english pretty drunk atm