I learned a very important thing this Wednesday.
It was about cigarette smoking but the principal I think is about the same...
I was at a party with my girlfriends mom, step-dad, sister, sisters boyfriend plus a whole lot of other people..
The sisters boyfriend said something that really made me think.
He is addicted to cigarettes... and what he learned from a psychologist was that.. If you have a addiction and you quit and then start again you often start with the same dose that you used when you quit.
Basically.. he smoked like 20-25 cigarettes a day when he wanted to quit.. and he did quit for about 6 months but when he then got back to smoking he didn't start with 5 a day or something like that but he started with 20-25 a day...
Do you think it is the same with gaming?
I mean if say you play 8 hours a day do you restart playing with 8 hours a day?
I think so.. and I think that is what happened with me really..
That raises some serious questions... can you really go back and "just play a little"... after you have gotten rid of the addiction?
It -IS- possable, but most people are likely to do the same as the cigarette thing. One of the reasons I can't go back to playing.
My Gamer Bio
"The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend" -Henri Bergson
My guess is that people that are able to go back and play in moderation are rare. I know that I can never play another MMORPG or it will be the same thing all over again for me. I often try to convince myself that if I start a 'new' MMORPG that I can control it and it won't control me. The lies we try to tell ourselves.....
My opinion on addiction is that if you're an addict, you'll always be an addict. It's a part of you that you can't just "get rid of". I'm an alcoholic, but I never have a drink. I'm still an alcoholic. I don't believe in moderation for addicts, I'm of the opinion you'll always go back to the way you were, or at very least you'll have the constant urge to. I've observed this in drug addicts and gamblers whom I've been very close to during my life, and in myself and a friend as gamers.