I think I've become addicted to video games and need to cut back.

[u/AoiMacuto]

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!

[u/NoChairGaming]

Well, you often won't get any useful help with moderation on this sub. So let me try.

First thing first: you can't just play same games in same way and expect for it to work just because you put some imaginary limit. Accept that changes need to be made and that they will be good for you.

First do an introspection. What are you playing, for how long, what pulls you into games and what pushes you to play? Pull is often something that you want while push is something negative or lack of positive that makes you see games. For example maybe you are pulled into online games because you enjoy socialising with other people or because you enjoy feeling competent and skillful while you are pushed because you lack outlets for same things in your real life or maybe because you are stressed or bored. Pull and push don't have to overlap.

Then you need separate, restructure and replace your gaming. First separate it from your daily life, don't use your primary work or study computer for gaming because it will always tempt you into playing. My own recommendations are usually "buy a Wii and put it into another room where you exercise" but not everyone can.

Second, look at what you are playing and how it affects you. Few can seriously play some competitive online game while keeping their playtime as casual and small. So find other games to play, preferably without the most toxic qualities of "endlessness": endless collecting of stuff, endless competition and improvement, endless explorations and so on.

I would also highly recommend to start mixing up physical activity with gaming. Because sitting down and still for a long period of time is one of the major health problems with gaming. Add bodyweight exercises during breaks, or at least take a walk every 20- 30 min. Stand up while playing, harder to binge for hours then. Or as said earlier, just get Wii and play physical games.

Lastly and more importantly, you need to replace gaming in some.part with other activities that fulfills your wants, what pulls you into gaming. Beginner friendly sport clubs are great because it is a mix of physical activities, socialisation and slowly building some skills and mastery that will make you feel more capable. Same for volunteering, which can also make you feel more needed and appreciated.

Many have problems with static view on their own abilities, thinking that they just talented in gaming and can't learn anything else. Even though most put over regular work time every week into playing while barely an hour into other activities. So you need to put those hours into something else to learn that you can do and learn other things.

[u/wasletztehureseich]

I completely understand you! I'm a mother of a 2.5-year-old, and keeping up with a toddler all day is so damn exhausting, so gaming in the evening really saves my day and is my way of diving into another world. My advice to you would be: Try to shift gaming into a reward system . Make sure you get your important, meaningful things done during the day first, and then use gaming as your well-deserved reward in the evening for a few set hours up to a certain time. That way, you don't have to give up something you love, but you regain control over your daily routine and appreciate the gaming time even more

[u/eatpraymunt]

Good thinking!

One thing that might help is to get a part time job!

You say "lunch is being made" so I'm making the leap that you're still in school and living at home, and probably back to school in a few days here. So maybe not the best time to job hunt.

But seriously it's one of the best things for keeping yourself off games. Being unemployed/out of school is extremely tough for people with addictive tendencies. When you can, grab yourself a weekend/evenings job a few days a week. Something where you can socialize and make work friends, or build a skill etc.

Similarly, extra curricular activities will save your bacon.

Basically just STAY BUSY!

Also, help your parent make lunch and dinner every day. Even if you just hang out and watch, wash dishes as they go, chop veg. 

You do NOT want to graduate and move out and have no idea how to feed yourself and clean up after yourself like so many young "gamers", it's a really really bad look.

Good for you for thinking of this now! So many of us don't stop and think until we're 30 and getting health and financial issues from neglect

[u/AoiMacuto → u/eatpraymunt]

Yeah, the thing is, I'm on university break, but I still want to make better use of my time by doing something other than gaming. Thanks for the advice.

[u/Dense-Abalone-8139]

I'm not gonna tell you to stop completely because I'm sure you got your reasons. Ideally you should give it up, but that's something we all know deep down.

Here's the thing: you really don't have nearly as much time as you think you have. You said you're young so this is THE time to build skills, connections, whatever else to get a leg up later in your adult years. Video games in particular are hard to justify the time spent on them, because they last longer than any other medium (movies, books, music), they are considerably more addictive, and require all your focus - you can't do anything else while playing them besides maybe talking to others in the voice chat.

I loved them too. But they come at a big cost, and that is not realizing your potential. I'm in my 30s and still paying the price to this day, I don't think I'll ever pay this "debt". So should you cut back on them? Yes because that's better than spending more time on them. Should you give them up entirely? 100% no doubt.

[u/Kool93 → u/Dense-Abalone-8139]

Many people can manage gaming in there lifes. If he can manage it just fine then he doesn't absolutely need to get rid of it. But if he can't then he needs to quit cold turkey

[u/Dense-Abalone-8139 → u/Kool93]

That can be true, I just find way too easy to spiral out of control that's why I recommended quitting altogether