u/oneiric_one

After not playing for a bit, last week I got rehooked on the game I'm addicted to when I play, which is a toxic multiplayer game (I can play offline games in a completely healthy manner). I spent about a week playing this game again, wasting a collective 96 hours on it since then.

The last day I played it was on the 20th in the morning (like... literally before 9 am:/, I work a late morning shift). I got off and decided I had to try again. I struggled the first day and was feeling out of focus and in a really bad mood. I wasn't able to pick back up the book I was reading because I couldn't focus at all.

Yesterday, I was finally kind of able to get back into my book again and it got easier as I kept reading. I was in a better mood at work. After work I was bored because I have also quit social media, and you will find that when you don't game and don't use social media you have a lot of time.

I did the dishes, but it was still only 7 pm. I ended up going for a small run and did some weights at home. I also spent the evening having some quality time with my pets. Today I finally got around to shopping, and I spent about an hour making a really delicious and fancy meal and then cleaned the kitchen then I read a bit more of my book.

Now, I don't believe every moment needs to be spent "productively" by any means at all, but the thing is, when I'm not binging away 5-12 hours per day gaming or browsing my phone I actually have time to shop for healthier food and not just pick up chips and candy at the corner store in between matches. I actually cook for myself and clean up, and pay attention to those in my life. It feels really nice!

Just writing this out for myself in case I get tempted again. Good luck to all of you today! We have got this.

Hello!

Advice doesn't work uniformly for everyone, but I thought I'd share an observation and recommendation.

When you're addicted to something and you cut it out, you need to be careful that you don't start supplementing with something else. For example, some people stop smoking or drinking and they begin overeating instead. This is because you're chasing the high, the dopamine, in whichever form.

For me, gaming was actually my supplement for something else. I completely quit all social media and was pretty proud of myself, but then in March of 2025 I started an online game and have been very addicted to it. It became my default, my routine, just something I did in free moments.

I am trying to quit this game now, but I don't want to go back to "social" media either, so the two things that have helped me are:

- Learning to sit comfortably with nothingness/stillness (I don't have to fill every millisecond with activity) -> using a game to do this was a lot like mindless social media scrolling. I swapped one activity for another, but it served the same purpose. Instead, I've started to just bask in that nothingness. I was already doing this in line and the store: looking around instead of mindlessly scrolling, but at home I'd hop on my game. Now I try to just walk around and look out the window, maybe see if there is some chore to do. Most of the time you'll find that there is a LOT you're putting off!

- Finding another "filler activity" for when I couldn't just sit with nothingness, because I do slip up. I'm trying to let this be reading! And slowly I've developed the habit of reaching for a book in the evening instead of the game.

Anyway, I hope this may be of some use to someone. Part of why I typed this out is because I'm struggling bad today.

Hello!

My mum is visiting from about 8 hours (by plane). We usually see one another 1x per year. I visited her last time. I am feeling really overwhelmed because she's staying 14 days.

Last time I visited her it was for 10 days and it wasn't so bad because I could stay in my room in my childhood home and see her throughout the day in small moments, and we did a couple bigger day trips here and there. This time, she's staying in a hotel, so we have to plan times to meet, and of course since we meet up it's a full-on and intense hangout the whole time.

I keep having this feeling like she feels upset we aren't spending enough time together and I feel guilty because she is spending all this time and money to be here, but I just start feeling dreadfully exhausted after like 3 hours of seeing each other. I also feel bad because what's she supposed to do for the rest of the day if we were only to do short hangouts? It's only been 3 days, I don't know how to get through the next 11. Any advice? Has anyone had a similar experience before? (She also came for so long to make the flight worth it, but I've learned my lesson for next time).

Ps please be kind.
(edit, put wrong amount of days by accident in text body + added more details)