I'm 42 and quit gaming for nearly a decade and it was a great period of my life. I went got my MBA, lost weight, improved my career. My dating life improved exponentially. You've seen this storyline so many times already.

Gaming effectively led to my first (and only) divorce so I should have known better...

...but I let myself get bored two years ago, and decided on a whim that I'd play an old school multiplayer game. I figured because it was dated, it wouldn't screw anything up with my amazing girlfriend. I couldn't possibly get addicted to a boring old multiplayer game, right?

Well, fast forward 1 year and 10 months, and my girlfriend and I got into an argument and she said, "All you want to do is play that game."

I was shocked.

I'd thought I had things under control. But then when I sat back and thought about it, it was clearly a problem. Even though I was only playing a couple hours a day during the week, I realized my entire schedule revolved around finishing my work so that I could go play the game. I was rushing to finish tasks and exercise, all so that I got time in. Gaming was the most exciting part of each and every day. Which is totally fucked.

I was minimizing my time with her. I was resistant to going to events and social hours with her because, in the back of my mind, I realized this would cut out gaming time.

And perhaps the most damning sign is that now, about five days after quitting, I'm jonesing to play. I catch myself daydreaming and trying to rationalize why it would be OK to go and just play a game or two. I know I can't do that and, because this isn't my first rodeo, also know these thoughts will fade.

But it sucks to have those feelings and it's fucked up that I let it get to this point.

I heard Andrew Huberman say that ~"Addiction is the progressive narrowing of the things that give you pleasure in life." And that perfectly describes what gaming has become.

I got bored of the multiplayer game and started playing a faster paced FPS multiplayer game that made things even worse.

I always felt that huge dopamine rush in the anticipation of playing. Yet the excitement before playing was never matched by any satisfaction at the end of a session. In fact, I can't think of many times where my mood was any better after gaming.

Even after these long gaming sessions, I'd say to myself, "Why exactly am I doing this for hours again..."

I just can't believe I let it get to this point where it would jeopardize the most important things in my life.

I'd encourage those of you thinking back to just avoid it completely. Use that freetime for the better. I immediately went and bought a sketch pad to learn to draw to fill any additional time up that I'm not spending with my S/O.

Wish me luck.

My friend has one new he is offering to sell to me for fairly cheap and is barely used. Curious if I should expect improvements. I know everyone has different preferences, hand shapes, etc, but just objectively what tends to be the difference if you know.

My friend has one new he is offering to sell to me for fairly cheap and is barely used. Curious if I should expect improvements. I know everyone has different preferences, hand shapes, etc, but just objectively what tends to be the difference if you know or have seen it firsthand. Thanks.