Hello,
I stumbled across this website after reading an article on a 12 year old boy that had died playing the exact game i play. Doing exactly what i do.. I actually wrote and deleted this several times before posting, It's hard to summorize your life into a few paragraphs.
Firstly, i'll start with who i am. I am 21 years old, i live in Australia and work for an IT company. My first obsession with games begun when i was 12 years old, when i found out my mother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and lupas. It wasn't long after i also found out she was a heroin addict. So to escape from life i used to sit infront of the computer for hours at a time playing a game called "Runescape". It originally started off as a social thing, going to friends houses etc..
At the age of 16 my mother sold my computer, out of anger and for drug money. I too became addicted to drugs. (but i won't go too much into detail about that)
Not long after i dropped out of school, i "found" a laptop and begun my gaming addiction all over. As years passed, i had broken up with girlfriends over arguements about my addiction, lost jobs and lost countless friends.
It was 2008, I got my first REAL job working for an IT company as a trainee. This when i started focusing on my career. Things started to go well for me. I went to the gym on a regular basis, lost a tonne of weight and had even joined the army part time. Well with this new found love for life i decided to build and do up a car. I litterally spent tens of thousands of dollars.. most of which was debt.
As a result i decided to stop, and maybe start playing a couple games so i don't spend so much money. Well as you guessed it.. the addiction came straight back. I no longer go to the gym, i stay up all hours of the morning despite having to be at work by 7am. I somehow managed to get my girlfriend addicted to it. We've stopped going out, all we eat is take away so we don't waste anytime not playing that stupid game.
Please help, i need to not only quit for myself, but for my girlfriend too.
I am 21 years old, the people who know me best, and who i've grown up with.. i have never met.
I'm sorry for all the spelling and gramatical erorrs
Even some unfinished sentences.. I'm not sure how to edit the post
Well it seems i can edit this post, but not the first.
Anxious_Demon, welcome to OLGA. Don't worry about any spelling and grammatical errors since I, at least, had no trouble reading it. We sometimes get ESL members who have more trouble writing English, and I sometimes have trouble understanding them, but as long as they get the message across, that is all that is really important.
The current Website software that is being used here, Drupal, only has "edit" buttons for the replies. When I first used it, I also did not immediately see how to edit the first post. To do that, there should be an "Edit" tab at the top. Clicking on that allows you to edit that initial post, as well as do other things like move the entire thread to another forum.
As for your situation, I recommend that your girlfriend joins here as well. Also, both of you should look around here and use whatever tools you feel are appropriate for you (e.g., 12-steps, online meetings, reading/writing posts, etc.). If you have any specific questions, please feel free to ask and then I and/or other members will usually respond fairly promptly, sometimes even within a few minutes.
- John O.
[em]Carpe Diem![/em] (Seize the Day!)
Hello! Do you know the hystory of Titanic? Some of it right? Lots of people died and it was tragic. A lot of people know and some are quite familiar with Titanic's tragedy. Now... do you know Clara Maersk hystory? I bet you don't. Don't worry, most people don't know it either. Clara Maersk and its crew saved 3628 vietnamese escaping from civil war in a ship that was adrift and about to sink. That's more people than the Titanic episode. And most people don't know it. Why am I telling you this? I feel very sorry that what drove you to this community was an article about a kid who died. Please read other posts that we have in here. But try to focus more on posts of success against our addiction. Look for bboy's Success Story:an ex-gamer. You can read 1000 posts histories or articles about suicides deaths and family break ups because of gaming. None of them will help you more than a post of a guy who has been doing great without gaming. Pazos
well it sounds like you're doing quite well
however you do need to give gaming addiction the attention it requires
I've tried to sweep it under the rug myself and it bit me later on
you can probably find a ton of stuff to do that's inexpensive and creative if you keep looking
video games used to be pretty inocuous years ago, a game of tetris, a car race game, 2 player basketball etc. but now it's grown into this monstrous thing whose only purpose is to keep people hooked
I still have some really old games, from like 10 years ago, I don't play them anymore, but when compared to what's happening today it's like comparing champagne to vodka, one is a kind of social lubricant, the other will knock you out or kill you
the way you get rid of this addiction is to observe yourself from the outside in
whenever you get on the pc in a rush to forget about life that's a good time not to game
and if you do game in those moments don't beat yourself up over it, just pause for a moment, take a deep breath, relax and quit the game, then go do something else, or take a nap or have lunch
you're in a very good position to quit gaming, I was in a similar situation when I started; at the time I was a mess, basically, but now I'm waaaay sharper than I was and better at everything I do
the addiction doesn't stem from the game's developers though, the source of the problem is with you, my guess is you sometimes don't feel up to living and you game to relieve the pressure
the trick is to realize that you can handle anything, that's the belief that will carry you through, with time this will become clearer and clearer
to conclude, I think you're on the right track, you likely will have some relapses, but you will recover and you'll do well in life
I know, because that's what happened to me
good luck!
If you play video games, turn them off once in a while and rejoin life. Some of us here like you, don't ask me why.
Hi A_D
You sound like you have had a really rough lot in life. Im sorry to hear that your battle with gaming has been going on for so long, you must be exhausted with it. Congratulate yourself for taking the first step and wanting to change.
This forum is a great source of information, support and advice, but for something like addiction you really need to seek the help of a professional. Addiction is fuelled by things such as depression, loneliness and anger. You talk about how games have always been an escape for you, and escape from dealing with such a tough life. Until you are able to manage the reasons WHY you need to escape, you will not be able to stop escaping, whether it is through games or drugs. Does that make sense? Recovery from addiction involves treating the causes and reasons driving you to engage in the activity, and that requires the help of a professional.
I see you are from Australia, there are very few specialised resources in Australia devoted to technological addictions, unlike the US and Europe. I am also from Australia (Canberra) and have found it hard to direct people dealing with gaming addiction to the right places, but there is help out there. What state are you in?
In the mean time, don't be too tough on yourself. You sound like you have achieved a lot already for a 21 year old who has battled through life so far. You are young, smart and motivated: with the right help you WILL get through this and be the best version of yourself.
Kind regards
Lilah
Thank you all for your comments. I've read quite a few stories on here about peoples lives, success in shrugging horrible addiction and returning life to be a normal member of society. It's great to know i'm not the only one in the boat.
I would love the achieve the ability to be able to play a game, and no when to stop. Rather than thinking 4 hours before work that i SHOULD get some sleep.
RE: Lilah, I am from NSW. I 100% understand what you are talking about. Unfortunatly not all problems you can face. I've already come to the understanding that my life is not a normal life, My mother won't be around for much longer and there's always a fear with my terrible family medical history, there is a high possibility that i get very ill one day.
Hi AD, sorry for the late reply.
Here is a source located in NSW that you may be able to contact for help. Hope you are taking care of yourself.
http://sydney.edu.au/stuserv/counselling/onsite_files/internet.shtml
Yeah, I have heard that some people addicted to the internet tend to be gamers as well.. since they find themselves on the new more than others.
Mario