Okay, I am new here but have three sons who I believe are addicted to gaming. All of whom I think are avoiding real life. This includes real life girlfriends, real life jobs, real life responsibilities etc. etc.
I fear now in finding this website that this may be more common than I first realized. Unfortunately, in reading the information, I have been the nagging, whining mother who just can't understand her childrens addictions. Why I do not know since I am a self-professed alcoholic. I never really connected the fact that gaming was but a symptom of their problems not THE problem. Although they have had girlfriends none have lasted for long due to their gaming. They get out very rarely as they spend on average about 5-8 hrs. a day online. They all work and have maintained jobs. Outside of working and gaming they do little else but sleep.
I guess acceptance that I myself can do nothing but love and encourage them to 'get a life' is hard to swallow. Your own children are people that you love most in the world, the ones that you hold out high hopes and dreams of them doing better in their life than you did.
Sorry for rambling but I am amazed now to have hope in knowing that it is an addiction not that they are lazy, crazy or otherwise just bad people.
Yes, it's an addiction. How old are the boys? When it became clear that gaming was my son's problem, we told him that he either had to go to school and maintain good grades or move out and support himself somehow. You can accept that they have an addiction, but you don't have to allow it in your house. Welcome to OLGA-non
"Small service is true service while it lasts. Of humblest friends, bright creature! scorn not one
The daisy, by the shadow that it casts,
Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun." -------William Wordsworth
If they are still in the house, no matter what the age, you can some set the rules, and you can "hold up the mirror", no matter what the age or where. If they are minors, you can "take action". There are many posts here on many interventions. Please, stay for a bit, read a lot and know that you have support to help them in what capacity is realistic. My "gamer"son isn't "lazy" in anything else, part of how I realized the game was a problem.
Welcome!
"a mind is a terrible thing to waste"
Hello, Well, I find this site very intresting, I don't know if i am game addict, i more computer addict, i play rarely games, but I hang out most of my time in front of the computer, I know the reasons because but I will tell that another time. I could use some programs to stop gaming, not therapeutic or others, make the games CRASH, if you can enter the system registers you could delete the main files from the game, and to prevent restore you could download a system freezer ( i wll search later for the name) , that program freezes the system and that means, after you delete files and freeze the system, after a restrart files will be still deleted and after a "reinstall" the files will be gone. And the best thing is that you can put a password to that program, only a whole system reinstall would delete the program, but I'm not sure about that, probably you must unfreeze system before reinstalling system.
Try that probably you will make the "gamer" stop playing a bit. :)