Fight Computer Game Addiction
It's important to have fun in life. However, things you do for fun can become something that takes over your life, and become an addiction. It can interfere with work or school, things you need to do to make money and survive. Spending all night leveling up on that game might seem fun, but is a level 50 Paladin something you can put on a job or college application? If you're at the point where your gaming habits become an addiction, it's important to take a step back and look at what you're doing to yourself.
Contents
Steps
- Examine all of the negative effects that have come of your game addiction. These might be:
- Physical pain.
- Diminishing physical and mental skills.
- Loss of productive time, which could be spent on school or earning money.
- Your grades suffering.
- Personality changes.
- Unhealthy weight gain because of poor diet and physical activity.
- Make an honest list of what your priorities are right now. Namely, this is to put your addiction into focus. Don't make a list of what your priorities should be, but what they actually are. If you have problems deciding how high of a priority something is, look at what you've done in the past.
- When you had a chore to do, did you get up and do it or did you wait until you got one last level?
- When your friends wanted to hang out, did you want to go with them or did you want to stay home and play?
- When you brought your homework home, did you do it right away or did you get on the computer and play until the last minute?
- Make a new priority list, and this time, write what your priorities should be. Remember that computer games should be played on your free time, so consider where free time be on your list.
- Think about how you feel when you try to do something else for fun. You may find yourself doing it for a few minutes, then returning to your game.
- Commit yourself to making a change for the better. Realizing that you have a problem, along with seeing the effects of the problem, gives you an advantage. It gives you a reason to change and motivates you to stick with it.
- Decide whether you want to go cold turkey or progressively quit. Some people can't get over an addiction unless they stop completely, while cold turkey actually makes it worse for someone else.
- Set a day in the near future when you'll start and commit to it. If you set it at a point in the future, such as "next Monday", you can prepare yourself and motivate yourself.
- Make a plan for how many hours a day you're allowed to play at the most, if you choose not to go cold turkey. You can cut down in increments like hours or half hours, and by day or week.
- Move the computer to a room you're not frequently in. It's easy to feel the urge to get up and play if your computer is in the living room or your bedroom, so if you have another room to put it in, move it there.
- Sometimes it helps to use your addiction to help you quit. If you prefer a game where the objectives end totally or result in an extremely lacking 'free' mode, think about how dull the game will be then. Make an estimate as to how much time it'll take you to reach this stage.
- Complete your other responsibilities before going on the computer. When you come home from school, do your homework. Do your chores and take care of the top priorities before settling down for the day.
- Go to bed earlier and earlier. Often, someone addicted to computer games will stay up late. Try going to bed earlier each day, but not so early that you'll just lay in bed staring at the ceiling. If you go to bed at 10, try 9:45 the next night, then 9:30 the next, and 9:00 the night after that.
- Replace the time you're cutting from the computer on more productive activities. You can exercise, read, or do something else that stimulates your brain.
- Go out with your friends more. Friends are important in life: they're there to support you, they're a source of advice, and later in life, those connections can even help you get a job. Plus, walking around the mall or the park can help your health.
- Do this until you get to a point where you don't need to play or feel that it's your only outlet for fun. When you get to a place where you realize that computer games are something you do in your free time, as opposed to something you push other things aside for, you've made an important accomplishment.
Tips
- If you want to go cold turkey, you can try uninstall your games or move it to a Flash Drive and lock it somewhere until you could get out from your addiction.
- Consider getting a therapist if you find that it is overwhelmingly difficult to deal with on your own with friends.
- Seek support from your friends and family. Ask them to be patient with you as long as you're trying to improve. However, it's important to make sure you are trying to improve, not just pushing the envelope on how much sympathy you can get.
Warnings
- Quitting cold turkey might make your cravings worse, but cutting down progressively might influence you to keep on doing it.
- Some people have exhibited actual withdrawal symptoms after they stop gaming. You may want to warn your friends and family about this in case you become irritable and lash out at them.
