Video game addiction is a serious addiction. While it mainly affects younger people, anyone can experience it. The achievements in video games may be exciting, but they could cost you your peace of mind and cause you to fall behind on your responsibilities.
Some people manage to handle their gaming time just fine, but not everyone is so lucky. Practicing mindfulness is an easy way to tackle the addiction without more intensive treatments, though.
Why are video games so addictive?
Most people aren’t addicted to video games. More than 90 percent of gamers have a healthy relationship with gaming, but it’s those who have unhealthier tendencies who may need a bit of extra help.
Video games are a popular hobby, but something makes them more addictive than reading, bird-watching or any other calming activity. The lights and rewards typically associated with gaming release dopamine, which someone can then chase as a “high,” similar to people who abuse or misuse drugs and alcohol.
Video games can be helpful in that they can increase your ability to focus in other areas of your life. Still, when you’re an avid gamer, it may be challenging to pull yourself away from the screen. Only by admitting that you may have an addiction can you start to defeat it—and go back to enjoying video games for fun, not for the high of the dopamine release.
How to know when you’re addicted
With such a fun pastime as video games, you may not see the addiction take root until you start to feel the detrimental effects of gaming too much. You may notice yourself beginning to experience adverse side effects. If you feel any pain while gaming, particularly in your arms or shoulders, you should take a step back and let your body rest.
Another indication of addiction is that you can’t go a day without playing some kind of game, as if you must play it and can’t afford a break. Any unhealthy behaviour regarding video games could mean addiction or that adverse effects are on the horizon, so it’s best to deal with the issue as soon as possible and use mindfulness to become more aware of the present.
7 techniques for breaking your addiction
Practicing mindfulness is simple: you need only to be aware of your thoughts and feelings, then stay in the moment and experience things as they are now. Mindfulness helps you deal with escapism, and most people who practice it have seen a decline in their craving for video games.
It’s the perfect tool to help you get out of the video gaming rut you might be stuck in. These ideas are just a few of the ways you can use mindfulness to your advantage in order to tackle something as dangerous as video game addiction.
Relax
Some people like to relax by partaking in stimulating activities, such as sports or video gaming. When you relax, however, this should include some time away from screens. Take care of yourself away from devices by doing things like reading or taking care of your skin, and you’ll find that you can relax your eyes and appreciate the world around you more.
You’ll never fully relax if you continue to participate in a highly stimulating activity. Keep your mind in the moment by doing a relaxing activity in the present, and then come back to your game when you feel ready.
Stay in the moment
While it may be tempting to flee to fictional worlds when times get tough, staying in the moment is better than ruminating about the past or the future, although it’s always good to plan for the future when that’s possible.
If the future makes you so nervous that you try to escape into video games to lessen the stress, try to sit with your anxious thoughts. All thoughts pass eventually, and sitting with the stress you’re feeling may help you develop strategies to combat some of the problems you’re facing.
Talk to others
Instead of taking your feelings out in a game, consider talking to friends. Friends can help you work through any issues you have, and they can help pull you away from video games. Your loved ones will serve as welcome distractions to get you away from your devices. Spend more time with them, and consider going out of the house to do more activities, so you won’t be as tempted to play video games indoors.
Meditate each day
Meditation occurs when you consciously focus on your breathing and your body, not your thoughts. It’ll help you centre yourself and bring you back to the present when your mind starts wandering off.
Meditation can help you manage conditions like anxiety and racing thoughts, which makes it one of the best ways to practice mindfulness and ease away from your video game addiction.
Meditation has proven to work well when it comes to combatting substance abuse, and since video games can be similarly addictive, meditation may be able to pull you away from the idea that you need gaming to survive.
Detox with distractions
If you have a major addiction to playing video games, stepping away completely could be the best option for you. When you cut something off cold turkey, you may find it challenging to adjust to a world without its presence in your life. Still, this option might be the best one for you, if you genuinely believe you’re too far gone to try any other technique.
Video games, much like most media today, are meant to be addictive and fun, so it’s OK if you need to take a break. Remember, you don’t need to cut video games out of your life forever—just long enough that you stop feeling incredibly reliant on them.
Write in a journal
Simply sitting with your feelings may feel unpleasant to some people, especially when you can’t run to the distraction you had previously. If you use video games as a means of escape from difficult feelings, consider writing down your feelings in a journal instead. Write about what you’re feeling and why it makes you want to run to your console.
Video games should be a source of fun, not something that you use to distract yourself from real life. By writing down your thoughts, you’ll get them out in a constructive way and learn to deal with your emotions, rather than burying them deeply.
Use cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
This area of therapy involves reframing and retraining your thoughts. If you struggle with video game addiction, you may use CBT to help yourself realize the productive things you could be doing instead of playing video games. You may also find out whether something triggers you to play video games as a coping mechanism or an escape. CBT can help you get to the roots of your complex issue and turn to other, more meaningful ways to cope with the stress of a situation. Furthermore, you can learn CBT at home to supplement another mindfulness technique.
Work on your video game addiction today
Addictions only grow worse over time, so to have a healthy relationship with video games, you need to limit their presence in your daily life. Focusing on the present moment can eliminate instances of using video games to escape from the real world in an unhealthy way.
By battling this addiction, you’ll grow to love video games again and see them as a hobby that’s worth your time, rather than an obligation or the only thing that’s consuming your life.
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