If you play everyday after work/studies, please read this, because this is what I was doing for past 18 years

[baffd]

This reading is dedicated for those who do nothing, but play computer games and use Steam. For those who suffer from current life, are depressed, lacked in motivation etc. I decided to share my story with you because this is how I felt about 4 months ago.

So let's get started. Shall we?

About 4 months ago I took up a challenge StopGaming to test my will. To this day I didn't launch any game except minor 1hr session at work, which felt like I forced myself to play.

If you play every day for couple hours after work/studies and that's all that you do and totally neglect your duties (studies, tasks, plans); the break could help you out. Tbh, that's what I was doing for about 18 years, so I can say I'm pretty "experienced" in that area.

I wish I would stop when I was a teen. That's because the recovery process is long and takes effort if you deepen your addiction from one day to another, but on the end, if someone really wanna change the own life - nothing comes that easy. Consistency, perseverance, patience is the key in that journey.

I was extensively addicted to Steam and games to the point I felt my life has stagnant and lethargic pace. After coming back from school/work I was playing computer games and the same scheme was being repeated for really long.

I felt like a depressed piece of ♥♥♥♥ with no real life. If you feel the same, just take a break and figure out what you could do beyond gaming.

The steps I've taken so far:
- Deleted games and Steam (I'm posting this from browser)
- Writing down the list of tasks, plans, duties
- Fill the void where you would normally play, with other activities
- Self-improve yourself, get better at your skills, think about your future

Nothing is perfect yet, but I really see the difference. I saw that one change in your daily routine triggers few others. It's like a snowball effect. It's amazing feeling to do something different, try something new, change your schedule, implement changes into your life.

Well, that's all people. I felt I need to return a favour to this community and Steam because this is where I spent most of my time. On one hand, I regret that time, but on the other, this was one of the chapters of my life (better or worse) after all. I hope at least that my reading will be eye-opening for some people about Steam and gaming in general. I really failed in moderation, so that post is dedicated mainly for those in a similar situation.

Changing your routine is possible if you really want it.

Thanks and cheers to everyone!

Preston

Resources:
https://www.reddit.com/r/StopGaming/ - supportive subreddit
https://habitica.com - RPG based task scheduler

If you have any questions, just ask them here! I'll be there for sometime, but not forever! :)

[baffd]

Tux님이 먼저 게시:

baffd님이 먼저 게시:

I lived that way for too long man. I was unhappy with my current life, so I wanted to change it. If there is a tiny chance to improve it I gonna do it straightaway.

If you are happy and play computer games then ok. I felt I can't continue what I do, so I stepped out of my gaming routine.



Yeah, complainers are the worst. They put negative vibe whenever you talk to them. Sadness, frustration and depression everywhere. To bouy up themselves they often share stories of people who lead worse life than them.

no your not undersatnding me and you appear to not want to and I know you are headed for a near disaster and i cant help you because you refuse to listen.

I don't get your point at all.

How do you know so much about me? You already sentenced me to failure like you knew everything lol.

[Mivo]

ShadowPuglia님이 먼저 게시:

I constantly dwell on the bad and feel horrible and stuff, not much I can really do about it.

Why not? You can just focus on something that isn't bad. Play some comedy game (or watch a comedy show) or look at kitten pictures if nothing else works, or take a nap. Of course it's hard to break deeply entrenched habits like negative thinking, but medical conditions aside, it's just that: a habit. You can "unlearn" it. It'll feel fake at first, but in time and with practice you'll find that focusing on good-feeling stuff will come as naturally and as easily as dwelling on the bad-feeling stuff once did. It's work, but it's a choice.

I have no idea who I actually am, or have multiple versions of me, that causes annoyance because a lot of the time I am not sure if I am pretending is real or not as they feel the same to me.

I think everyone feels that way now and then. Lots of stuff is relative and conditional, and everyone's a bit hypocritical. Try not to overthink it, be easier on yourself.

[Tux]

baffd님이 먼저 게시:

Tux님이 먼저 게시:

no your not undersatnding me and you appear to not want to and I know you are headed for a near disaster and i cant help you because you refuse to listen.

I don't get your point at all.

1. addiction is a SYMPTOM its not a cause. you cant not and will not be able to solve the problem by attacking the SYMPTOM.
2. you need to ask yourself '1. am I doing X to escape or because I enjoy it. 2. if to escape what am I trying to escape from'
3. If you dont do number 2 you will very quickly find yourself involved in another addiction I pretty much am 100% positive.

[Autistic Whales]

Mivo님이 먼저 게시:

ShadowPuglia님이 먼저 게시:

I constantly dwell on the bad and feel horrible and stuff, not much I can really do about it.

Why not? You can just focus on something that isn't bad. Play some comedy game (or watch a comedy show) or look at kitten pictures if nothing else works, or take a nap. Of course it's hard to break deeply entrenched habits like negative thinking, but medical conditions aside, it's just that: a habit. You can "unlearn" it. It'll feel fake at first, but in time and with practice you'll find that focusing on good-feeling stuff will come as naturally and as easily as dwelling on the bad-feeling stuff once did. It's work, but it's a choice.

I have no idea who I actually am, or have multiple versions of me, that causes annoyance because a lot of the time I am not sure if I am pretending is real or not as they feel the same to me.

I think everyone feels that way now and then. Lots of stuff is relative and conditional, and everyone's a bit hypocritical. Try not to overthink it, be easier on yourself.

It's not like I choose to dwell on stuff but when my mind is slightly empy it jumps in and haunts me, I tell my thoughts to stop but they don't, it is pretty much out of my controll.
While video games are great for not dwelling on it... well... I can't play games forever.
Oh I guess overs feel the same but I also feel like others know when they are having a bad day, I guess I do sometimes but it also feels like I also always feel terrible.
Eventhough I can easily act happy I never truly feel happy, more like at ease that the nasty thoughts go away.
But I mean stuff like going from insanly outroverted to not wanting to talk to anyone and if anyone does have thoughts of violently killing them instead of talking sounds weird.
I don't really care but thats what it is.

[baffd]

Tux님이 먼저 게시:

baffd님이 먼저 게시:

I don't get your point at all.

1. addiction is a SYMPTOM its not a cause. you cant not and will not be able to solve the problem by attacking the SYMPTOM.
2. you need to ask yourself '1. am I doing X to escape or because I enjoy it. 2. if to escape what am I trying to escape from'
3. If you dont do number 2 you will very quickly find yourself involved in another addiction I pretty much am 100% positive.

1. i haven't play any games for 4 months already and never come back. Playing games bores me. I have more interesting stuff to do.
2. I played to pass the time sinking totally in procrastination. I asked these questions 4 months ago and I'm working towards my goals. Gaming wandered off from my path.
3. I'm leading quite healthy life. I do not drink, smoke, taking drugs. I know how gaming as addiction could overwhelm, so I won't jump into the same hole.

I can say with all honesty this was the best decision I could ever make.

[Mivo]

ShadowPuglia님이 먼저 게시:

It's not like I choose to dwell on stuff but when my mind is slightly empy it jumps in and haunts me, I tell my thoughts to stop but they don't, it is pretty much out of my controll.

As long as you believe that, that is how it'll be. That sounds so cliché, but it's pretty much my own experience. I spent years focusing on the crap and as a result I felt like crap, until eventually I got tired of it and gradually shifted my thoughts. It's not going to happen over night, either. Getting from here to there takes time.

The way I did it (and still do when crap happens) is to look at the bad situation/thing/event, and think to myself, "Okay, this sucks. But is there anything about it that sucks a bit less? Something that makes me feel less awful about it?". I literally "feel" my way around, throw thoughts at myself and see how they make me feel. When I find a thought that feels a little better, I just zoom in on that aspect like a sniper. When you do that, you'll sometimes (almost always) find other aspects that aren't as bad as the situation/event/thing seemed at first, and so you focus on those too. Suddenly there will be a lot of better-feeling targets.

It's kind of like a platformer where you jump higher and higher. You're not going to jump from the bottom to the top in one move, and you won't go from feeling depressed to being euphoric. But you can get from being depressed to being angry (it's less suffocating than feeling depressed), and from there to being indifferent, and from there to feeling slightly hopeful, etc.

[Autistic Whales]

Mivo님이 먼저 게시:

ShadowPuglia님이 먼저 게시:

It's not like I choose to dwell on stuff but when my mind is slightly empy it jumps in and haunts me, I tell my thoughts to stop but they don't, it is pretty much out of my controll.

As long as you believe that, that is how it'll be. That sounds so cliché, but it's pretty much my own experience. I spent years focusing on the crap and as a result I felt like crap, until eventually I got tired of it and gradually shifted my thoughts. It's not going to happen over night, either. Getting from here to there takes time.

The way I did it (and still do when crap happens) is to look at the bad situation/thing/event, and think to myself, "Okay, this sucks. But is there anything about it that sucks a bit less? Something that makes me feel less awful about it?". I literally "feel" my way around, throw thoughts at myself and see how they make me feel. When I find a thought that feels a little better, I just zoom in on that aspect like a sniper. When you do that, you'll sometimes (almost always) find other aspects that aren't as bad as the situation/event/thing seemed at first, and so you focus on those too. Suddenly there will be a lot of better-feeling targets.

It's kind of like a platformer where you jump higher and higher. You're not going to jump from the bottom to the top in one move, and you won't go from feeling depressed to being euphoric. But you can get from being depressed to being angry (it's less suffocating than feeling depressed), and from there to being indifferent, and from there to feeling slightly hopeful, etc.

Thanks for the advice I guess.

[Linus Hyper]

Flusa님이 먼저 게시:

I play because I like playing games...? That's it.

[Kali (MM)]

After fixing breakfast, taking my daughter to college, work, picking up my daughter from college, fixing dinner, taking my daughter where she needs to go after dinner, completing house chores, etc, reading books, watching tv, playing video games, and/or reading up on archeology articles for three hours a night during the work week & around six hours a day on the weekend keeps me sane - interpersonal relationships = drama.

[Tux]

baffd님이 먼저 게시:

Tux님이 먼저 게시:

1. addiction is a SYMPTOM its not a cause. you cant not and will not be able to solve the problem by attacking the SYMPTOM.
2. you need to ask yourself '1. am I doing X to escape or because I enjoy it. 2. if to escape what am I trying to escape from'
3. If you dont do number 2 you will very quickly find yourself involved in another addiction I pretty much am 100% positive.

1. i haven't play any games for 4 months already and never come back. Playing games bores me. I have more interesting stuff to do.
2. I played to pass the time sinking totally in procrastination. I asked these questions 4 months ago and I'm working towards my goals. Gaming wandered off from my path.
3. I'm leading quite healthy life. I do not drink, smoke, taking drugs. I know how gaming as addiction could overwhelm, so I won't jump into the same hole.

I can say with all honesty this was the best decision I could ever make.

1. not remotely related to what I am saying
2. then its not an addiction in the first place
3. GAMING IS NOT AN ADDICTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. there is no such thing as an addition you are not listening to me at all and very diserver what you get because of it

[Mr.Slevin13]

I am way past my teenage years but I still find gaming a good way of entertainment.It is bad only if you become obsessed with it. Some games really challenge your brain,your patience etc etc..Moreover,being currently unemployed, I find spending $20 for a game way better than spending to drinks and coffees (I do not want though to underestimate the importance of socializing).

[Warsmith Honsou]

I will focus more on real life commitments when our economy collapses and buying a house on a single income is an achieveable goal instead of an impossible one in this housing bubble, a full time job barely pays for rent and basic expenses living on the outskirts of the city. I can walk away from pc whenever but its cheap entertainment compared to other activities.

[baffd]

Tux님이 먼저 게시:

baffd님이 먼저 게시:

1. i haven't play any games for 4 months already and never come back. Playing games bores me. I have more interesting stuff to do.
2. I played to pass the time sinking totally in procrastination. I asked these questions 4 months ago and I'm working towards my goals. Gaming wandered off from my path.
3. I'm leading quite healthy life. I do not drink, smoke, taking drugs. I know how gaming as addiction could overwhelm, so I won't jump into the same hole.

I can say with all honesty this was the best decision I could ever make.

1. not remotely related to what I am saying
2. then its not an addiction in the first place
3. GAMING IS NOT AN ADDICTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. there is no such thing as an addition you are not listening to me at all and very diserver what you get because of it

Tbh I don't have time and will to convince you to my point of view, because it seems that the discussion is going pitilessly to strech out.

Then at least get my last message:

I can say with all honesty this was the best decision I could ever make.

as a my conclusion and let's end up with it.

[Arya]

I did an experiment this year, to see if I was actually in control of my gaming. The objective was to go a full month without using my PC for anything not work related, and to my surprise not only did I do it but I did it easily.

Since then I've played about 2-3 hours a day, and only when I feel like it.

[Ocelote.12]

zoomdude111님이 먼저 게시:

Excessive gaming only becomes unhealthy if you are useing it as a coping mechanism/escape and you become reliant on it. If you are using it for pure recreational purposes then its perfectly fine, its just like pot in that since.

The human is born to not just sleep, eat, copulate and excrement. The human's right role in life is to try to achieve something significant (according to talents, of course, not necessary superstar- or megahero- significant). Things like pot or other addictions, including excessive gaming, lower the will of a person to achieve anything, make him more and more closer to the vegetable than to really fully living human.

I once read a statistical research where the scientists found that pot users were less willing to earn more money. Of course, money is not the only or main thing people should try to achieve, but this statistics is a part of a more global will degradation from using these substances.

Don't be a vegetable! Try to change the world, maybe a bit, or maybe a lot!

About gaming - it is not always bad, so I don't think that all people should delete all their games. But for some people, with their gaming addiction too big, sometimes the radical ways like deleting all games are the only that would work.