What the subject says. What helps keep you game free each day?
I am struggling with gaming again. I relapsed recently and just deleted everything again. In gaming again I have already gotten behind on homework again. I also have not been sleeping well.
My relapse had no reason for it. I just picked up this old flight simulator x game and reinstalled it and played for 30 mins. After that, I dont know.
So yeah, just some input on what helps you stay game free would really help me and possibly others as well.
Thanks, Ry
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'8/14/2012'
Hi Ry,
I'm glad you came back so fast! And, I'm glad that you were able to just say this because, for me, there's some shame involved in that. Truth is though...there's no shame in the relapse...the shame is in not coming back. So, you did the right thing!! You came back!! :) Be sure to pat youself on the back ten times for every time you want to kick yourself! Eat a big slice of cake and celebrate!
To answer your question, I have four suggestions.
1. Most importantly, keep coming back, which is what you are doing.
2. We have learned from our group experience that those who keep coming to our meetings regularly stay clean" (NA "Who, What, How, & Why" Information Pamphlet). For that one, just substitute the word "game-free" for "clean" (or just say clean if you want). I know that in NA, it's a common suggestion to make 90 meetings in 90 days. Why? To reprogram the brain into doing something different and keep recovery at the forefront. There's another saying that I think is in AA...something on the lines of "Meeting-Makers Make It"...same idea.
3. Learn as much as you can from relapse. Just look back on the thoughts that led right up to the relapse. Don't judge them as bad or anything. It's all part of your life story. Just try and identify the pattern.
4. When the urge hits like that, come right to this site and share about what you are feeling either in a forum or blog.
Peace,
"When we stop living in the here and now, our problems become magnified unreasonably" (Basic Text, p. 9).
It would be interesting to learn why you stopped after 30 minutes.
Were you tired, feeling guilty? Couldnt play anymore, or feeling stress ?
Anyway , I have read your older post and I can advise 4 steps:
1. Visit your doctor and talk about your addicitions, He may advise you advise 2 :
2. To perhaps follow cognitive behavior therapay ( I wish I started that your age!)
3. Follow the instruction vids on youtube about Tai Chi and Yoga - or follow a class.
4, Try to give the 12 steps a try.
pre- diagnosed with Autism.
Oh, and I forgot a very big one....SERVICE....even if you just have one minute free from games, see if you can find a way to be there for someone else. It's not about winning a "I have the most game-free time" contest or anything anyway. We are doing this together! We can do together what we could not do alone! :)
"When we stop living in the here and now, our problems become magnified unreasonably" (Basic Text, p. 9).
What Atreide and Eve said. But I would also add get a sponsor, talk to them. Take it ONE DAY AT A TIME. I put all my games into the recycle bin and emptied it, went into the control panel and uninstalled my games, broke the discs, blocked all the games on FB and keep telling myself that I cannot afford to replace them. And what the others have said GET TO A MEETING (skype meetings on Monday 12 Pacific 3 PM Eastern and every night online meetings 6 PM Pacific 9 PM Eastern), Post your feelings, Answer others' questions. Keep a personal journal of your feelings and questions you have, pray to your HP for WILLINGNESS NOT TO GAME. and most importantly DON'[T BEAT YOURSELF UP.
Quick note, I started with playing Flight Sim for 30 mins. Then I reinstalled many other games and probably have at least 12hrs played since then.
But, for me I am going to make it to meetings again, regularly if possible.
Last night I also deleted all my games and went though my house and got rid of all games and gaming related media (books, magazines, controllers, etc). I did this because after reading chapter 3 in Big Book of AA, I learned that if I truly want to stay sober and game free I had to have no reservations of anykind and hopefully it will allow myself to actually get in touch with a power greater then myself. Cause without a Higher Power I have no defense against installing a game.
'8/14/2012'
I love this! Service is the key!
Even with my companies, I am serving the families who depend on me to lead them well. Being of service fills up my 24-hours each day and I do NOT have time to entertain my desires to game.
Andrew P. Doan, MPH, MD, PhD
My Gaming Addiction Videos on YouTube: YouTube.com/@DrAndrewDoan
*The views expressed are of the author's and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the U.S. Navy, DHA or Department of Defense.
Ry.....big hugs.
You were going to the meetings (Skype and Chat) but I didn't see you there Monday.
I guess this will be like anything else, you will quit when you get sick and tired of being sick and tired.
You know we love you. Time to get real.
A death in my family woke me up completely to what is real. It was a tragedy. We only get one life.
I have transferred the rest of this post to my own blog.
Stay with us, Ry! We need you!
Acceptance. When I am disturbed, it is because a person, place, thing, or situation is unacceptable to me. I find no serenity until I accept my life as being exactly the way it is meant to be. Nothing happens in God’s world by mistake. Acknowledge the problem, but live the solution!
Accountability really helps me stay game free. I have too many people I'm accountable to in real life, but especially here on Olga. If I game again, I have to face you all and that's enough to have stopped me from "playing around with gaming" many times.
Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending. ~Maria Robinson
what getting said ry
I got a new book you might want to check out, it's by Earnie Larsen (Hazeltine) called, Now That You're Sober.
That's the problem, we can all quit games. It's staying quit that's tough.
Sometimes I just have to grit my teeth. Or go to bed. Or go to a meeting, go to several meetings. Call sponsor, call recovery buddy. Work on issues that trigger this off, like: despair or fear.
Call me :)
I box on my "boxing wall" - it makes me feel like a proper man, not like channelling a pixelated hero along a pre-defined path.
I quit gaming on 16 May 2011. Thank you Online Gamers Anonymous for setting me on the right path to conquering my addiction.
I like Patria's thoughts very much, Ry...good advice to which I add:
Try to see the "urge" in its place in the full scope of your life. You "urge" tonight, or next Tuesday, or in August...but you don't "urge" every single minute of every single day. So if the "urge" tonight is big and noisy and loud, try like anything to remember that if you can wait it out, it will shrivel and be small enough that you can kick it down the stairs and out the door. While it may feel horrid tonight, if you wait...if you can get something healthy to eat and a good night's sleep...I PROMISE that in the fresh light of tomorrow morning things will be different and they will be better. Time heals. Our bodies and minds work better when we are fed and rested.
Finally, lean hard on your sober friends when you must. Its okay. One day you'll have someone leaning hard on you to get by. That's recovery.
Best and big hugs,
ElizA
.Left the games behind Tuesday, March 28, 2011...I have a new left knee and a lot more appreciation for the word "recovery"....blessings come in the darndest forms!
.
When it comes down to the wire: acceptance.
I accept how I feel, including and in particular the feeling of craving to play a game. I accept it and sit with it and give myself a hug because that is what I am feeling, and there is nothing wrong with feeling that. I am a video gaming addict. It is normal for me to feel like playing games. I do not have to do anything with that feeling, least of all plug into a game. I just accept it.
Once some moments have passed, I can then ask myself: why do I have this feeling ? Am I hungry, angry, lonely or tired (HALT) ? Do I need to eat, sleep, call a friend, or calm down ? Or am I just bored ?Whether I know or not, it usually helps to reach out to other addicts in recovery, here on OLGA. By the time I have read or posted, the worst has passed.
Perhaps a man who is worthy of the name should put aside this question of how long he will live ..., and turn his attention to this instead, to how he can live the best life possible in the time that is granted to him
Marcus Aurelius
Quitting video games gave me nothing to do all day, so I smoke weed. Lots and lots of weed.
Now I have a drug problem.
is there any reason you want to be high all day , or want to escape?
Why not quit all bad habits and sit the withdrawal period out for a few weeks. Yo are so young...why throw it all away?
pre- diagnosed with Autism.
Are you in the right place then ?
Maybe try our brothers at NA.
Perhaps a man who is worthy of the name should put aside this question of how long he will live ..., and turn his attention to this instead, to how he can live the best life possible in the time that is granted to him
Marcus Aurelius
You need more help then. NA. If you see a problem, you shouldn't just suffer shifting from one thing to the next.
Game free since 3/20/2012
Sovereign is a troll--please note the extremely unattractive badge by his name. Please be advised.
ElizA
.Left the games behind Tuesday, March 28, 2011...I have a new left knee and a lot more appreciation for the word "recovery"....blessings come in the darndest forms!
.
Good call Elizabeth. If you hover over the image it actually says "Troll 1". His comment sounded suspiciously bratty, but we give people the benefit of the doubt.
Perhaps a man who is worthy of the name should put aside this question of how long he will live ..., and turn his attention to this instead, to how he can live the best life possible in the time that is granted to him
Marcus Aurelius
In that book I mentioned above, Earnie Larsen says we tend to relapse (anyone) when we forget how bad it got; so his suggestion was to make a list of everything gaming did for us at the end, of all the reasons why we quit in the first place.
List how it damaged your life, your finances, your relationships, your time, your attitudes, your spiritual well-being, etc. Describe some of the "worst" gaming days you can remember.
Keep the list. Read it periodically, to "remember" those dark days.