Struggled with video game addiction? I did for ten years and I have quite a story. This motivated me to create a book where all of our video game addiction stories come together to give hope to mothers dealing with sons that are losing their grip on school while leveling up in their video games. These stories could help girlfriends understand that the guy really doesn't love the game more than them any more than a drunk loves the alcohol more than the people he/she is with. If you or a loved one has a story about video game addiction, please share it here for inclusion in our new book:
http://www.gamingaddiction.net/stories/submit
Thank you and we will hope to receive your story soon.
Reformed gaming addict and determined to help others enjoy gaming in a healthy way. Devoted to finding, creating, and promoting resources for everything gaming addiction.
but the drunk really does love the alcohol more than anything else.
"There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative." --W. Clement Stone
When I gamed the world around me didnt exist. The thing you try to proove is based already on a wrong assumption before you start. The central cortex gets so overloadde with dopamine. That is also the place where emotion houses. When I was addicted I felt nothing. No love no hate...that is why I noticed something wrong with me...You need to start thinking like that song of Pink Floyd. We are comfortably numb while addicted.
pre- diagnosed with Autism.
I literally played that song in the last months of gaming, EVE, recognizing myself in it.
I looked over your websites, dukeacem, viewed your video on one, and it appeared to me you advocate moderating play. It was yesterday that I looked, but I'm thinking you suggest 30 hrs a week as acceptable? Hope I'm wrong, but it seemed to me there's a substantial amount of denial going on over there.
My values simply can't justify devoting 30 hours a week to gaming. In fact, I'd be so bold as to assert that life itself rejects the idea that humans are living full, productive lives while compulsively gaming. When we live contrary to our own values, I think it's reasonable to expect big problems. I'm thankful I still remember what my values are after 16 yrs of play. lol
I do hope you'll look around this site more thoroughly with an open mind and willing heart.
Acceptance. When I am disturbed, it is because a person, place, thing, or situation is unacceptable to me. I find no serenity until I accept my life as being exactly the way it is meant to be. Nothing happens in God’s world by mistake. Acknowledge the problem, but live the solution!
welcome Duke
I looked at your site too and found you are looking for donations as well.
I hope it goes well for you.
I think that for some moderation might work but for most people on olga it's an all or nothing approach as so much had already been lost to gaming. Real life is always the better choice. I'm not anti gaming as I have seen that there can be a positive and educational side, even for children (in some games) - but I'm speaking for those who can game moderately and not lose everything else in their lives. Many here are very anti games period. It's a hard call as so much of people's lives are online today either on pc's. laptops, Iphones etc and games and social networking are part of it all especially for the young.
yes I tried to moderate back to 6 hours a week but my body ...afyter a month of moderation simply gave up. That is indeed whats suggested in previous posts. The people at Olga are beyond moderation. Even if we can moderate and set the alarm clock. for one hour...that hour would be too much to stand, as damaged the brains already may be, I found that myslef that I had the will to moderate, yet lacked the strength of brain to do. So yes...Its all or nothing...Maybe some of us can moderate after 5 or 10 years...but then so much time without game should give us enough time to learn about all that great things in life being better. ..and most likely no longer want to play. Well perhaps chess or GO, but that should be it.
pre- diagnosed with Autism.
I believe in moderation for most gamers and most drinkers but for some this clearly is not an option. I think video games are even more difficult to get away from than drinking since they are integrated into so many aspects of life if you include phone games and even things like XBOX Kinect. The same person that would play World of Warcraft all night is not likely to abuse the XBOX Kinect (although I wouldn't rule it out completely).
My personal vice is Call of Duty and I do not keep these games in my house, although I think it is acceptable once every few months to play them if I am at a friend's house. The bottom line is that different strokes work for different folks. http://gamingaddiction.net keeps this in mind and is intended to be a helpful resource for all addicted gamers. Having browsed most areas of OLGA, this website is aimed at the most seriously addicted gamers that need help (as EVE OFFLINE said as well).
The chart I created is intended to be for ALL gamers and I have added a note before it that this may not be appropriate for people experiencing negative consequences from their gaming in life. It noted healthy gaming on it, but, the same as for drinking, I wouldn't want to tell an alcoholic it is okay to drink 5 drinks a week. Thank you for bringing this point to my attention.
I also will be remaking some of the videos to look more professional soon and thought it was better to have more content available than wait longer with less. What do you think?
Reformed gaming addict and determined to help others enjoy gaming in a healthy way. Devoted to finding, creating, and promoting resources for everything gaming addiction.
It sounds like you are a thoughtful person and I think what you are doing sounds good. Not all can moderate but for those that can or can retrain themselves, more power to them.
I think this approach would be good especially for the young and those that haven't lost 5-10-15 years of real life to sitting at a computer desk living a pixel life and some here claim that that is exactly what happened to them and that they lost education, families, relationships and their health, both mental and physical not to mention morally and spiritually too. And that is the power of a true addiction sadly.
Okay, I'm confused. If one is able to successfully moderate one's behavior, then one doesn't have a problem and, naturally, doesn't seek out help for a non-existent problem. It's only when one is unsuccessful moderating one's behavior and is willing to admit that particular lack of self-control is taking a toll on other areas of life, making life unmanageable that one would arrive here, no? What am I missing?
Acceptance. When I am disturbed, it is because a person, place, thing, or situation is unacceptable to me. I find no serenity until I accept my life as being exactly the way it is meant to be. Nothing happens in God’s world by mistake. Acknowledge the problem, but live the solution!
I think, if one can moderate their gaming, they're not addicted. Once we are truly addicted, we can't moderate. Most of us here at Olga have tried to moderate without success. I actually tried to moderate once and gave up after the first week. It was simply impossible. If I wasn't playing, I was just waiting until I could play. My only option was to quit completely. Perphaps you should change the name of your site to moderategaming instead of gamingaddiction.
We don't advocate nor support moderation here on Olga. For most people, especially ones that have recently quit gaming, any suggestion of possible moderation can cause them to relapse. For a long time I had in the back of my mind that some day I could game again and any suggestion that moderation is possible for the addict would cause my addict brain to get very excited, thinking about gaming again. After several relapses, I've finally realized that any sort of electronic gaming is off limits to me. I hope your website doesn't cause any relapse for those ex-gamers who are truly addicted.
Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending. ~Maria Robinson
it's interesting I think and we have to remember that not everyone who feels they have a "problem" is necessarily addicted in that sense. I can't speak for everyone who comes to Olga of course but Olga does give even the "not so addicted" a wake up call and lots of good insight.
Mudphud quoted on another post a doctor who felt that gaming is a behavioural addiction or problem as opposed to a substance addiction (whatever that difference is who knows!!) but I think that some may as perhaps Duke is doing, go on the premise in that case that if it is a behavioural problem then behaviours can be modified. I do feel that it's possible too- if the person has not plummmeted to the depths. I do believe in cognitive behavioural therapy which has helped many. That is why I believe that for some there may need to be therapy and not just a 12 step program alone. It really depends on the individual.
This is not written in stone of course but just taken from different points of view . Please note that I said for those who have not plummeted into the depths but feel that they have suffered some negative consequence and need to put on the brakes.
Also I dont feel that anything anyone else says or does here can cause another person to relapse. Let's take that out of the equation. It is an individual choice, whatever we think of as addiction. Let's not put the power out there. It is within each of us - whether we think of it as higher power or God.
Oh heck, of course I believe in moderation for all things, especially alcohol and games. But, unfortunately I CANT do it. One drink was never enough (judging by the size of the glass I was using just to say I only had ONE drink) and one hour of gaming always went to 8 hours.
Whether the addiction was a substance or a behavior--that's not my call, I'm not a scientist--however, I am a person with 100% authority in how I behave with alcohol and gaming. And I know without any doubt in my mind that any kind of dabbling into either would get me started thinking addictively again.
I may not get back into either if I dabbled, but then I would start thinking about it nonstop; wondering when I can next try another experiment.
I tried moderation with both alcohol and gaming, and proved to my inner most self that I could not do either, ever. And believe me I tried!
That's why I do like the 12 steps and a program of recovery because I can easily live without either alcohol or gaming. It isn't hard to do without; it just needs a lot of focus on my part to stay in a healthy life vs. an addictive life.
I really do well without thinking about moderation. That's too much like cracking the door open about a 1/4 of inch while trying to keep the wind and rain out. Not worth it. I've learned to shut the door.
In my first attempt to quit, i tried to get away from my game, i thought it would be easy, you know, just uninstall the game and continue with my life, however i couldn't... a few days later i convinced myself that i could go back but just for a few hours, maybe 2 in a day and probably just twice a week... i mean, i even created a plan with a schedule to play and as long as i respect that plan everything would be ok... yeah right... months later i end up playing 20 hours per day and abandoned everything in my life, i didn't care at all for anything, not even for my grandma who was dying in a hospital while i was playing.
This is why, I DON'T BELIEVE AT ALL IN MODERATION...
agreed to the above posts, and indeed bad behaviour is bad behaviour and that is the bottom line and yes, Pat, it's easy to live without gaming (or alcohol or drugs) if you embrace your life again which I know you have. Games, and alcohol etc should only be minimal parts of a balanced life.
Mubb, I guess you are not the only one who had to try it another way before realizing it didn't work.
When I was young I used to be like silvertabby. But those were the times that we went from C64 t0 PC and at first PC games were a horror..so my addiction dried up...then later PC games got better and better and I got addicted like that again...but work took over and I didnt pay too much interest. Untill broadband came...and online games that kept running 24 hours a day .. Interest of course got me hooked up. but in the end I was a "zombie player" I loged in on aoutomatic pilot..Played games not interested while watching TV at the same time...The only reason I played was the continious activation of my reward center. - This is clled obsessed compulsive behavior or disorder.
I think, if all Olga members would log in tonight on their favorite game for 1 hour then you can expect :
Zombie players like me probably fall into physical withdrawal tomorrow for at least 5 days.
Others will crave the game for weeks, like silvertabby/
And some of us, wont stop after the agreed hour, they loose all sense of time, and loose the will to stop.
And there is a group even when forced to play would close their eyes. As some of love gaming, by not gaming we enjoy life better, and are here not to give that up.
I do know people, or have seen people in games who are not addicted , or play too much. Abd I think to those moderateion would improve their lives. I would think of younger people, never had game burnout. Not settled yet and no children would qualify.
When my kids get old enough I will moderate them too. and perhaps wil l play a game on the kinect with them, so I can have my excises too. But thats about it. While I have quit gaming i also quit alcohol. I never drunk more then 1 glass a day, and never more then 4 a week or less. But at this stage of exhaustion I simply feel cannot stand even 1 drink.
This is not the lofe I have chosen, but it has been chosen for me, so All I say like every morning.
Thy will be done.- As thats the best I can do - both believe it, and practice it.
I really wished moderation exists, and I tried - and failed the attempt. I can play 1 hour and stop today. The price would be 5 days physical withdrawal and its not worth it. I will read a good book instead or play a nice bord game with my spouse..I already look forward to that.
pre- diagnosed with Autism.
Did you just suggest that I moderate my gaming hours to 40 a week?
...wtf man?