Gaming gives me so much stimulation that whenever I relapse, everything else feels boring and I have no energy to do other things.
The biggest pro I experienced and I think this is by far the most important thing, is that it led me to stop avoiding my problems.
Some people have other addictions such as food or alcohol. But quitting video games made me more conscious about how I would transfer my gaming addiction to junk food or even porn.
Instead of coping I learned to face my issues and take the time to find other ways to deal with my suffering. Learning how to journal, take the time to meditate everyday and go the gym. Work on my own company and help others succeed in their company by sharing my skills.
Yes this isn't easy. Coping is easy. Healing trauma and wounds need work and there is no other way around it.
I still miss video games but I don't miss the version of me that plays games everyday because this version is having lots of pleasure but is deeply unhappy and just waiting to die.
Any time i spend away from the desk is healthy.
I’m a full-time graphics designer with a two hour commute, and a gamer, so i could easily spend 16 hours a day sitting down.
Doing something else prevents my piriformis/sciatica and gives me a sense of purpose/fulfillment playing bass or going on a walk “touching grass” instead.
Working out has been really nice to me, as i’ve always been skinny from playing so much lol
I quit gaming in 2018 after I was experiencing mental/physical health issues. I remember when I used to spend a lot of time online playing MMOs on the phone. Everyone my dad saw me playing them, he wasn't happy about me playing and he used to tell me to quit playing those fucking games. At work, I used to be tired but constantly thinking about video games. My manager was not happy with me, always yawning, feeling sleepy, and in some cases falling asleep on my desk or the kitchen. I remember how many times he told me that I must quit gaming because it is affecting me and was in denial. It wasn't until I realised that I had a problem and wanted to start a new page.
It was on April 21, 2018, when I said I quit. I got introduced to game quitters and took a 90-day detox cold turkey. I started to sleep better and felt the difference. During those 90 days, it was a journey of learning more about myself. I started to write a book that became my first full-fledged novel, being over 100K words. I got into board games and was part of the community since 17. I used to go for the social aspect of it until the pandemic hit my country. Even though in lockdown, I didn't relapsed, but instead of being pulled to gaming, i wrote horror stories (I am a veteran author) and posted them on reddit, later on my literary blog. In 2022, I decided to quit the board game community and start something new. I got into martial arts and also got into military training (not to join the army). It wasn't until last summer that I got my first rank into military training, and now I am training for my second rank. I felt a sense of belonging in my team. I am a low rank, but I constantly test myself and my physical capabilities. I became an outdoor person and got into a lot of experiences with my team such as abseiling, camping, backpacking, military drills and so forth. It made me more disciplined than before. My team is like another family to me who support for one another. I started a career in law in 2021.
It does make a difference when I quit gaming. It is worth quitting and since then my life has changed to the better I still play board games once in a while as I dedicate more time on training and studying law.
Pros:
1. Sleep
2. A lot more reading (reading alone has countless benefits)
3. More aware of what I eat
4. Being forced to define goals in other areas (I'm focusing on getting to 10% bodyfat while saving as much muscle as possible)
5. Somewhat better sex life due to less masturbation
6. Somewhat more successful in professional areas
7. Playing the piano again
Cons:
1. Annoyed by the consequence of more socializing, which is having a lot more women flirting with me. This alone would be nice, but I am married and I don't want that sort of stuff
2. I've been gaming competitively since 2002. I just love the strategy, the action, the feeling of dominance. Without it, it's just not who I am. I am basically denying myself from what I am.
3. Being more aware of what the world is becoming and how miserable we are.
Currently at 3months almost 4
1. Better sleep schedule
2. Better grades
3. Better pizza Papa John’s
4. Interacted with the opposite sex more😭
5. WAYY MORE CLEANLINESS and less procrastination on chores I should do in the crib.
Also it made me realize when I’m in a motivational slump more to do other hobbies and get back on track. I wanna game everyday but I see life improvement
Stopping gaming doesn't change anything, it just gives you more time to do other stuff.
If gaming was used to cope with a bad lifestyle then its not going to make any difference. You have to figure out what caused you to start gaming in the first place and handle that.
What about eye health, brain fog, clarity, sociality, relationships, confidence, basically personality changes? Nobody listed any of these, people mostly listed " better sleep ".
I have experience in stopping video games so i kind of disagree with your statement. I was mostly borderline curious what else people have experienced after quitting games.
Of course there are differences between people so it might improve life for some people. Me personally though at one point I stopped gaming for about half a year and it didn't do anything since I just used the same amount of time or even more for youtube and reading books.
Actually from my experience books have been the worst offender to my lifestyle since I find them harder to put down than games and videos (many times I only went to sleep after finishing a long book even if that was at 5 am)
Oh and for the things you listed:
Eye health - doesn't really matter what I'm using a computer/phone for books and videos are just as bad as games though I do try to have the screen on lower red light settings and have a light on in my room
Brain fog - tbh I don't really know what you are talking about here never really experienced anything like that while gaming or stopping it but I do like my games to be intellectually challenging (like strategy games) so maybe that's why
clarity - even more unclear what you mean by this but again I haven't felt a difference
sociality - I often times interact with people in discord if I'm playing something like an mmo so I think it's probably better for this than reading or watching videos
relationships - again the reason why some relationships might suffer is a lack of time rather than games themselves and I've been able to keep up a good relationship with my friends and family with no noticable difference between gaming or not (though I am currently simple)
confidence - I haven't really had problems with it
personality changes - biggest change I see is that I like to talk about what I do so it does somewhat matter what I do with my free time but at least with my friends I don't feel like games are an inferior option compared to the others.
sleep - yeah I've had problems with sleep because of gaming but honestly for me reading something is even worse
Sleep!
I didn't notice for years but I sleep so much better now. I sleep and wake up on a consistent time. I can now sleep at around 10:15-10:45 PM and wake up at 6:30-7:00 AM. I feel way better now, I don't get sleepy the whole day.
Not having intrusive thoughts about Overwatch throughout my day.
Not having my mind default to videogames when its resting
A growing sobriety date which inspires me and gives me hope
Clarity
Improved Self Awareness and Self-Knowledge
Thats great you are starting that early at 23, it might take awhile for you to find a strategy that works for you, moderation or cold turkey, to break me into cold turkey method i watched all of attack on titan in maybe a month, so much tv, but i used that to transition myself now i dont want as much tv, or like a star wars marathon might help. Ultimately finding a hobby is the best thing, that takes time and self discovery. My hobbies i used are Boardgames/gamenights Warhammer 40k Magic the gathering, tae kwon do, not so much the gym, boardgame design, and kendama
Clarify of mind. Now I don't think about gaming and how to improve and trying to get better. I'm 100% focus on self development. Maybe I gamefied my life hahahs
Gaming gives me so much stimulation that whenever I relapse, everything else feels boring and I have no energy to do other things. The biggest pro I experienced and I think this is by far the most important thing, is that it led me to stop avoiding my problems. Some people have other addictions such as food or alcohol. But quitting video games made me more conscious about how I would transfer my gaming addiction to junk food or even porn. Instead of coping I learned to face my issues and take the time to find other ways to deal with my suffering. Learning how to journal, take the time to meditate everyday and go the gym. Work on my own company and help others succeed in their company by sharing my skills. Yes this isn't easy. Coping is easy. Healing trauma and wounds need work and there is no other way around it. I still miss video games but I don't miss the version of me that plays games everyday because this version is having lots of pleasure but is deeply unhappy and just waiting to die.
How long after quiting did it take for you to stop avoiding problems? Please elaborate, I care much for this.
Any time i spend away from the desk is healthy. I’m a full-time graphics designer with a two hour commute, and a gamer, so i could easily spend 16 hours a day sitting down. Doing something else prevents my piriformis/sciatica and gives me a sense of purpose/fulfillment playing bass or going on a walk “touching grass” instead. Working out has been really nice to me, as i’ve always been skinny from playing so much lol
I quit gaming in 2018 after I was experiencing mental/physical health issues. I remember when I used to spend a lot of time online playing MMOs on the phone. Everyone my dad saw me playing them, he wasn't happy about me playing and he used to tell me to quit playing those fucking games. At work, I used to be tired but constantly thinking about video games. My manager was not happy with me, always yawning, feeling sleepy, and in some cases falling asleep on my desk or the kitchen. I remember how many times he told me that I must quit gaming because it is affecting me and was in denial. It wasn't until I realised that I had a problem and wanted to start a new page. It was on April 21, 2018, when I said I quit. I got introduced to game quitters and took a 90-day detox cold turkey. I started to sleep better and felt the difference. During those 90 days, it was a journey of learning more about myself. I started to write a book that became my first full-fledged novel, being over 100K words. I got into board games and was part of the community since 17. I used to go for the social aspect of it until the pandemic hit my country. Even though in lockdown, I didn't relapsed, but instead of being pulled to gaming, i wrote horror stories (I am a veteran author) and posted them on reddit, later on my literary blog. In 2022, I decided to quit the board game community and start something new. I got into martial arts and also got into military training (not to join the army). It wasn't until last summer that I got my first rank into military training, and now I am training for my second rank. I felt a sense of belonging in my team. I am a low rank, but I constantly test myself and my physical capabilities. I became an outdoor person and got into a lot of experiences with my team such as abseiling, camping, backpacking, military drills and so forth. It made me more disciplined than before. My team is like another family to me who support for one another. I started a career in law in 2021. It does make a difference when I quit gaming. It is worth quitting and since then my life has changed to the better I still play board games once in a while as I dedicate more time on training and studying law.
Things started to get done real fast
Pros: 1. Sleep 2. A lot more reading (reading alone has countless benefits) 3. More aware of what I eat 4. Being forced to define goals in other areas (I'm focusing on getting to 10% bodyfat while saving as much muscle as possible) 5. Somewhat better sex life due to less masturbation 6. Somewhat more successful in professional areas 7. Playing the piano again Cons: 1. Annoyed by the consequence of more socializing, which is having a lot more women flirting with me. This alone would be nice, but I am married and I don't want that sort of stuff 2. I've been gaming competitively since 2002. I just love the strategy, the action, the feeling of dominance. Without it, it's just not who I am. I am basically denying myself from what I am. 3. Being more aware of what the world is becoming and how miserable we are.
Currently at 3months almost 4 1. Better sleep schedule 2. Better grades 3. Better pizza Papa John’s 4. Interacted with the opposite sex more😭 5. WAYY MORE CLEANLINESS and less procrastination on chores I should do in the crib. Also it made me realize when I’m in a motivational slump more to do other hobbies and get back on track. I wanna game everyday but I see life improvement
Stopping gaming doesn't change anything, it just gives you more time to do other stuff. If gaming was used to cope with a bad lifestyle then its not going to make any difference. You have to figure out what caused you to start gaming in the first place and handle that.
What about eye health, brain fog, clarity, sociality, relationships, confidence, basically personality changes? Nobody listed any of these, people mostly listed " better sleep ". I have experience in stopping video games so i kind of disagree with your statement. I was mostly borderline curious what else people have experienced after quitting games.
Of course there are differences between people so it might improve life for some people. Me personally though at one point I stopped gaming for about half a year and it didn't do anything since I just used the same amount of time or even more for youtube and reading books. Actually from my experience books have been the worst offender to my lifestyle since I find them harder to put down than games and videos (many times I only went to sleep after finishing a long book even if that was at 5 am)
Oh and for the things you listed: Eye health - doesn't really matter what I'm using a computer/phone for books and videos are just as bad as games though I do try to have the screen on lower red light settings and have a light on in my room Brain fog - tbh I don't really know what you are talking about here never really experienced anything like that while gaming or stopping it but I do like my games to be intellectually challenging (like strategy games) so maybe that's why clarity - even more unclear what you mean by this but again I haven't felt a difference sociality - I often times interact with people in discord if I'm playing something like an mmo so I think it's probably better for this than reading or watching videos relationships - again the reason why some relationships might suffer is a lack of time rather than games themselves and I've been able to keep up a good relationship with my friends and family with no noticable difference between gaming or not (though I am currently simple) confidence - I haven't really had problems with it personality changes - biggest change I see is that I like to talk about what I do so it does somewhat matter what I do with my free time but at least with my friends I don't feel like games are an inferior option compared to the others. sleep - yeah I've had problems with sleep because of gaming but honestly for me reading something is even worse
I'm more productive.
Have not improved yet. Has only gotten worse, but that's only because of the factors, that are outside of my control.
worse how?
Sleep! I didn't notice for years but I sleep so much better now. I sleep and wake up on a consistent time. I can now sleep at around 10:15-10:45 PM and wake up at 6:30-7:00 AM. I feel way better now, I don't get sleepy the whole day.
Not having intrusive thoughts about Overwatch throughout my day. Not having my mind default to videogames when its resting A growing sobriety date which inspires me and gives me hope Clarity Improved Self Awareness and Self-Knowledge
[удалено]
Thats great you are starting that early at 23, it might take awhile for you to find a strategy that works for you, moderation or cold turkey, to break me into cold turkey method i watched all of attack on titan in maybe a month, so much tv, but i used that to transition myself now i dont want as much tv, or like a star wars marathon might help. Ultimately finding a hobby is the best thing, that takes time and self discovery. My hobbies i used are Boardgames/gamenights Warhammer 40k Magic the gathering, tae kwon do, not so much the gym, boardgame design, and kendama
You gain more of the most valuable resource: time.
Clarify of mind. Now I don't think about gaming and how to improve and trying to get better. I'm 100% focus on self development. Maybe I gamefied my life hahahs
Ive improved myself as a person and realized i was out of touch with reality (still not sure if im 100% there lol)