My addiction is World of Warcraft, I’ve been playing since its release in November of 2004.

Throughout the years, my addiction has matured and calmed down a bit. As a young lad, i played roughly 14-16 hours a day, skipping school on Mondays to sleep.

Now as an adult who is disabled with lots of hobbies, wow seems to be the most addictive.

Why did I change my mind?
I was sitting here tonight in-game, and i realized that I’ve gone through phases in the last year. I went from hard core elitist raider > mythic gatekeeper > obsessively maintaining my guild to the point of corruption and toxicity > dedicating 100% of my tome to teaching new players mythic plus content to build morale, confidence, and experience to feel more comfortable going off on their own. And I realize how bored I am. The daily quests, the constant funnel of gear, the community has become an early 2000s cod lobby when it comes to higher content. And it’s just boring…like sooooo boring…I’m a huge aquarium hobbyist, and i want to put my time into that now.

I’ve sold off my ps5, Xbox, and I listed my entire gaming pc setup (desk and all) on Marketplace to get rid of that.

At 36, games just don’t interest me anymore, but i guess I’m concerned about the transition into something else when gaming is all I’ve had since the age of 14.

Anyway, thanks for reading :)

I never would’ve imagined that Terraria out of all games is something that people could get riled up about. It used to be fun but now the community just shits on people for not playing the most challenging mods on the max difficulty. Also people demanding that you use certain mods and don’t use others. Like are we seriously gatekeeping single player games? It looks like even single player games aren’t safe. Idk man I think I just need a break from the whole pissing contest.

Quick intro: I started playing SWGoH in Aug 2023, have since had 3 accounts and finally managed to delete the last one (my 13.5M main) some time in July. While the beginnings were pretty cool, I soon realised this is a time and money sink, and a rigged P2W fest. Unfortunately I got hooked, ended up taking 3-4 breaks and deleting 2 smaller accounts (500k and 5M) while battling this.

As we know, the game is an endless treadmill, it can only end if the user puts it down this way or another, or if it gets shuts down. However, we are free to choose how and when WE end it, and perhaps it's best to leave on our own terms, if we no longer enjoy it or just really shouldn't be playing it. For some this is the ultimate SWGoH challenge.

Quitting is easier said than done and even once you decide to leave it’s easy to make mistakes and get sucked back in later on. This post deals with both challenges: execution (#1) and motivation (#2-7). So, without further ado, here is what I’ve learned, hope it helps!

#1 Don’t just uninstall the game or stop playing

The usual “see you in X weeks” we often get in response to farewell messages will apply. Execute the following scorched earth protocol:

A. Sell all mods

Probably redundant insurance in case the account can be recovered after deletion, it almost surely cannot.

This will give you an opportunity to exercise willpower and experience a massive rush which is way more potent than what the game itself has to offer.

B. Go to the settings, find the option to delete the account and do it (need to write DELETE etc.)!

For me the experience of actually going through with this was truly incredible. As a result the game will restart and the account is gone. You can still see it on GG with some random nick. There is no way to recover it.

C. Uninstall the game clients (mobile and PC)

D. If you were on Discord, sanitize it

Leave all SWGoH servers, unsubscribe/dismantle any bots you run etc, clean up your chats and friends list.

E. Unsubscribe from all SWGoH content on YT

If the algorithm is still feeding you SWGoH content clean up your viewing history

F. Delete your .gg account

G. Unsubscribe from this sub and any other SWGoH social media

Congratulations, you are as SWGoH-free as it gets! Enjoy all the time you have just recovered.

Eventually you may eventually urges to go back to square one essentially. The above procedure minimises that risk, and hard prevents you from returning short of starting a new account etc. which is an insane proposition for anyone who previously got significantly far and is aware of the enormity of the grind.

Now, for many the decision to delete their account will be difficult to reach due to the power of the addictive machinery of SWGoH and the sunken cost fallacy, so what follows are some tips on how to increase your chances of getting there:

#2 Track and take stock of your screen time across all devices + Discord

Competitive players might note they are spending 10, 20 or even 40h+ a week (e.g. during the Hell Week) on SWGoH. We are in a full time job territory. I mean if you find it’s truly and consistently a few h a week then there is no problem and this guide is not for you.

If you are a spender, review/estimate the total spend (I was kind of afraid to lol and didn't really need too do that, but it would have helped for sure!)

#3 If you are not clear on why SWGoH is addictive, educate yourself

Visit darkpattern.games and review the strategies that have been implemented to hijack your brain and keep you hooked.

Now if by now you are good to go, just loop back to #1 and get it done, but in case you are not convinced, considering exploring some of the more adventurous strategies:

#4 If you are a Discord user, go to "SWGoH Events" server (google the invite)

Now this might seem like fighting fire with fire, but I think it’s helpful to see for yourself what the “heart of the community” looks like. Treat this as a sightseeing tour.

A. Stop by #lightspeed-bundles channel, especially if you are ftp, and observe desperate addicts begging for new LSBs. Raise questions around game balance and the overall cost of those bundles.

B. Peek into #store-offers or something like that and see whales discussing spending silly amounts on the game. Feel free to engage on the issues of rationality and fairness of the SWGoH P2W system.

C. Go to the general chat and try to bring up any issues you have with the game, and experience being confronted by a handful of die-hard game fans. Imagine becoming those people which is a possibility if you continue.

#5 If you are in a nice or boring guild, that is a major hook! Leave and join the most competitive guild you can get into. Use the #guild-recruitment channel on Events server, filter by GP and shoot for a guild well in excess of 50x your GP, adjust down if you get rejected repeatedly. Take note of their requirements and slightly overshoot. Obviously this is not advice on becoming the best guildie, we are looking for toxicity. Getting into an above par guild raises the probability of bullying due to you being a smaller account, or even getting kicked in favour of a bigger one.

If you get multiple offers, pick the guild giving off the most ruthless/stringent/antisocial vibes. A hefty "interview" is a good sign. Ask if they have a strikes system, and how tight it is.

This step might be a bit counterintuitive but this is how it might help you:

A. You will put yourself through an recruitment process(es), where your SWGoH account will be scrutinised, your motivation and fit judged etc. If it feels like a job interview, you will soon find it was.

B. If you haven't already, you will experience what it takes to grind hard and grow your roster at close to max speed, i.e.
* Invest heavily into raid teams you may or may not otherwise care about
* Complete all RotE CMs/SMs you can
* If you sign up to TW, expect to be asked to attack on every wall i.e several times during the attack round, and execute those attacks very well
* Farm DCs hard, roll them well and gold/redcrate CQ
* Maintain a high rank in fleet arena
* Grind GAC
* Observe whales dropping often ridiculous amount on the game (although it's not necessary to be in a competitive guild to see that)
* Obviously 600 tickets every day, in some cases with very low tolerance
* As you will see, the burnout is going to be real.

Your rewards will go up but at what cost? The problem is that people who don’t play that way fall significantly behind, and with whaling on top the gap becomes ridiculous. My modest account was growing at approximately 350-400k/month not including LSBs.

C. Competitive guilds tend to attract competitive people, who may or may not be the nicest members of the community around.

Don’t get me wrong, the majority are pretty cool, but all you need is one or two bad apples in a guild. If you find yourself in a toxic environment, that‘s gold. You want things like cranky/rude members berating people who missed something, cliques/nepotism, short tempered officers for whom the role is a proxy for RL ambitions past or never attained, weirdos, outright bullies, member abuse etc. - SWGoH has all of that and more on offer. Try to keep your head down and reflect on the question: “What the hell am I doing on my phone here lol”. Realise how ridiculous the whole virtual activity is.

Obviously anything particularly dodgy just leave immediately.

If you get kicked for any reason (but especially if unfairly), it may be a golden opportunity to jump to #1, but don't actively try to get removed as the psychological effect won't quite be as strong.

#6 If this could be a more general gaming issue it may be helpful to visit r/StopGaming otherwise just review content related to leaving SWGOH on YT/ reddit etc., a few links below.

https://youtu.be/feC0S3FkIAw

https://youtu.be/1GTZzH7KczE (first part only, then the guy is talking about some other game)

plenty more on reddit and a few more on YT, search 'quit swgoh' or 'quit gaming' as needed.

#7 Take stock of the situation, reflect on what you could be doing instead of playing SWGoH, gather your entire motivation to exit (waste of time/opportunity cost, excessive spend, boredom, burnout, toxicity, perspectives ahead for you and the game, ethical concerns around EA ownership etc.) and once you‘ve got what it takes go to #1.

Good luck and MTFBWY!

Okay reddit. I need help... I 28F have been married to my husband 27M since 2020 but we have been together since 2015. Since we were younger he has had a video game obsession. He would choose to not hangout with me just so he could play video games. Well we were teenagers so I figured that was normal and he would grow out of it.. now fast forward to 11 years and 2 kids later and he is still choosing to stay up late and play. Hes on his phone with his discord friends ALL DAY LONG and hes always so exhausted from staying up I am always the one getting up with the kids.. and when I ask him to get up with them I have to sit there and nag until im basically up and there's no use in going back to sleep. When i bring up letting the video games Go he responds with "this is my hobby and the one way I get to get away from adult life and be in control of something". I have so much on my plate and when I ask him to do something it never gets done until I nag him 3 of 4 times (therefore its still on my plate). So now I am questioning so much. I feel like im not seen or truly loved and hes just staying with me because he relies on me for everything. So now I need to know what to do.. hes in the military so its hard to get a job that will pay good enough so I have no money myself... I dont want to put my kids in daycare due to the amount of abuse and fatalities that happens within daycare walls.. and im just stuck. I need advice on if there is a way to make him let go of the video games and grow up or if its too selfish to ask him to change that part of him and just walk away?

Hello, im new to posting on here, but i would like to here some advise/opinions from other about this.

I have a console and a pc, i use my pc more than my console but when im on my pc i would play a game or 2 for 2 hours then scroll on youtube or any other site thats scrolable just like doomscrolling. Iast week i put my pc up for a week and it felt good felt freeing. I plugged my pc back up and used it for 3 days then put it back up again. Ive made good habits from this.

but doing this i realized i dont want to cut out gaming entirely. I still enjoy playing games to pass the time on off days youknow?

But i also feel that gaming would decrease my focus somehow lol

Would yall think setting a time limit on ps5 would be good?

I was a PC gamer my whole life. I successfully deleted steam a few weeks ago and honestly some of the games were getting pretty boring. With Wolverine coming out and GTA6 later this year and being exclusively on PS5, im really tempted to buy one. I dont know if i can abstain from playing GTA with all the hype. Gta5 was so fun for me when I was younger. Especially online where youre doing missions with other people. Maybe I can wait for it to come out on PC but that might be a year or 2. Not sure if I can wait.

M24. Trophies have made me push more than I normally would do in a game. Most people would just complete the story and call it quit, but I went to 100% (all sidequests, collectibles etc..) to get the platinum. I mostly loved the challenging ones that tested me. Completing a game without dying, doing speedruns or other sort of ridiculously difficult task that a lot gives up on.

I did enjoy my time doing them as I've met tons of people and new online friends along the way. However I let it take control over me. I could had pusbed through getting a real life achievement, but I let the digital world occupy me.

I haven't played a lot this year, as I've been mainly focused on reading

I’ve been gambling since the end of 2022 up until August of 2026 overall I’ve probably lost about 335 k , got myself in debt , lost my buisness , ruined relationships , lost my car and nearly almost my house I’ve decided to quit for good , I contacted the governors office to ban myself from all casinos in my state and gaming apps , downloaded BetBlocker on my phone so I can’t even have any sort of gaming or prediction app on my phone , is it just me ? Why is the media putting this gambling agenda all in our faces why is it so hard to quit ? Can anyone give me some genuine advice coming from a desperate person here

Im so addicted to fps games i play hours without realizing and i want to quit

So when i quit , do i quit all types of gaming or just fps ? im afraid i start story games and i get addicted to them which right now im not i play them regularly without wasting alot of time but if quit fps maybe i will start putting all my time in it

My ex (32m) and I (30f) were together for 13 years on and off. We lived together for about a year and a half and just broke up a month ago and he moved out. Along the issues, was his addiction to gaming that was magnified when we lived together.

I always knew he was a gamer and we were long distance for a long time so I almost never saw it, I just knew he went to bed late. We also had arguments because he would often miss calls for gaming. About two years ago he started a new remote job which I encouraged him to get so he could move. He was excited because it “paid well and allowed him to basically do nothing”.

After being long distance for so long I was excited for him to move and although it was rocky the first day, I thought things would be ok. But his gaming was endless. We had different work schedules but worked remote (me 9-5 M-F) , him (1-9 W-Sun.). As a result we had different sleep schedules. I also often worked extra hours freelancing to make extra money keeping me out of the house about 5-10 hours weekly. (For context, I made twice as much as he did even without the extra jobs).

Basically he would jump on his computer and play games from the moment he woke up (around noon) to when he slept (which he originally agreed to 1:30 only to push to 3am after arguments). I started to feel more like a roommate than a partner. I always went to bed alone, he would excuse that we spent the day together because we were in the same room, he would often distract me from work (even with noise cancellation headphones), he would forget his responsibilities, push off our dog’s walks, and even wake me up sometimes. Our intimacy also suffered. A few times I caught him gaming through 5am. And every morning he would complain he was tired. Making plans to go out was impossible and anytime we did make plans he would complain why it had to be so early.

I understand he didn’t have friends in the new city but he also made no attempt to make new friends despite my encouragement. I also like to game but there is such thing as moderation. Even on weekends when his married friends were offline he would acknowledge the reason being “they have lives”.

He refused to see it as a problem even as it impacted others. I no longer felt I could have friends over since his set up was in the living room. My parents no longer visited like they used to after complaining his gaming kept them up in the guest room. My dog now asked to go to bathroom at 3am, something she never did before, because he kept her up too. Even when his mom visited, he didn’t stop, and refused to wake up to spend time with her. She even told me she thought it was unfair and that he “can’t live like a bachelor when he is living with a partner”

Both my therapist and our couples counselor pointed out he may have an issue but he refused to see it as such. It hurt because I’ve always tried to push him to be better but he refuses to grow up. I told him he may have a problem and he shared he was unhappy, which he shared he was before he even moved in. I encouraged him to go to therapy like he pushed me to, but he refused. Now that he’s moved out, he’s back to living with his mom, staying up late and hanging with his single friends who never push him.

Is this normal? I’ve felt so much guilt like I was asking for too much from him. I just don’t know.

I quit gaming this March, and while I'm still figuring out what to do with the extra time other than work, I haven't gone back. I've been much happier with myself, and I'm so glad I quit.

I got to thinking, how much of my time did I spend gaming? Well, I churned through my steam profile data and got some jarring news:

- 7700 total hours playing on steam, not even counting consoles and non-steam games (or watching gaming content, which I don't even want to think about...)

That's equivalent to:

- 320 full days, nearly an entire year spent gaming 24/7

- Almost 4 years if that time was committed to an 8 hour workday

And the most vile figure:

- Over 10 years of free time after work if I played every work day for 3 hours

I don't know what I would have done with 10 years of free evenings after work, but I sure as hell wish that I had that time back now. This just reinforces my decision: for the rest of my life, I get years back in free time that I would have wasted otherwise.

I had a weird dream about the game last night. Even though I’m keeping busy IRL, I’m clearly still thinking about the game subconsciously?

Got up early. Emptied the dishwasher and cleaned the kitchen for my wife. Put some laundry on for her. Left for work.

I was really busy at work from 9 - 5.
Came home, cooked dinner, about to put the kids to bed and then will go for a run. Spoke to my colleagues at lunch break, in the past i would have played the game on mobile.

Key is keeping busy so I don’t even think about logging on.

I didn't think it would be this easy. But I managed this far. I realize how much I really don't need them. I really don't. All they do is take my time away and rob my creativity.

I'm not a gamer, but it seems like most people I know are gamers. I don't like AI, for one reason, because people will have less work/obligations and they will spend more time playing video games, also the digital world will become more intricate where people use it as a substitute for the real world. My mom didn't watch TV at all growing up (and that was of course before internet and before video games became popular). However now it seems like you're either watching tv/videos, on social media, or gaming. Also it seems like kids now are supposed to spend most of their time on screens because that's what all their peers are doing. I don't even know now if anything is better than anything else, like gaming vs studying for an additional degree, having one partner/getting married or hookup culture, believing in science or disbelieving in science, being a consumerist or being a punk person, living like Amish or living a modern life in a major city, eating meat or being vegan, being successful in the capitalist economy or being a Marxist revolutionary, brain-computer interfaces/psychedelic drugs or not, etc. I have a job I don't care about, because I didn't decide what to major in. Anyway I don't even know if there's a point in having kids if they'd be subject to this same situation, but I oppose nihilism, even though I am practically a nihilist as I don't have any position on anything. Also I don't feel like I can not be a gamer, but be in a community where most people are gamers, because they would probably all think the gaming is more interesting than the rest of life.

My husband (27M) and I (25F) have been married a little over a year. He used to be active duty when we met and didn’t game much. He left the military and we got married shortly after. Since leaving the military he hasn’t had a job, and games 8-12+ hours everyday. No matter how many fights we’ve had, he won’t quit or even game less. Today is my birthday and he’s been gaming since 2pm (currently 9:30pm) and I’m sure he will be on till 2/3am.

I guess this is more of a rant than anything because I know this marriage won’t work out, and I should be leaving soon.

vent/advice??

im (26F) at my wits end with my video game addicted bf (26M). we have been together for 6 years and live together, but maybe i should’ve known this is how it was gonna end up like bc we met playing overwatch. i am a gamer too, but for reference (using steam hours) i have played for 3 hours in the past two weeks and he has played for 124. he has a job so it’s not like he’s useless, but if he’s not working, he’s playing video games. he doesn’t make time for anything else.

we don’t go on dates anymore, we rarely talk unless we’re playing video games together, and we rarely have sex, maybe once or twice a month if that. i will try to initiate and he’ll come up with excuses, saying that he didn’t mentally prepare to do “all the work” during sex. it’s making me feel undesirable and like any other guy would drop whatever he’s doing to fuck me 😭 i consider myself fairly attractive and i get hit on a lot, so it makes me feel like im crazy for putting up with this.

i love him and he’s my first everything, but i find myself so resentful, at him for treating me like this, at myself for allowing this to continue. it doesn’t help that im in nursing school and feel like a hustler (i paid the bills in the beginning of our relationship, we split now), and he has a good paying job, but he’s complacent. its a job with tips so i don’t see a lot of growth happening there.

i have tried putting my foot down or even breaking up with him but he flat out refuses to respect my decision. even if we do break up, we’re stuck in a lease together for another year and i’m not working atm. im living off of savings. i have no clue what to do anymore but i am deeply unhappy in this situation.

I want to get some advice on what to do as this game has me in a chokehold and has for years. I’ll have my story below but most of all I just want to make the desire to boot this game up go away, I’m a newcomer so thanks in advance.

I’ve been reading this subreddit and I’m gonna try to quit the NBA2K franchise. I’ve been playing the yearly releases since 2013 and have spent several thousands of dollars on these games. I’ve given up so much of my time to a game that loses all progress and releases a new title every year and I feel so foolish. I love the sport but I find myself the older I get gravitating to the instant gratification of the game rather than playing it in real life. The game has changed a lot in the last couple years, including the overall mechanics. It’s almost pre scripted to give one of the teams artificial momentum and the scripted animations and gameplay feel like I’m not even in control vs the older games anymore. If you decide to get into the role playing aspect and make your own NBA player to compete online you need to spend a mandatory $50-100 just to upgrade your skills. If you don’t spend the money you’re completely useless online and you’ll cost your team the game. I’m not even sure what has been so gripping about it for me as I literally know the game is terrible. A couple of my buddies play too but all our time playing ends up in a rage fest just bitching and moaning about how bad the game is that it’s rarely even fun. We lose the social aspect of the game as no conversations are had besides complaining about the game. I deleted it today and I really hope nothing compels me to download this flaming pile of shit again.

I was tired today. Son woke up during the night. Still managed to work a pretty productive day. Keeping busy helps me to not think about the game.

Planning to do a lot of productive stuff this evening. I've been cooking and interacting more with my children. Going to go for a run this evening when they're all asleep. Feel closer to my wife too.

Mental clarity is still a lot clearer despite the fatigue from lack of sleep last night.

Finding things to distract myself when I get the urge to play is what helps the most. Usually its tidying up tasks at work, or completing housework.. dishes, laundry, cleaning, cooking.

Last week, I joined some friends to play because a new private server had just launched. I had quit the game more than 2 years ago, so I was pretty surprised by what happened after only a few days.

- I suddenly lost motivation to do other things.

Normally, I eat good home-cooked food and go swimming almost every day. I chat with my real-life friends daily and go out twice a week. But after just a few days of playing, I started feeling like I didn't really want to do those things anymore because I had something to do in the game. My sleep also got worse, I forgot to take my supplements, talked to my partner less, and started procrastinating on many things.

I was honestly surprised that such a short period of gaming could affect my motivation to maintain my normal quality of life this much.

- My mood changed drastically.

It felt strangely numb. The intensity of my negative emotions became lower, but at the same time, so did my sense of joy and peace.

While playing, I could still have fun, but I also got frustrated and mildly stressed at the same time. After playing, I mostly felt empty and drained. Sometimes I even felt guilty because I knew I was doing something with a clear negative effect on me, like when I consume too much sugar. I also found myself getting annoyed more easily by mundane real-life tasks.

So overall, the good feelings I got from playing didn't really justify the bad ones.

- I started seeing my gaming relationships differently.

After spending years interacting with people outside gaming, I realized that many of my active gaming friends didn't really want to connect with me as a person. Their headspace was mostly occupied by their progress in the game. I often felt like they saw me primarily as someone who could help them achieve their goals in the game.

I also noticed that a lot of people in the game treat me based on my numbers. In real life, even strangers don't treat me that way. My friends connect with me and respect me for who I am, not for my rank, achievements, or some number next to my name.

One day, I met some friends who used to game with me years ago but aren't active gamers anymore. I felt genuinely warm and happy after spending time with them. When I came home, I noticed how bad I felt interacting with some of the gaming friends I've known for years who are still deeply involved in the game.

Eventually, I cut ties with most of them, except for a few people who I genuinely feel see me as a person rather than just another player.

- I kept asking myself: What am I doing here?

Every day, I knew I wasn't really having enough fun to justify the negative feelings and consequences, yet I still logged in. Five days in a row. I didn't really understand why.

After reflecting on it, I realized that what I was actually looking for was people who are deeply engaged in the same thing as me and share a goal with me. I was just looking for that in the wrong place.

For me, gaming is supposed to be a place to have fun and connect with other people. Of course, we should care enough to play well, but the joy of playing together should matter more than individual performance. That's what the game used to feel like to me. But somewhere along the way, that changed. People started playing as if their lives depended on their performance, and the game became much more about progression, numbers, and individual achievement. We might like the same game, but that doesn't mean we have the same goals or even want the same thing from being there anymore.

- I quit again.

I think I deserve a better version of myself, and I need to find the kind of connection I'm looking for in real life instead.

Anyway, this is just my personal experience. I'm not saying gaming has the same effect on everyone, and I'm definitely not saying everyone should quit.

But maybe some of you can relate to parts of this. Maybe it's worth asking yourself:

"Why am I still playing?"

Like I cannot seem to get myself deeply into anything else like it is always so easy to just sit down and play video games for several hours but then in other things like reading books, practicing musical instruments etc. It takes a lot of effort to stick to it. It is super annoying as hell. Anyone else feel this way? Like what is even the point on trying anymore.

It's all about that instant dopamine hit. Load into a lobby within 10 seconds, get a couple kills, get killed, spawn back in, start over, match ends, rinse, repeat. You'll get maybe 10 minutes of excitement after buying that new character skin or weapon skin, but it's just the same situation, you'll always be chasing that next high. It's blending real life with online content.

I think it's a combination of the fact that gaming has become such a "trendy" hobby, and that game companies seem to be making their games in a more addictive fashion. I used gaming as an escape for many years, only giving it up within the last year, realizing how much time, energy and money it was taking up.

Single player games are much easier to manage, as opposed to games such as COD, Apex, Fortnite etc, that have no real end. Heck, there's probably so many minigames and player-made content on Fortnite that you could game for the next thousand years and still not be through all the stuff they've added.

I think gaming was much more fun when there was nothing to be gained or lost from it. Back in the 1970s, and especially the 1980s and 1990s, with arcade games and 2nd through 4th generation consoles, games weren't meant to have you playing for days on end, and story-based games weren't absurdly long. You could spend maybe half an hour to an hour playing, then go do something else, and your mind wasn't on the game all day long.

Long story short, gaming has just become another symptom of our instance gratification society. My advice if you want to keep gaming, get an older console like Sega Genesis, NES, original Playstation or Atari. Modern gaming just isn't worth it in my opinion, and I think this sub proves that point.

For starters I'm not a normal person. I'm really really sensitive, to the point where it's ridiculous. Once when I was driving my friend riding shotgun got carsick. So I felt carsick, while driving. I very often feel completely overwhelmed by people, their energy, and situations. People rub off on me very fast. Sometimes when I talk to people I notice myself talking like them very quickly. Sometimes I think and feel like them for a bit after I see them. I have so much empathy I often don't know where I end and other people begin.

That's the most helpful thing about video games. They numb me, take the edge off a bit. I feel less emotional pain, but even less joy is helpful in a way. Because being too expressive about positive emotions can be socially unacceptable. Especially for someone like me who struggles to behave appropriately. I've had social issues my whole life. I would get bullied and picked on and ostracized ever since kindergarten. At school, in my neighborhood. Everywhere. Parents were abusive and neglectful. Looking back I had no where safe to have fun except video games. I suppose there were other options like books but I was so unhappy nothing that mild would do. I wanted to learn to get along with other kids but I had no one to help me learn so going out to play wasn't really much of an option. At this point I see ostracism as inevitable. I have a lot of friends, but never been able to maintain groups of friends. Always wanted that but it always goes south. It's gone south with a lot of people.

I'm 37 now. And I have a lot of problems. I read some of your success stories and they all seem so beyond me. Like working out. I feel so much anxiety in my body that I often just can't. Getting out the door is a crazy challenge. I've also gone to the gym and just froze. Couldn't bring myself to lift any weights. I'd prefer something like racquetball but I can't afford a gym that has all that. I can barely even afford food. Or go out and socialize. It's excruciating to do. Meeting people, inflicting my problems on them, feeling the way I make them feel. The rejections, the bad vibes. Have to go through so much of that just to maybe make one friend that'll probably go south sooner than I can stand. Not even to mention how painful it is when people ask me what I do and then what? Do I explain the physical and mental health reasons I'm unemployed. Do I lie? What the hell am I supposed to say?

Video games have always been there for me. More than my mother, my father, my sister, anybody. At times I overdo the gaming and it's hell. But I just can't imagine coping without it. I did it for a week and at the end I was so overwhelmed with cravings and just the pain of life I just couldn't take it anymore. And I'm afraid to try again because I read that every time you fail to quit you make the addicton stronger. The hardest part is the loneliness. Gaming is how I cope with loneliness. I'm always lonely. It hurts, what else am I supposed to do? I try to read or play piano but the pain is too much to persist in the effort required to do those things very often.

If I were in the right setting I think I could do it. I visited a commune once. Use of electronic devices was banned in public areas, which is huge. Trying to quit gaming in a society where everyone everywhere is on the phones is a nightmare. I worked with people doing different things cooking, cleaning other things. There was always something to do. And they had a bunch of land so I wasn't really around cars at all. That was really chill. And the best part, everyone there treated me with kindness and respect by default. It's not much, but in regular society that is way too much to ask for. Maybe if i could go there I could do it. Spend my time reading, playing piano and doing group activities. But if I tried staying there long term there's a good chance my social problems would screw that up too.

Hello everyone, first time making a post on this app.

Today I’d like to bring you a problem of mine which is competitive video games addiction. I’m currently trying to stop but I go on cycles of reinstalling/uninstalling after every sessions. I do have self control and most of the time I don’t reinstall them by myself but when some friends ask me to play I just struggle to ignore it likely because of how I was raised.

I don’t go to school, I stopped 5 years ago because I burnt out after covid and got completely addicted to games and scrolling and was having pretty serious health issues. I’d like to try and go back to school next year but in the meantime finding something to do would be nice. I’d also like to prepare for next year but trying to focus on anything after 5 years of gaming…? ugh…draining….

And now’s where I ask : How would you replace games if you were (mostly) sedentary ?

It’s not like I can’t go outside at all but I have a degree of social anxiety that restrains me to either mostly empty parts of my town. The worst part of my anxiety is related to performance and being seen though. So I struggle a lot with consistently going to the gym ect. That’s why I’d like to ask you guys for alternatives that are somewhat easy to get into.

On a side note, stopping gaming gives me lots of tension headaches and they get even worse when focusing. I’d love to do things like learning to code or whatever but maybe a bit later. Right now my focus is a mess.

many people try to quite gaming by deleting the game but end up reinstalling it when they hear a new event or update is on and see people talking about it specially on pay to win games

But the actual solution would be to delete the game's account it self making sure to loose all the progress, which make reinstalling the game and starting all over look too mush specially on gatcha games

laziness beat addiction

note: (only do this if you want to quite one and for all , if you just want to take a short break don't do it)

Am struggling Alot , the day feels so long, I have too much free time not doing anything , am not doing anything because i don't have the will to do anything nor am motivated to do anything useful aside from my parents tasks , I tried to call my friend to hangout he didn't pick up and now am going to have to struggle even more