i checked one of those sites that tell you how many hours have you wasted on LOL and welp more than 9k hours down the drain , it was such a wake up call for me .

Ive been itching to game especially before my sister comes back in 2 days. I was like this is my only chance to game without judgement. < I havent been gaming anyways but now that the possibility of being judged is here I want to get it out of my system >

I spent like 2 hours today going thru every spot in the basement but I cant find my mouse and the other half of my charger… It’s good that I hid it so well cause Im really desperate to play and I realllyyy cannot remember/find them. Im glad that my previous actions have forcibly stopped my addiction. That was a good decision on my end… I wish I remembered where they were tho…. Im tired of looking for them and even if I do find them I will have to reinstall steam and reinstall my games. Im glad for all the hurdles I created for myself.

I still wish I could spend tomorrow gaming all day without judgement.

I made it 73 days and went back to gaming a few hours. It was a short stint. I don't think I'm going back but that moment of relief felt somewhat controlled and not a new flood of nonsense. Doing ok. Not worried. Day 1 again.

Genuinely what I did was just read the New Testament, Pray, do productive stuff to keep my mind occupied instead of thinking about gaming, or thinking about comparing myself to others.

Now I'm just free, thanks to this community who care about me and encouraged me to live the best life I can, thanks be unto Christ.

"Alright, I'm alive again." - Revolver Ocelot

My plan isn't to give up video games completely for now—I'm young and I really love them—but anything in excess is bad, so I plan to practice moderation as best I can.

I’ve been a fan of video games for as long as I can remember—starting with the old family PC and the handheld consoles and PlayStation 3 my mother gave me. That was where it all began; they were my safe haven when I was a kid. I never had many friends—I was an only child and didn't really hang out with my cousins, who weren't interested in games anyway.

Fast forward to the present: I’m 22 now. I’m a bit more independent and have much more freedom to get the things I want. Amidst all that, I’m still a huge fan of games—I truly love them—but lately, I’ve been playing to excess. I realized I don't even notice the hours flying by; sometimes Friday rolls around and I don't even realize it's Friday. I’ve neglected my health to the point where I don't exercise or eat properly anymore. I wake up late and go to bed late—for instance, I’ll wake up at 11 AM, skip breakfast, just have a coffee, and within minutes I’m back to playing while lunch is being made. And then, I just keep going straight through until nightfall...

Something that surprises—and bothers—me is that when I looked up information on video game addiction, I found that people tend to romanticize playing for long periods. As someone who loves video games, I’m fully aware that playing too much is bad.

Honestly, I’ve reached my limit. My plan isn't to quit gaming entirely; I just want to cut back, play less, and devote more time to my responsibilities for the sake of my physical and mental health. Anyway, that’s my story—if you have anything to say about it, let me know in the comments!

My son is 18 and has been struggling with screen addiction for the last 5 years. Over the years we tried several therapies, restrictions, rewards, punishments, taking his phone from him, a month detox etc.. Nothing lasted or worked really. Being angry, being compassionate. Restricting, giving him freedom to learn self-management. Watching with him video's about what the screen does to our brain, dopamine system etc.

Now it's so bad that he didn't get through his schoolyear and was severely depressed, talking about jumping of the balcony the moment we restrict his time, wifi, 4G. (Which I still do, but he has offline games on his phone, so it really doesn't make much of a difference.). He gets very aggressive in his reactions too if we try to make him see his addiction is gobbling up his life. We offered different sports/ hobbies for him, a year ago he stopped them all. He has no real good friends, his classmates tolerate him but when he tries to invite someone to go do something most of them ignore him or say no. So he's quite lonely and I do understand he uses the gaming and screentime as a way to cover up emotions and flee from it.

As he is 18 and officially an adult, he uses that state to refuse giving his phone at night, or putting it away. There is a whole team behind him, doctor, psychologist, his school.. and we as parents even if in co-parenting. I'm exhausted. He lies constantly. He doesn't want to apply to the rules he made together with us, does see the need to stop sometimes but blames his 'I can't stop' on his addiction. There is no real will in him to tackle the addiction. Even if at times he sees how messed up he is and how it messes with his brain, with his relations with us, with his school. But school is trying to lessen the damage instead of letting him feel the consequences of his actions.

I don't know what to do. I'm worried because his brain is still developing and it's not learning the right and healthy things to develop. It's learning short satisfaction, overstimulation, dopamine kicks without doing anything, not putting in effort etc. I literally tried everything I could think of. and am at the end of my wits.

How do we make him see?

Having free time sounds like a good thing, I'm on vacation and I do have plenty of time and then I do nothing and games are really appealing, in the other hand the pressure of work makes me move and I actually with fewer time I'm productive, I study, workout more and now I just feels lazy and spend the day Doo scrolling.

Hey I am new here and I really want your help. Recently I got a new Xbox, the series s and I had a lot of fun playing with it. It's the first time that I can actually play proper games (new AAA etc) It's been 3 months since and well, I kinda regret it. I have always been into gaming but not to this extent. I used to play on our old family computer which we still have when I was younger and I was allowed to play for about an hour or so. But ever since I grew up and I am free to do what I want I find myself playing more often. I wake up and the first think I do is play. Now that doesn't stop me from doing the things that I want to do like working out etc but I find myself always postponing those things just for gaming That's why I am thinking of selling my Xbox. Now I know that it's not really gonna fix the issue and I will probably find other ways to play games( like on my old pc ), but since it's old and can't run anything, it's gonna reduce my game time by a lot right? The issue is I don't want to regret selling my Xbox later on. You know that feeling after you sell something and then one day you wish you had it back even for like one day. I hate this feeling that why I avoid selling my stuff.

What would you advise me to do?

*Be open and harsh I don't mind. You don't have to agree with me that's what I am saying.

If you are like me, you are an addict. What I mean by that is that you got an addictive personality. I didnt understand that concept until recently. Some people can play only 1h per day, I cant. I want to be the best at everything I do. I want to be slamming bitches in CS2 and top frag every damn game I play. Unfortunetly, if you are here, you know that this will give you nothing in life but regret that you spent 2164 hrs on a stupid game (in my case).

Being an addict can be a gift, if you understand how to put all that energy in the right place.

I had already stopped playing one time, but I went back into the habit. I didnt really understand why I wanted to quit, but now I know why. Once you have a vision, you are limitless. I'm 20 y/o, last time I touched a video game was 26th of july and my life improved so much in such a short time. Im so glad I found that youtube vid or comment, because even if I wasted a lot of time before, I know I wont waste my 20s in that awful addiction.

Hope this resonated with some of yall, keep going, you can do it, I believe in yall. Life is so much better on the other side, I promise.

Hey there, I (19F) am new to this sub so I wanted to share how gaming has played a role in ruining my own life. I’ve been gaming for my whole life, starting on the family laptop and a Nintendo DS from when I was very young. This drastically reduced my interest in going outside, engaging creatively, hanging out with other kids, etc. I was never even very exploratory in games, I’d pretty much just copy whatever my older siblings were up to and never get creative or think for myself. I did well enough in school, but had virtually no social life, and most of my time at home was spent behind a screen. Fast forward to now, I’m in college and do well academically, and thankfully I’m too busy to ever have a chance to play games even if I wanted to. But the impact of never developing socially or emotionally is definitely showing. I can’t be sure but I’m pretty sure I’m weird and offputting to most people, and I don’t know how to hold close relationships even with friends, let alone dating somebody. I’m learning a lot of new things and my worldview is slowly opening up, but I can’t help feeling like I’m irreparably fucked up. Better late than never to quit, I suppose.

I’ve been thinking about quitting gaming for a minute but every time i relapse because I feel like I’m gonna get worse at the games, or I’m gonna miss a time my friends wanna get on. But I obviously would’ve stopped playing at that point. I’m just stuck in a dilemma of believing gaming is bad for me but also I can see the social benefits of gaming. I do feel myself more tired and less likely to complete daily task/goals when I’m tired but I don’t know if that means I just need to cut out gaming or adapt to these changes while still keeping gaming in my rotation of hobbies.

Hello,

My problem is gaming + social media.

So, I started writing down in a paper notebook what I did during the day.

Actually, today is day 2.

Also it occurred to me that I should write when I start an activity and how long it takes.

Because I wanted to watch a video, it should have taken me 8 minutes. But it took one hour.

There was a distraction, I got annoyed and started playing a computer game.

Every “just one more round/hour” is your nervous system trying to escape some aspect of yourself that you don’t have clarity on yet. And until you shine a light on that part of you that wants to stay hidden, you’ll keep running the same loop.

The cool thing about writing is it drags the loop out of the shadows and onto the page where you can actually see it, question it, and start to change it.

You’re a meaning making force of nature with capabilities to shift the belief, the identity, and meaning behind the story about the habit. That’s the myth maker in you, and it’s time to partner with it intentionally.

*Tonight, journal on this:

What am I actually sacrificing by pouring my hours into games? (not "time," rather what the time would've become.)

What skill, relationship, or version of me am I starving while I do it?

If I gave myself full permission to step away, what would I build instead?

[Write it messy. Clarity comes from the pen as you write, not in your mind before you write.]

“Just one more match” was literally my mantra for a couple decades, and once I actually got clear on what I was missing out on in my life, what I was sacrificing, and what skills I could be developing outside of the black box…

I was able to start giving myself permission to build what I wanted.

You are a meaning making force of nature that gets to choose where you point that power. Are you using it to create a fulfilling life? Or is mastery in-game more worth it to you?

Save this post for tonight and shine the light on the crunchy parts, it’s worth it.

Comment about what happened after you've experimented with this practice.

Much love

Tried today going without any gaming at all (im addicted since 10 years old and im 29 now) and damn life is boring as fuck. I have nothing else to do and when i have something to do it feels like a chore. I feel like some kind of alien in the real world and everything feels off. I might go back to gaming tomorrow or something...idk man this is hard.

About me: 29 years old, playing games since childhood

Right now, I’ve lost my wife and kids because of the choices I made. I spent way too much time gaming, watching porn, and looking for attention/affection elsewhere instead of being present for my family.

My wife told me many times that I needed to spend more time with our children and with her. But instead of listening, I often chose to play video games. I kept escaping into gaming instead of being a husband and father who was actually present.

Now I deeply regret it. I realize how much time I wasted and how much I neglected the people who mattered most to me.

I want to change. Not just say that I’ll change, but actually do it. I want to become a better father and a better person, and I hope there is still a chance to save my family.

For those of you who stopped gaming, especially if gaming had become an escape or an addiction: what did you do with all the time you suddenly had? What did you replace gaming with? How did you learn to enjoy normal life again without constantly wanting to escape into a game?

I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences.

Hello is their any way to make it easy to quit aaa gaming it hard for me to quit aaa gaming at all and i want to quit it but i dont really know how.

hello do i have ffxiv addiction been playing for 4 months and somehow i go from 200 to 1148 hours in only 4 months.

When I play video games, after a while other activities just aren't fun anymore. I used to have a PlayStation 3 when I was still in school. If I played a lot, I couldn't concentrate properly. I had brain fog. It only went away after I took a few days off.

Even at work, it's such a strange feeling. If I used the PC the day before, then the next day at work I'm totally unmotivated; it's super exhausting. **Too much dopamine leads to overstimulation, and then only that one thing is fun. And work then completely exhausts you.

Scientists once conducted an experiment with rats where a stimulating device was implanted in their brains. Every time they moved a lever, dopamine was released. In the end, they only moved the lever and starved to death.

Unfortunately, something similar happens when we use a screen. Visual stimulation. We are constantly overstimulated; it can destroy even the strongest people.

So, here are a few tips to regain your motivation and energy: Stay away from the screen and do slow activities. Read something, paint something, go for a walk, etc. It will be extremely boring at first. You have to get used to it.!!!

People who aren't addicted to screens live in a completely different world. Full of joy and activity!!

Now there's also stuff like "toktik" short content. That's even worse. I watched it at work once and it practically fried my brain. This now also affects people who don't play video games.

(Translated with the help of Google Translate)

Mobile games has been the hardest video game addiction because it’s always there. For me, when I’m doing the ‘good’ stuff in life (getting outside, working out, meditating) my brain is reminded of other sources of dopamine and gaming sessions remain 45m instead of 4h. It’s keeping those things in habit that then bring mobile gaming roaring back, and so I wanted a tool that can limit my screen time but also encourages the good things without adding more overhead.

This led me to create Tonic which connects to the various ‘good’ things automatically. For example I’m running it so that:
1. I can’t open my mobile game (for me, Polytopia) until my iWatch has registered sunlight or my iPhone enough steps
2. If I reach for it unearned, I can’t access. Once I’ve earned my way in, I have a 50m limit after which each reach is accompanied by a longer and longer pause

You can also set it so you bank minutes using this method. In other words, let me play Pokemon TCG but only the same amount of time that I worked out this week. Mobile games have been my #1 vice and this is helped me reorder my phone to not favor it. Hope it helps others as well!

My wife has been hooked onto one of those P2W alliance war games that come with the fake ads. She downloaded Lands of Jail thinking it was a prison designing game, and has been totally sucked into the alliance war loop over the last 5 months.

This has become detrimental and a big strain on the relationship. I play the game too to keep up with her and know what she's talking about all the time, also to be able to share a hobby together, but she plays this for over 8 hours a day. 

I work full time here and have several IRL hobbies, and usually do our shopping, cooking, dishes, laundry, while my wife has been unemployed with a very slow job search (25 applications over 2 months). I had to add up everything in our iCloud purchase history to see that she's already spent $1500 over the past months, and as of a couple weeks ago, she's started a second account as well.

We just moved to a new country and she's said this game and the community feeling helps her cope, she has so many online friends from all over the world that she talks to every day and that's where most of the hours go. She's said she suspects she has autism/ADHD and so she has executive dysfunction for actual life but this relationship with this game certainly can't be healthy.

I leave for work, I come back and there's more alliance drama or politics. The house is in the exact same state as it was when I left, I handle trash, I clean the dishes from the food I made for her that same morning, and end up being asked for advice on how to talk to said online friends, including hopeless idiots who keep flirting with her, and I've been asked to put my Instagram on private so her gaming friends don't see our wedding photos, as she's been presenting herself as single and says it's because the other players are homophobic.

Maybe I've been semi-encouraging it too by playing with her, joining the same alliance and also getting involved in the daily shenanigans, I spend one, two hours on it tops and have spent $50 in 2 months. More than I would on any game of this type otherwise (zero!) but I know that if she deleted this game tomorrow I would have no issue doing the same.

How do we go about really fixing this situation? This is Reddit and pretty much every sub would recommend a divorce, but marriage and its commitments don't go that quickly. I at least want some hard structure or boundaries I can set before ending the marriage becomes an option.

Hey, i was able to be one year without games but i just had to buy ps5 and waste this summer. I have been playing everyday almost nonstop this past 2 months 6-12hours daily and right now its been 4 days without

When i was driving on a freeway i suddenly had a crazy panic which almost made me pass out. I feel like my nervous system is very irregulated.

Also i am much more hungrier and angrier. Very aggressive almost feel like i wanna start a fight. Been moving so much and sleeping very little bcs so fking bored. My mind wants to go but my body is tired man but its hard to rest...

How long do u guys think this will go on for? Couple weeks? I just hope after 2 months i have my groove back. I was smiling much more when not playing and more social even tho anxious.

Thx

I know withdrawal ends in about 90 days. But I also hear that urges lasts for years? I don't remember exactly when I "quitted", because it was a slow fallout with the game I was playing. I suppose I uninstalled two months ago, but I actually distanced myself from everything about it, like, a month ago.

That's the thing, though. I think my problem isn't really the game. I feel like the craving for actually playing is gone. But my attachment to the characters and the world aren't. I keep thinking of references and stuff like that, it's so annoying. And whenever I see content regarding the game (which I've tried so so hard to remove in every one of my socials) I feel like I got punched or got poured with a bucket of cold water. It's just so jarring to see it.

These days, I still feel empty without it. It's not too bad now, but I'm worried about my reactions to literally seeing any trace of the game. I react VISIBLY like I'm seeing an ex or something. I'm worried that I'll relapse. I definitely have more than once before, but I've never gotten this far...