Help for a soon-to-be game addict.

[briunj04]

Hello fellow Escapees (Escapisters? Escapades? Whatever)

I'm a gamer who has been able to keep my hobby in moderation until recently. You see, I'm out of school now (commenced from 10th grade) and so far I have nothing to do during the summer. My mom, dad, and sister all work during the day and I don't have my driver's license yet (permit) so I'm stuck home alone all day with nothing to do and unable to go anywhere. I'm sure you see where this is going.

I've been playing videos a lot these past 2 weeks. Mainly League of Legends on my computer. When I look back at my match history and see the past 10 games were all in one day, I feel disgusted with myself. The worst part is that when I'm playing, I not even having fun, but I just play anyways. So far I don't feel a physical need to play games or rejection of responsibilities to game, but I fear that's the next stage.

So I was wondering if you folks could help me. I want to know if any of you has suffered from game addiction and can tell me how you stopped it. Mostly I am interested in finding alternatives to playing video games during the day.

Thank you all for your help!!

 

[Dragoon]

Well I would recommend just getting out and doing something. Go for a walk, explore your local area or go out and do things with friends. Or if you can try to get a summer job to give yourself something to do and some money at the same time.

 

[SeeIn2D]

Hello fellow Escapees (Escapisters? Escapades? Whatever)

I'm a gamer who has been able to keep my hobby in moderation until recently. You see, I'm out of school now (commenced from 10th grade) and so far I have nothing to do during the summer. My mom, dad, and sister all work during the day and I don't have my driver's license yet (permit) so I'm stuck home alone all day with nothing to do and unable to go anywhere. I'm sure you see where this is going.

I've been playing videos a lot these past 2 weeks. Mainly League of Legends on my computer. When I look back at my match history and see the past 10 games were all in one day, I feel disgusted with myself. The worst part is that when I'm playing, I not even having fun, but I just play anyways. So far I don't feel a physical need to play games or rejection of responsibilities to game, but I fear that's the next stage.

So I was wondering if you folks could help me. I want to know if any of you has suffered from game addiction and can tell me how you stopped it. Mostly I am interested in finding alternatives to playing video games during the day.

Thank you all for your help!!

Just don't play then. Find something else to do. Because not only will getting too addicted to games screw over your social life but you could also just lose all the fun you have in them if you just play them into the ground which would also suck.

 

[Doclector]

To be honest, I don't see much of a problem if there's literally nothing else to do, perhaps this is misplaced guilt? You feel guilty for not doing much, but there isn't much to do?

If it bothers you that much though, look for a summer job or some sort of other hobby to mux things up. Work on something, maybe make some youtube videos or write, that's what I'm doing to get through this long holiday.

 

[floppylobster]

The first step to take you have already taken - to recognize you're still playing past the point where your enjoyment has stopped.

The best way I've found to overcome game addiction is to just play the game you are addicted to until you are utterly sick of it. Until you can't stand the sight and sound of it. It may take several weeks. Maybe even longer. But play it whenever you think of it, don't resist.

Eventually you will begin to hate playing it. Then after a while you'll start deciding to do other things to avoid the negative feeling you get when playing it. Then, in future, if you ever feel like playing another game - you should remember the absolute waste of time the last game you were addicted to was.

You may recover very quickly or you may fall back in to it again soon. Each time ride it out and play that game until you can't stand it any longer. Until you know it backwards and it's absolutely no fun to play again. The small sense of accomplishment you get from achieving things in games can make them addictive. So whenever you're sick of a game try to read a short book, or a work on a project you've always wanted to complete - try something creative. The sense of accomplishment you get from those things will soon outweigh what you get from games and your addiction will be broken or replaced or at the very least put in to perspective.

Worked for me. Hope it helps you.

 

[Vegan_Doodler]

A lot of what I'm guna say has already been said.
Just find other things to do, got any other hobbies, a summer job is always good to earn a bit of cash, you said you have a learners permit, dose a friend have a car they would help you practice driving with?
I think it's a matter of just doing other things, if you are board with playing LOL it shouldn't be that hard to find something you would rather be doing. I personally don't think there is anything wrong with playing games occasionally for long periods or allot but if you feel you are getting addicted then find something you more fulfilling that you would rather do.

I am currently studying Game design and the act of dissecting games and figuring out why they can be so addictive has actually broke any possible hold they could have over me, nothing like looking behind the curtain to jolt you out of something.

I actually like

floppylobster's

(love the name) idea to, nether thought of approaching it like this, would be curious to see how well it works.

 

[Best of the 3]

Well, as everyone else has said. Find something to do. THe brain craves stimuli, gaming is a form of that. Find a different one to replace it. Reading, drawing, writing, excersise, listening to music, some sport, a different hobby, walking around and just generally exploring.

 

[ChildishLegacy]

If there's nothing else to do, why would you feel bad for playing video games? All you have to do to not be "addicted" (I don't believe what you're describing is addicted, you're describing you not having much better to do than game) is to prioritize any other activity over games, even if it's not often. Just make sure you don't put other things off for games, don't not go out with friends because you want to game, that IS getting close to addiction, playing them because nothing else is happening is just common sense, games tend to be way more fun than movies/tv/books for me.