I came to olga about 2 years ago regarding my gaming addiction when i was 19.
Gaming has ruined my life to the fact that i left University 3 times due to not being able to commit myself to study while playing games from 70-80 hours a week. I was a gamer that craved off the competitive scene and am someone that doesnt settle for less than success. So as you can tell this took a massive toll on my addiciton making me play more and more till i became the best clocking up close to 14 hours a day.
I recently moved from home to start a fresh life to get away from gaming and enjoy life more socially, a fresh start shall we say. I've recently got accepted into Electrical College to pursue my Apprenticeship as an Electrician and start a decent Career for myself. Since i started gaming i have found it hard to commit to long term study (If noone knew it takes 4 years to become a fully qualified Electrician). Because i have recently had a lot of spare time i have been playing video games, no where close to 140 hours a fortnight like i was but probably 30-40.
Unfortunately i feel a relapse coming on, im about to hit the age of 21 and am scared to ruin basically my last chance of a real Career (Decent paying in the long run). Over the last 2 years i have also ruined relationships due to gaming/attitude adjustment from it. Starting next week i study from 8am-4pm weekdays with a shift or two at work on the weekends so the fact that 140 hours isnt possible lightens the situation. I currently live in a different state with no friends (been here 4 weeks) So it does make it that little bit harder to be social.
How should i approach the situation that im currently in? I have a guitar that i would love to learn how to play and also just got a gym membership and am very interested in bodybuilding naturally. Ofcourse i cant get rid of my computer but i would like to get rid of gaming completely from my life.
Thankyou for any help.
I also now suffer from lower back pain due to gaming, the little things you find out after your addiction. I have to do stretches to get rid of the pain due to tightness from sitting in a chair with bad posture. In time it will heal if i stick to the stretches but this is just a little warning to what can happen to your body.
Hi Mappoh and welcome back. Congratulations on making the choice to remove gaming from your life. You've made a great choice. For when we are addicted to gaming, we can't have both. It's one or the other. I would encourage you to become involved in this website. When you feel like gaming, come here and read posts. Post what you are going through and encourage others by responding to their posts. Also, come to the meetings and, if you can, find someone who you can talk to one on one through email, skype or phone to hook up with as an accountability partner. It all helps. We just can't do this alone.....we need others who are going through the same thing to help us stay game free. That's what makes the differnce. Best of luck to you.
Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending. ~Maria Robinson
Welcome Ben! To escape the vicious cycle, the two foundational pieces are involvement in our fellowship and working our program of recovery. Coming to meetings regularly helps us with both. There are many meetings at a variety of times, see the full meeting list. The voice of addiction will throw a barrage of fears and objections at you to try to steer you away from the things that will help you. You don't have to believe it.
"First things first." It's great that you have some ideas of how to change your life for the better, and if you start out with a solid foundation you'll be able to build upon it later on.
Guaranteed, if you do the things that have successfully helped others, you'll get similar results. Give yourself a shot. You deserve it.
What you feed grows, and what you starve withers away.
Welcome back Mappoh!
I think it is important NOT to look back and be sad about the lost opportunities since you have already realized (probably more than once) that gaming is detrimental to your life in many ways.
It is great that you have given yourself a fresh start.... new state, new home, new career, new life... I have no doubt that once you get rid of the "gaming" component in your life, you will have great opportunities lined up for you. You are still very young and the path that you have chosen has a promising future.
My son is also about to turn 21 and I can understand where you are coming from. I know you have done it once so you can do it again. I remember you deleting all the games from your computer and used your computer only for school work. It is almost impossible to live without a computer nowadays but have you tried the following yet:
1) Getting rid of a powerful computer and buying a small, not so powerful laptop instead.
2) Not just uninstalling the games from your laptop but selling or deleting your gaming account and other game related accounts ('steam' I believe). This is what really helped my son. He is like you; he wouldn't settle for less and wants to achieve higher levels all the time which meant more playing. But after selling his gaming account, he knew if he wanted to play again he had to start all over, which meant another few years to reach to the same level. I think this in itself was deterring for him.
3) Get a iBoss router(or any other brand that you may know) and cut the internet off at certain times of the day (at nights for example... so that you are not tempted to play late into the night and feel the effects the next morning)
Gym and body building are two great ideas! It gives you another goal to focus on, rather than achieving higher levels at the video games. I am not a doctor or exersice expert but I believe exercise helps the release of dopamine and serotonin which in turn help you feel better and hopefully keeps you away from your digital drug! My son is also interested in body building and it is giving him something else to focus on than gaming.
Playing guitar is another wonderful outlet. If you can effort it why don't you start taking guitar lessons? It takes time to practise and therefore you wouldn't have much time left to think about games.
Would you be interested in joining a sporting club such as cycling, bush walking, basketball etc? Whatever your interest maybe. It gives you an opportunity to meet new people. I wouldn't worry about the past relationship failures. As I said before you are very young and usually the failures are the best lessons help us to move forward. As long as you try not to repeat your mistakes, it is all good..
I am confident that you will shake off the gaming addiction and have a bright and fulfilling life. This site is great while you are trying to save yourself from gaming. Hope you can join in some of the meetings. I know the time difference makes it hard for you but maybe you can join in at least ones or twice a week.
Good luck Ben! Please keep coming back and sharing with us. We love to hear from you.
Big Hugs!
"The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past. You can't go on well in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches." "The first step toward change is acceptance." "Once you accept yourself, you open the door to change. That's all you have to do." "Change is not something you do, it's something you allow."- Will Garcia
Hi Mappoh.
I know about the back pain... and I know about coming back. My shoulders and upper back were killing me, but recognizing that the pain was from gaming also helped me to quit last January. Now I'm at it again, hurting again, spending too much time gaming again, and quitting again after almost 8 months of not gaming. Dang. Not a good cycle but I am very grateful for this website.
I wish you the best. Learning to play guitar sounds great!
Best
Game free since 12am,, 1/15/14 A little humbler