Should I Quit or Continue Gaming

In 1977, the world was introduced to the first major player in the video game space, Atari. Flash forward 40-plus years and video games have come a long way. Video games have become a sport. Video games have also become addicting for many people.  Gaming addiction is a real thing and a real problem.

Is Quitting Gaming Really The Answer?

If you are feeling trapped and asking yourself, "Why can't I stop playing video games?"  We'll dive into this issue, look at the underlying issues and give to a path toward quitting gaming.

First off, we are not going to label you with an addiction or a phobia or twist your mind into thinking you have some sort of psychological issue. Sometimes, the answers and solutions are a bit more basic and simple to fix.

Gaming is a Fantasy World

Don't take this the wrong way; it's understandable. On a rainy day, you can trust yourself on a beach and be playing volleyball with a bunch of buddies. On top of that, you "all of a sudden" have incredible skills and a gym body that most would die for.  So when you stop and consider the concept of quitting gaming, it can be overwhelming.   Before we jump to solutions, let's look at why gaming is so addicting?

Let's dig into the psychology behind this. Life is lived, first and foremost, in the mind. The mind is a very powerful thing. All of our experiences become an "experience" by how we process these events in our minds. This is important to understand because video games allow us to create an alternate reality.

This is powerful. Very powerful. If you want to have a healthy relationship with video games, understand the power and draw that gaming has.

When you acknowledge the power of something, you will be more likely to respect it. You'll also be more aware of the dangers of gaming addiction and the pitfalls of gaming too much in general.   Video games, if you are not careful, can mess you up. Does that mean they are bad? Not at all. What it does mean is that if they are not respected and managed, they can mess you up.

The virtual world that gaming offers you is pretty incredible. So many of us are not happy with ourselves. When we game, we can become someone else, we can go somewhere and we can immediately start doing fun things without leaving home.

You may be saying, "why are you making me feel better about gaming too much?".  Quitting gaming or scaling back is the goal, not gaming more.   The answer is that on some level it's understandable. You don't have something wrong with you mentally. You are enticed by something that is 100% enticing. It makes sense! The key here is making sure you are in control, not the games. When the games are in control, gaming addiction slowly becomes a closer reality.  We'll get into that later.

Gaming Is Your Social Time

Gaming, depending on the type, can be social time. Let's face it, being social is fun. As we are sitting around, by ourselves, we get lonely. We want to interact, we want to stay busy. Gaming is just a modern-day version of reading a fiction book or watching a movie. In fiction books and movies, readers and viewers are thrust into virtual reality. Gaming is no different, expect its dimension. With gaming, you get to partake in the story. You are the character. You are also able to be social. It's exciting to meet up with some friends to tackle a new challenge or take on some new adventure.

Gaming can become your main source of social interaction. It truly is social interaction and it's okay to acknowledge that. The issue is that it's only 1 form of social interaction. It's very important that you don't make it your only form of being socially active. If you fall into this trap, your other social skills will start to suffer. How? Through good old fashion experience. You will end up struggling to hold face-to-face conversations. Will it be because you are mentally unstable or having issues? We'd say it's more likely because you'll get incredible rusty at doing something you never do. You need to stay in front of people and keep your social skills sharp.

Gaming Covers Up Your Laziness

We covered the more positive reasons why you tend to find yourself gaming so much. There are also some other obvious issues as well. They may seem obvious but we will list them. Take this information and protect yourself from letting these small issues take a stronghold on your life. Laziness is a big issue for gamers.  Quitting gaming means that you need to find new things to do and possibly become active.

Let's say you have 2 options to be social. You could invite your buddies over for the NFL game on Sunday. You could also spend all-day gaming.

The "real" event versus the virtual event requires you to "move". You need to clean your house, get some food, send a few texts, see who responds, and the list continues. It also costs money.

Sure, the virtual option is much easier and requires less action and money with a similar experience.

Here's the issue: the real world is very real. You need to manage the real world. It exists. It's real. It's not going anywhere. If you start to allow your "real" life to fall apart, it will cause you a significant amount of pain. Your real-life can be divided into those categories:

Personal

Professional

Financial

Physical / Health

Spiritual

Family

Friends

Entertainment

If you were to grade yourself on how each of these categories is going, would you give yourself an 80% or higher in each category?

If gaming is allowing you to become lazy in these "real life" categories, you are destined for big problems down the road. Do you want to end up awkward personally with no friends, jobless, have big money problems, major health issues, freaked out by dying, at odds with your family, and have no social life?

If you are lazy and don't give your real-life the attention it deserves, your life will become a hot mess very fast.

Being Lazy is a big deal. Lazy is essentially a lack of discipline. Quitting gaming or scaling back on gaming will force you out of this laziness life and into a new world.  If you have dreams and goals, the "disciplined" portion of your life is what is going to get you there. Lazy people suffer from two issues. They can't tell themselves, no and they don't do what they should.

This is how criminals are created. They break laws and do things they shouldn't. You must master the art of telling yourself "no" when you want to say yes so bad. You must also make yourself take action when you don't feel like it. Laziness seems like a small issue but in reality, it's a ticking time bomb. Don't let yourself be consumed with laziness.  Quitting gaming or scaling back will help you get this under control and get a better balance in your life.  The alternative would be that you develop a serious gaming addiction.

How to Stop Gaming Addiction

It's no secret that gaming addiction is a real problem. It's estimated that up to 8% of gamers are addicted to their hobby, and the problem is only getting worse as technology becomes more advanced and games become more immersive. This is exactly why we are getting to the bottom of why you have a hard time scaling back on gaming so much. Quitting gaming is not the goal.  Getting gaming under control is.   The reason gaming is so addicting is because many use gaming as a way to escape from real-life problems. Whatever the reason, it's important to address the issue so you can live a healthier, happier life. Chances are you haven't developed some serious issues, but, get a handle on it before it gets out of hand.

Gaming Is Your Way to Avoid Reality

As we deal with the whole virtual reality versus real-life issue, you need to consider the possibility that your "real" life is not something you're proud of. Man up for a second and take a look at this list again. Honestly, how are you doing in each area?

Personal

Professional

Financial

Physical / Health

Spiritual

Family

Friends

Entertainment

If "reality" isn't going well, you need to address it and spend less time in your virtual world. The goal should be to have a good balance. Notice we didn't say you needed to be quitting video games.   We said balance.  Let's look at an example: an ice cream milkshake (stay with us). It's tasty and fun to drink. By itself, it's not an issue. If it's not managed well, a milkshake or 2 a day can lead people to become obese and being trapped in their homes (if we look at the extremes). It's a simple milkshake, yet, without proper management, it can contribute to a large problem.

You must deal with reality and don't let gaming become your improperly managed "milkshake". Keep gaming and dealing with reality in a healthy place.

Gaming Covers Up Your Insecurities

Do you get anxiety? Do you feel like you are not a likable person? Do you feel inferior to others? Do you think no one would want to be in a relationship with you?

A general lack of belief in yourself can cause insecurity. Gamers often fall victim to this and instead of dealing with these issues, they morph into another person in the gaming world. In the gaming world, their self-confidence increases, and they feel better. The issue – this is the "virtual" world. You need to power off and go look in the mirror at some point. That guy in the mirror is the real you. How do you feel about him?

 If you are not happy with what he's doing and who he is, you need to address that. The good news is that "dealing" with your insecurities and getting to a better place is 100% achievable. It just takes work and commitment. Don't let gaming be a place to run from your insecurities. Insecurities are normal. Don't blow this out of proportion. Just maturely deal with this.  Quitting video games in not going to solve this problem, but, scaling back will help you get to the root of the issue and then come back to gaming for the right reasons.

Is Quitting Gaming Really Needed?

Can quitting gaming become a reality?  Is quitting gaming really needed or is that overboard?   Is there a way to get a better balance?  We will give you a plan to get this to a better place. This will include gaming. Before we start, let us tell you about Steve. Steve is 64. Steve is a real person. Steve is an avid gamer and has been for over 30 years. Steve has a state-of-the-art gaming center. He games almost daily. Here's the important part. Steve just retired. Over the past 35 years, he was a top employee at his job. He bought a house and paid it off last year. He's been married to the same woman for 35 years. He has children. He's a great father and a wonderful person.

Be like Steve. Steve is balanced. Steve is crystal clear about the fact that there is "real" life and sad "virtual" life. Steve is an avid gamer. He plays daily. No one accuses him of having an issue. People call him for advice. He's got it together.

Remember how we said this wasn't complicated? It's not. It's simple, but not easy.

To take everything we've said and give yourself a path forward, create a list of the categories in your life as we showed you earlier:

Personal

Professional

Financial

Physical / Health

Spiritual

Family

Friends

Entertainment

Grade yourself in each area. Once a month, write down things that you need to improve on, in each area.

This is your real-world "report card". Step outside yourself and be a manager. Manage this "real" world. Make sure you are doing well in all areas. What you'll find is that as your "real" life starts to fall into place, your virtual world will become more fun. You'll feel responsible and confident. You feel as though you earned the time in your "virtual" world because your "real" world is in check! Be like Steve.  You won't have to quit video games and in stead, you can have the best of both worlds!

To get more help on the subject, check out info on quitting gaming on Reddit.  We also have other posts about gaming on Huzzul too.

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Source: https://huzzul.com/should-i-quit-gaming/

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