It's been a while since I've been active on TL, so it may seem strange to write an article concerning gaming addiction right on the getgo after such a long time. Though I've been reading my old article which featured my terrible experience with traveling to a gaming event and I remembered and old blog post which I wrote in German a while back. Since I thought this blog post may interest some of you I thought a rough translation would be fun and interesting to read, as well as cure my boredom for now

(To let you know beforehand, I'm not a native speaker nor am I gaming actively at the moment)

Blogpost from Feb. 2014

It's almost ironic that I feature a controversial topic such as "gaming addiction" in one of my first blog posts, especially since I still consider gaming one of my all time passions, this gives me inside in the issues of addiction from a first hand experience.
In public media the gaming community as a whole is often viewed as unsocial, unhealthy and addicted to games in general, this is often achieved by looking at extrem cases which represent only a tiny part of the whole community. With this blog post I don't want to question the purpose of these reports (prevent kids to become that way), I want to address the way the media is using to do so.

Take "Me" as an example
I would lie if I say that at my most extrem part of my "gaming career" I wasn't addicted to video games. I cancelled appointments, my grades dropped slightly and sometimes I played for 10 to 12 hours each day, luckily I was able to squeeze in an occasional toilet break here or there. At this stage my mother had already given up on trying to tell me to go out and do something else, and I can't blame her. I was 16-17 years old and the only reason to turn off the PC was a cancelled raid on a Friday evening.
Everything you did to prepare for the next raid was already done, and there was nothing else to do. Everyone else on the guild was going to bed and in the end I was alone in our 40 man guild Teamspeak.
The big turning point surprisingly came when I invited a good real life friend to play with me. At first it may have seemed that everything was getting worse and worse, since we weren't talking about anything other than gaming even in real life. But since we knew each other in real life, both of us remembered each other to attend certain appointments or dates which were easier and more fun to go to, since we knew that we had something to talk about. This helped me get through school until I got my degree.
I wouldn't say that I was still addicted at this point, though my life went back to a normal and healthy life, when another friend of mine offered me to help him in local youth work. After almost 5 years of picking at me and trying to get me to help him I accepted and I found many new friends which gave me the motivation to go out and forget gaming once in a while.

Well, that's a nice story, but...
With my example I want to emphasize that the common belief of "cure to gaming addiction" isn't what the media always tells us. It isn't about cutting the wires and putting the affected person in a rehabilitation center. It is about stubbornes and acceptance of a persons hobbies. If my friends would've cut me off from the beginning and let me do "my thing" at home, while they go out drinking or having fun, I could guarantee you that my life would've spiraled out of control.
If you know someone with a problem like mine was back then you should show them what the "real world" has to offer and help them balance everything out.
In the beginning it seems like a lot of work, but in the end it is worth it for both parties. Trust me

[sc1f]eonzerg

Belgium7000 Posts

October 01 2015 10:25 GMT

Im so f*cked...if this is called adiction im in another lvl i guess,i cant remember how many times i told my friends i couldnt out cuz i was busy (i had iccup clan league ...) except for girls lol if girl called me i was ready!

pebble444

Italy2503 Posts

October 01 2015 11:17 GMT

This is an interesting topic and something that is not brought up enough or talked about by people who have or had this problem.

I agree that it is very important to have friends, family or collegues never give up and always try and continue to ask you to go out. It seems like the most balanced out way to get you to reduce game-time. reducing it, is one step, acknowlege it is another, coming to terms with it is yet another.

In your example you talk about the First step. the second step you sorta of mention concern, with posting the blog in the first place, wheter for you or for someone elses sake. The last step you don' t talk about, how and when you actually stopped, or why, how you felt, etc. you only say you stopped and are not doing it right now.

What is a healthy prospective is subjective. However i believe that not playing at all is a failure as well; Gaming in a balanced way, making it part of your life instead of "your life" , is the real victory. When you can play and stop, when YOU want, then you are successful.

This comes more towards the end. Another possible helpful solution at the beginning is to analyze why you are playing round the clock in the first place. There is a reason for this. Talking to other users in your position, family or friends, or a physcologist can help for that matter.

And then there is the actual gaming part in itself; How do you game? do you analyze your games? do you practice BO or, in case of non-strategy games, basic moves or actions? do you cope well with losses? do you conduct yourself in a mannered way?
These actions and ways of doing things reflect the personality of a person.

And lastly, pulling the plug is a solution that can be hepful to some people. Its all situational, and, since we are talking about addiction, every person will deal with it and have the solution that is best for them. The main point is this: People know what they need to live happily and clearly, even do they don' t act on it or express it, the person itself knows better than anyone else what they need to do. Its just a question of descovering it, and that can be hard if all the focus is waking up and playing and going to bed having played the whole day

Zumm

Germany122 Posts

October 01 2015 14:06 GMT

Thanks for the comments, especially pebbles for taking your time to evaluate everything from your own perspective.

In your example you talk about the First step. the second step you sorta of mention concern, with posting the blog in the first place, wheter for you or for someone elses sake. The last step you don' t talk about, how and when you actually stopped, or why, how you felt, etc. you only say you stopped and are not doing it right now.

I actually didn't notice the shift between phase 2 & 3, it happened automatically as I didn't have that much time to play anymore since I started an apprenticeship.

Gaming in a balanced way, making it part of your life instead of "your life" , is the real victory.

A quote everyone should keep in their heads, since this applies not only to gaming but to everything else too.

And then there is the actual gaming part in itself; How do you game? do you analyze your games? do you practice BO or, in case of non-strategy games, basic moves or actions? do you cope well with losses? do you conduct yourself in a mannered way?

Well you can still be obsessive about this though, but as you are mentioning further down it all depends on a persons mindset and how they approach the addiction (if one exists).

And lastly, pulling the plug is a solution that can be hepful to some people. Its all situational, and, since we are talking about addiction, every person will deal with it and have the solution that is best for them.

I'm not too sure about this one. Of course it differs from person to person how intensely someone external needs to interfere with the own battle against the addiction. Though since gaming addiction isn't mainly (if at all) a physical addiction I feel that easing people out of the addiction slowly is less hard on the addicted persons psycological condition.

On October 01 2015 19:25 [sc1f]eonzerg wrote:
Im so f*cked...if this is called adiction im in another lvl i guess,i cant remember how many times i told my friends i couldnt out cuz i was busy (i had iccup clan league ...) except for girls lol if girl called me i was ready!

Well, you seem to be able to set priorities. It's just that your clan league is more important to you than meeting your friends that evening, but it doesn't seem you are neglecting them altogether. You are an adult after all :D

Clazziquai10

Singapore1949 Posts

October 01 2015 14:21 GMT

Well good for you sir... I was pretty addicted at some point but I have always had few or no friends, let alone friends who were close enough to help pull me out of my addiction like that. Idk how but i just snapped out of it one day haha