Videogames are too engaging
Hi!
I'm a quite busy (as everyone) adult who has played videogames since his childhood. I played quite a lot during my teenage years, but after growing up my gaming time decreased a lot due to responsibilities. Nowadays, I rarely play, maybe 1h a day if I'm lucky.
I have a functional life and everything goes generally well. My problem is simply that I find videogames **too** engaging and exciting. I have many other hobbies, but none can be compared to gaming. Everything is a bit duller in comparison, and if I'm doing anything other than gaming (e.g. working, studying, other hobbies...) I feel the urge to play. If by the end of the day I have not played (which happens often), I feel dissatisfied, even if it was a nice day.
I suppose this counts as an addiction, even if I barely consume it, as I do think it raises my threshold to enjoy other things. Restricting it is worse, because I crave it more. But fully quitting feels like dropping a very important part of my life that I do enjoy a lot. Maybe my reward system is broken and videogames exploit that in ways no other hobbies can.
Is any of you in a similar situation? Did stopping gaming make you enjoy other things more? Any advice on how to handle this?
Thanks!!