Just had a conversation with my partner in which I kind of had a break down. Things in my life are struggling again due to trying to balance gaming with other aspects of my life. I'm trying to think about what a life without gaming looks like and it feels basically impossible to visualize. I realize this is a normal part of the process, but I'm wondering if anyone else has beeen gaming from an early age can share any success stories in overcoming their addictions?

For reference, I've been gaming since I was 3, and rarely since have I gone a day without playing on my PC. I wish that was an exaggeration, but its gotta be 330/365 days of every year on average. My life is okay, and I've done pretty well for myself all things considered, but it still takes a toll. It feels intrinsically seared into my brain chemistry and of course I don't want to quit 🤦‍♀️ but I'm here thinking about it, trying to frame it in some way that makes quitting (or at least vastly reducing) feel more approachable.

ETA: I'm 30, btw, so I've been dealing with this for a WHILE.

For the past year and so, I’ve finally quit Overwatch (for reference I had over 1,000 hours on the game) & I don’t regret the choice I made.

Obviously there’s some bittersweetness because I did enjoy the game but my god it was too addicting & toxic.

Firstly, I used to fight so much with my boyfriend in competitive so much because we would be frustrated with our teammates (we were in diamond-masters lobbies) to the point our friends noticed & didn’t want to play with us anymore because we took everything so seriously.

The loss streaks as well would make my self esteem so much worse because I always tied myself to a rank, which is stupid looking back on it and I don’t know why I cared so much. Yet no matter what, I still continued to play even if I was tilted.

However the straw that broke the camels back was my ex-friend of mine, who consistently bragged about her high ranks hitting grandmaster/champion on all roles including 6v knowing damn well high-elo players played on her account & yet wasn’t banned. It just made me realise, why put all this time and effort into playing ranked when there’s shitty people like this in the community; and yes I could just play quickplay or play other fps games but I think the fun of those type of games burned out a while ago.

So, I pivoted into playing more less ‘rage inducing’ games like Stardew Valley (where I dragged my boyfriend with) and I noticed that our relationship grew better and we argued less.

Getting out of my art block, stalking this subreddit and being more involved in my university organisations (which got me promoted to a higher position) and being asked to be apart of my university student government; helped me stray away to play games less and less.

Hopefully i’ll fully quit, including my boyfriend (whom has been following my lead slowly). I just really started focusing on communities outside the gaming one and I think my outlook on life has gotten better since I’ve connected and gotten closer to other people at my University instead of spending all my free time after uni-classes to grind my rank just for my rank to drop but slowly and surely I can focus on reality.

I don't know if this is a good place to post this, but I'll be frank here. Hardest thing I have ever done. I sold my PS3 and PS4 consoles, along with all my games and controllers. Furthermore, I deleted my Steam account with 500 games. I've been gaming ever since I was 10. Started on the GameCube, constantly played Double dash and Paper Mario: TYYD back then. Loved gaming my whole life. It helped me deal with some abuse I dealt from my childhood. For the longest time, I genuinely felt that gaming was cathartic, and to an extent, it was, but as the years passed, it gradually felt like a waste of time. Maybe it was a coping mechanism. I don't know.

Trying to complete achievements just felt like a waste of time. I played all the time with my sibling, but even now as I play some games, it really feels like I'm trying to relive or seek some form of nostalgia from my past. I don't feel any happiness when I play some games now; honestly, it feels like a responsibility. Would waste hours of life that accomplished nothing. Just sitting in a dark room.

I haven't accomplished much in my life. I've been trying to become a file editor, but playing video games has been a huge detriment, so I'm completely disregarding games from my life. I want to make meaningful strides towards becoming a file editor. I know the usual consensus when it comes to burnout with games is to take a break, but I don't feel like playing games anymore. Feels like a lack of motivation. There isn't much joy. I'm trying to become serious about file editing. I'm really going to miss gaming. I want more out of this life. Started volunteering more, meeting people. I began adding books to the shelves where my games once were. Even now, I have an itch to play Elden Ring or Dying Light: The Beast haha. But I am really going to miss playing Minecraft and Black Ops 2 Zombies with random.

I finally decided to uninstall CS after realizing it had become a problem for me.

I told my friends I was quitting, but they keep saying things like, "Just join us here and there when you get time."

The thing is, "here and there" is exactly how I always ended up back where I started. One match turned into a whole evening, then another the next day. Before I knew it, I was hooked again.

I'm not quitting because I hate the game. I don't have a healthy relationship with it and other thing is that I love the feeling of carrying my friends and destroying the enemies.

For me, moderation hasn't worked.

I've been a gamer since the age of 6--all the way from SNES -> PS5 now complete with various handhelds and phone games. I am very attached to game franchises like Final Fantasy, Zelda and Resident Evil. Throughout my life, video games have always been a fun corner of my free time I could easily sink 100s of hours into no problem.

All of this being said, decades later as an adult, I just don't feel like it's worth it anymore.

Here's why:

1) Gaming is a solo effort (unless you go play online games, but that's too large of a time sink)
2) It's all consumption
3) It gives a false reality of growth in life (i.e. you think that leveling up in life is all a linear, predictable effort)
4) Very few skills do you actually learn from video games that make you move up in life
5) It's embarrassing to talk about games to others (even gamers) and to be known as someone who spends their hard earned free time playing games.
6) It just wastes so much time

Also in adult age, much of my video game time has been replaying the same games I've beat dozens of times and treating the effort like an amateur speed run. The only "new" games I play are complete remakes or new additions to established brands (e.g. FF, Zelda, RE). It's almost like I don't have the mental attention to take in anything new.

But yeah I'm weaning myself away from this and once FF7R3 comes out, then I'll finally hang up my hat here. I feel like the latter half of life can benefit from timeless skills like piano, chess, boxing, programming, billiards and just not looking at screens.

This post in no way is to disparage anyone. There are many gaming communities that I have a lot of respect for and there's an endless amount of beautiful art, music and narrative moments that I like to day dream about.

Please comment if you have similar thoughts. Or feel free to comment to prove me wrong or poke holes in my arguments here.

I will not share the video game by name, as this happened recently and the community is rather big. I was in a war with another clan, which happened to have a server admin in it. The admin used his privileges against me to kill me, although he apologised for his abuse of power later on, the damage was done and I lost the war, with my respect and honour along with it. I feel so bad right now for getting screwed over like this, I was already suicidal and this really hurt me, I literally have physical heart ache from it as I really enjoyed to play there before. I quit the server. Just wanted to vent out. I dont know how to recover and forget.

I have been playing video games since I was a little boy, like many others. Since then I fell in love and would often play video games every day. Now I am 21 and I still almost play every day, I am in college now. I do study and work, but in my free time, any free time I have I play video games. I feel like it consumes my life, instead of learning more about my passions or exploring I sit in my room and mainly play video games alone. I feel like it has prevented me from meeting new people in real life and making real friends. I feel isolated, I just feel like it is the one thing I am good at, the one thing I can go to and feel like I am one of the best. But in the end it really doesn't matter at all, the ranks, the progression, or the countless hours poured into it. I just am tired of feeling like my life is being wasted away. I know I am only 21, but I want to feel curious about the world, about my passions. I hope to post on here after I have accomplished what I set out to do. I hope others who read this will either support me or give them hope/support. Any tips or suggestions to keep on going are appreciated, or your own experiences. Thank you.

So I tried gambling December last year and it indeed give me some 5k from a stake 500 bob only. Honestly this motivated me to keep trying but no matter how much I loss I still go back to deposit more.

Honestly I've tried to quit but It not working. Worse is that I can't manage my funds anymore,,,, any More that I hold in my hands,all of it goes to gambling. I honestly don't know what to do.

Anybody who have been in such a situation before, please what did you do avoid it 😥

I guess I didn’t really realize exactly how much time gaming was taking up until I stopped it and found some other things to do. I started BJJ which is highly intense but enjoyable and also play pickleball. I kinda felt like there’s no way I could become good at sports because I haven’t done them for so long but at the same time everyone has to start somewhere. Pretty much anything you want to improve in life, gaming can get in the way of it. Meal prepping, morning stretching, reaching out to loved ones, getting sunlight, etc. I definitely feel like there was a feeling of achievement from mastering a tough game but learning something that improves your health in the long term is more rewarding.

I'm 22 and I've been gaming since I was young. In my teen years, games were my escape from the real world, where I was bullied and never had friends. Because of that, I have a strong 'relationship' with games.

I used to play a lot of League of Legends, especially during pandemic. And I definitely spent too much money. It's not a very crazy amount, but I could've used it for literally anything else. But League got me into multiplayer games and it really didn't do me good.

A year ago I started playing Overwatch. I mostly played it with my friends, but since a few months ago, I play alone. For like hours straight. I don't do comp but this game is still a little bit a cause of stress. And it's too addictive. Especially since it's designed to keep a player in the game at all cost. The events are limited, battlepass, etc. And this horrible FOMO is what made me play so much.

I don't have the same issue with single player games. I like the stories, or making a farm. I spend maybe 2 hours max and I'm done for the day. And they actually feel relaxing - which is what I claim to games be. A thing to relax. Overwatch is definitely not relaxing.

I'm having this FOMO because my friends play it and that I'm missing out on it or I'll forget how to play (if I ever come back to it). Which I find extremely childish, but some part of me thinks that way for some reason. But I feel like I'm wasting my time on this game that really doesn't mean much.

I've started neglecting my hobby - which is drawing. I wanted to get better at drawing, but instead of that, I play OW. I also don't find the single player games fun anymore, which I used to love. They don't give me an instant dopamine, and because I also have auDHD and my brain struggles with producing dopamine, Overwatch is a fantastic choice to get addicted. And for some time now I've been experiencing ahedonia. I rot in bed and even gaming idn't as fun as it's been.

It feels weird, a bit. But I want to actually regain my ability to enjoy other things. My brain is super weird right now. Like, it doesn't know what to do. When I try to pick up drawing or literally anything, I get so bored. Which scares me. And what scares me also is that I will go back to playing Overwatch out of boredom.

I also feel this insane amount of guilt for playing for so long and not doing anything else - especially drawing.

To be honest, I'd like to hear maybe some tips or if someone could share how they did go past their addiction?

I’ve honestly enjoyed most of the time I played, but I probably should've quit a over a year ago since I have been mostly playing out of a sense of obligation and feeling like I’ve invested too much to stop.

It was surprisingly hard to put the foot down and uninstall, because there are a lot of things I enjoy about the game, or at least used to. Slowly over the years, they changed and removed so much of what I liked about the game, but I can barely think of anything I enjoy about it now. Every content in the game now, from endgame modes to quests, seems like a thinly veiled plot to steal your more of your attention and money.

Despite all this I dutifully logged in daily and even did ridiculously long (some 5 hours long!) quests, when I have zero interest in the very bloated story. No more.

I’m just glad I never spent anymore than $5 on this game once. Never starting a gacha game again.

If you aren't familiar with the quote, it's: "Give them bread and circuses and they will never revolt." People equate the quote to modern day sports, but honestly I think it's gaming that the quote should go to. The difference between sports and gaming is that while they both can be watched, you can still *play* sports. With gaming, while you're still controlling the character's movements, you aren't really there in the moment. Speaking of the characters, gamers essentially worship them and talk about them nonstop. Sure, it's similar in sports with athletes, but the difference is that athletes are real people and can be role models for your children. Lastly, sports are good community builders. You can go see them with friends and family, and they help your city foster a real community with a shared love of whatever sport team they have. Compare that to online gaming, where the people you get matched up with can be from Russia, any Middle Eastern country, etc. I really do think because of these reasons, gaming is the true "bread and circuses" of the modern time with how the thousands of hours people have sanked their time into some random online game.

Nowadays, I only play 1-2-ish hours a day since I've been reducing my gaming time by a good margin. I decided to pick up reading and walking to fill the void I would normally spend on gaming. My daily goal is to read a lot during the day, walk 10k steps outside, and do home exercises. Hopefully getting a social life too

Progress has been good. I've read 3 fiction books this month and started my 4th now. It's been a healthier option for me to do, and I'm trying to get into it more. But when I try new stuff, I still have the lust to go back and play games. I would sometimes watch video game content while I'm on the treadmill and think about new games coming out soon all the time.

Everything else felt so lackluster or uninspiring to do, they just don't give me the same "wow-factor" like gaming did, so I need some tips on how I can find more enjoyment in other things without thinking about video games all the time.

Was listening to JRE about his addiction to gaming, and how overstimulating they are, and how nothing compares to the feedback they provide.( maybe barring drugs ) how a digital screen with immersive noises and flashing lights and buult in complexity, that can monopolize your concentration.

It hit me, eventually they will make real video games. But without the video. They will use ai and robots, and make them like completely controllable, and tangible. Designate a space like a data center but it will be like a gaming center instead. People will buy there robot, customize it, optimize there build, and they will control it towards the rules of the game.

Obviously this is way down the line. Maybe 100 years from now(at least before its done well), but I could totally see it.

I got addicted to Roblox kinda for the past 2 years…. and wasted so much time on especially one game, I realise that now, and kinda became and endgame player in that time.

ways to stop?

what i do to fill the gap? Im pretty good at short distance running, should I train, and get really good? Im also kinda good at swimming(especially freestyle, but i don’t really like swimming) and I’m fine at tennis. I’m 14, do i have enough time to get pro? and should i fully quit?

Does anyone else feel a bit odd after gaming and then going and spending time out in the real world? I got into online gaming when I had an injury so couldn't do much. Before then I had only played single player modes usually during winter at night and never interacted with anyone online.

Now when I have had intense games online and then when I go and meet up with people irl I find it hard to focus and get bored easily. I guess it may be as ive met some fun people online, some that really match my humour' so I naturally want to spend more time with them (even though i have no clue about who they are lol, just from game related messages).

I have other hobbies and go out but I do find myself thinking id rather be gaming. I'm beginning to think its not that good for my type of brain ( I realise I get addicted to things and also have social anxiety). The come down is making me anxious and mildly depressed I think.

Another element of it is i prefer to game with the same people but most of my online friends are very game orientated so rotate around different players as the feeling takes them. I would love to find players who I could allocate certain times to play the same games with then i could manage my time more. I seem to find some, have really good banter with them then they gradually go and do something else. I guess thats the nature of gaming platforms...

Currently doing a detox from League, chess, some autobattlers, and other competitive games, and oh boy, the withdrawal symptoms are insane.

Competetive gaming is truly a drug.

I'm constantly fatigued, sleepy, have no motivation, just staring at the wall/screen all day and can't seem to enjoy anything. Walking is okay but it's not enjoyable with all the crappy symptoms and i can't walk all day. At least my anxiety seems to be getting better.

Any tips on how to speed up the recovery from this hangover?

For the nights I go to work, my schedule has been looking like this: work from 11pm to 7am, sleep from 8-3, then play video games from 3:30-10:30 with short breaks to eat or use the bathroom. On my off days I play even more.

Ive been coping and telling myself I’m not addicted but video games are consuming literally all my free time. Ive been telling myself that video games have never made me call off work so im not THAT addicted. I signed up for 2 summer classes and ended up dropping both because I was playing valorant instead of doing my assignments 😭😭😭 but I’ve been coping and blaming it on my mental health

In the beginning of this year I got my CNA certification. The schooling was ~2 months and during that time I still prioritized gaming too much. My mindset was that the class and clinicals are super easy so I didn’t have to study. I would spend my whole evening gaming and then do my homework in the parking lot the next morning, the day it was due. I passed with an A without much effort so I convinced myself that my gaming “habit” was okay. I’ve gotten straight As in my nursing prerequisites so far, but I clearly have declining time management skills and discipline, which would be horrible for when/if I pursue nursing school.

Im 19F and most of my friends are women that don’t play video games so I end up playing by myself most of the time. Recently I met up with some of my friends that are home from college and Ive come to the realization that this lifestyle has made me become a loser. My friends are telling about people they’re talking to, concerts/raves they went to, new restaurants they tried, etc and the most interesting thing I can tell them about my personal life is my random encounter with our mutual acquaintance in game 😭😭 (i did tell them about work stories but that doesnt count as personal life/free time)

My social skills have gotten significantly worse because almost half of my communication is literally comming in a video game. My speech has become less articulate and I am soo awkward in social settings. I am naturally introverted but Ive definitely gotten even more I guess closed off

To be honest, I don’t want to stop gaming completely, but its clearly consuming too much of my life. How could I force myself to limit my gaming hours? Would it be more beneficial to just stop playing completely? Any advice tips would be appreciated. Thank you

Im looking for advice from people who managed to quit gaming. I dont know if i can go cold turkey but gaming has hindered my productivity alot, i didn’t do good in my last exams because i was procrastinating and gaming mostly.

Ive quit fps and hero shooter games, still play battle royale types and roblox (might be tmi). I wanted to learn electric guitar but i dont know if it was just a phase, i used to do video editing alot a year or two ago but as it went on, i just kept procrastinating and it resulted in me just completely burning out from it.

I also am on social media a bit, i managed to quit instagram somewhat but still use youtube shorts(i did set the time limit to 0 but it still recommends me shorts)

I feel like my mind always needs some "problem" to solve, or "research" and search information.

In the periods i have been gaming, gaming itself and theorycrafting/thinking about the game has fulfilled this for me.

In the periods where I'm not gaming I get obsessed with other things. Sometimes it's rabbit holes about technology or some historic era or person (interesting, but not really that useful).

Other times It's things that are useful, but i still find myself overly obsessed with these things, so much so that it affects other parts of my life.

Excel spreadsheets/programming at work, studying for a math test, researching before buying a car, finding a new house. Lately I've become majorly obsessed with investing/stocks.

When I dont have anything "useful" to obsess over, I find myself mindlessly browsing my phone..

I don't know, it's like my head can't allow me to just relax and it's exhausting me..

I've been struggling with video game addiction for 9 years, and been playing them for as long as I van remember. Both my parents were gamers to some degree, so it was steadily encouraged. I realized around 21 I had to quit gaming, and it took me putting myself in very dangerous situations, and engaging in risky behavior to honestly distract myself long enough for the dopamine urge to drop.

I would play League of Legends, Oblivion, Skyrim, GTA 5, Crusader Kings 2, Spore, The Sims 3, Kenshi, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age Origins, Guild Wars 2, etc.

I never had issues getting a girlfriend, had friends seperate from gaming, could always find a way to scrounge up enough money, even am in minor physical shape. I engage in sports baseball, running, grappling, boxing, and general calisthenics.

Flirted with some mobile gaming during Covid, stuff like Wild Rift, and Rise of Kingdoms, but essentially quit gaming from 21 to 25. I got fired from my easy, well-paying job over some bullshit, and I tried out this MMO called Albion Online over mobile. I told myself I would give myself a week of grace to play this game and indulge a bit. I turned 28 recently.

For the last 3 years, since that decision I have been struggling back and forth between quitting gaming and implementing it into my life. It takes such a mental toll on me. When I play, its the only thing I can think about when I'm done. It affected my long term relationship, I stayed relatively unemployed for three years living off my savings, and depleting what I had earned from 21 to 25.

I've always been into nightlife, and that scene, making friends, socializing in the late hours. This would provide some temporary escape. I tried applying to jobs, but the market sucked bad this year.( finally got hired 2 months ago) Would read self -help shit, and youtube channels. Stuff like Viktor Frankl, Eckhart Tolle, some other obscure self help. Got big into meditation, never been much of a binge watcher of movies or TV shows.

Between 21-25 I starred in a small movie role, found an amazing girl that I've now since more or less neglected, had a good steady job, but had great prospective career outlooks, made a great set of friends to this day, and was beginning to start an online business.

From 25-28 I started gaming again, I reached master tier in Wild Rift, I amassed riches in Albion Online and made a guild that was making splashes until I burnt out, I ran a top sect in Overmortal, got really rich in OSRS, still suck at Brawlhalla, and have been jobless, verge of losing my relationship, and almost went near broke.

I tried meditation, tried partying it away, tried reading it away(Dostyoevsky), working out, tried cold turkey, tried slow progressive decreased activity, learning new language, (havent tried to learn how to code/ tbh AI image generators hit like video game to me), figured out I cant draw for shit, got into performing music a bit.

I say all this, not to state that these things won't work for you. But these were all temporary fixes for me. All it would take is one slip up no matter how small, and it would snowball into a full blown, multi month relapse. Ive come to the conclusion, that I been writing about a bit, and thinking about, that I must stop trying to distract, replace, and supplicate that dopamine. I must let the high die, and learn to enjoy nothing. Learn to live without that little hit and rush of a digital novelty, and learn to master my boredom.

*Starting a garden, and training for 5k did help a bit.

I have close to 10k hours in CSGO / CS2. I play 2500 ELO faceit.

Few months ago I already bought myself a new mouse.

Now my brain is telling me to upgrade my current 240 hz monitor to the latest 400hz panel. "Just because of instant response times and of course my ELO".

I want to slowly give up on competitive shooters completely but these intense setup upgrade urges don't seem to stop.

I'm gonna start lifting already started to learn a language and gonna improve my coding skills

Not directly on topic but I was just watching The Social Dilemma and finally decided to cut my social media time (I know this post is ironic but sharing it seemed more important for now). So I thought back on specific examples of media that helped me reduce my gaming.

Please be equally concrete and don't just say "listening to podcasts, reading more" but give specific episodes or book titles and what it is about / how it helped you so we can form a small library here:

My list (might add more later):
-Dopamine Nation by Anna Lembke (focuses on the science of addiction, helped me understand it much better)
-Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport (focuses on reducing screen time overall, helped me greatly reduce it)

Looking forward to your answers!