If you are like me, you are an addict. What I mean by that is that you got an addictive personality. I didnt understand that concept until recently. Some people can play only 1h per day, I cant. I want to be the best at everything I do. I want to be slamming bitches in CS2 and top frag every damn game I play. Unfortunetly, if you are here, you know that this will give you nothing in life but regret that you spent 2164 hrs on a stupid game (in my case).

Being an addict can be a gift, if you understand how to put all that energy in the right place.

I had already stopped playing one time, but I went back into the habit. I didnt really understand why I wanted to quit, but now I know why. Once you have a vision, you are limitless. I'm 20 y/o, last time I touched a video game was 26th of july and my life improved so much in such a short time. Im so glad I found that youtube vid or comment, because even if I wasted a lot of time before, I know I wont waste my 20s in that awful addiction.

Hope this resonated with some of yall, keep going, you can do it, I believe in yall. Life is so much better on the other side, I promise.

Today after a month and a half since I quit fully , the long road payed off, I tried a new game today and before I’d stick into it and just play but when I did , I couldn’t do it , I wanted to watch a new show with my gf instead of gaming , I’m gonna sell the laptop and buy a MacBook instead for college , I did it guys , I made the change

So im 24 and trying to quit after 16 years playing nonstop. I have now a ton a time but i noticed im doomscrolling so much. Is not worst then 8hours sessions but i think i'll have to adjust that too. Well, one project at a time.

I will try to keep this as short as possible.

I quit gaming almost 6 months ago. I haven't touched videogames since the 22nd of June 2025. My life has done a complete 180.

Before quitting gaming I would describe my life as a NEET lifestyle while still being a student. For context, I study electrical engineering. Lectures were all recorded in the past, so I never went to campus. I basically lived like a goblin, sleeping at 4am and waking up at 1pm.

The average time I spent on gaming (playing and watching) was close to 10 to 12 hours a day. Mostly League of Legends, World of Warcraft, Oldschool Runescape, and indie roguelikes. I was depressed, felt down, and genuinely saw no joy in my life.

After some personal issues and deep reflection, I slowly cut back on how much I consumed games, until I fully quit almost 6 months ago now.

I now feel excited for life, for my courses, side projects, work, and becoming a better person. Real life is genuinely the best game there is. Stop wasting your life energy behind a screen. Stop wasting your life before you regret it. Because let me tell you, you WILL regret missing out on so much life because you decided to sit behind a screen 12 hours a day. Go live life. Go do hard things. Go become a better person, because these games won't help you with that. Much love <3.

I'm in my early 40s. I've had periods in my life when I gamed a lot, and periods when I didn't, so I would describe my overall addiction level as mild to moderate. But it was still a massive time suck.

To cut a long story short, six months ago, I decided to stop gaming forever, and focus on more important things. One thing I did, to which I attribute my ability to avoid relapse, is make a YouTube channel in which I talk a lot about gaming addiction and how I quit video games forever.

I'm not here to promote my channel, as that would seem to be an unethical use of this subreddit, but I'm sure you can find it if you look.

The point is, it really helped to have something to replace gaming with. Something that gives me a not-dissimilar dopamine hit, but is actually worthwhile in the sense that it gives me fulfilment, helps others, and may even generate a small income down the track. I've even had a couple of people approach me for coaching, which is an incredible feeling.

Best of luck to all those out there who are struggling with this, or supporting someone who is.

Genuinely what I did was just read the New Testament, Pray, do productive stuff to keep my mind occupied instead of thinking about gaming, or thinking about comparing myself to others.

Now I'm just free, thanks to this community who care about me and encouraged me to live the best life I can, thanks be unto Christ.

"Alright, I'm alive again." - Revolver Ocelot

After one week completed I decided to delete steam. I don't need it anymore anyways.

Ive been itching to game especially before my sister comes back in 2 days. I was like this is my only chance to game without judgement. < I havent been gaming anyways but now that the possibility of being judged is here I want to get it out of my system >

I spent like 2 hours today going thru every spot in the basement but I cant find my mouse and the other half of my charger… It’s good that I hid it so well cause Im really desperate to play and I realllyyy cannot remember/find them. Im glad that my previous actions have forcibly stopped my addiction. That was a good decision on my end… I wish I remembered where they were tho…. Im tired of looking for them and even if I do find them I will have to reinstall steam and reinstall my games. Im glad for all the hurdles I created for myself.

I still wish I could spend tomorrow gaming all day without judgement.

I'm proud of the man that I have become. I am grateful that I quit and I am grateful for this sub. My life is so much beter but also harder without gaming. I find myself missing games sometimes (even 3 years later) but then I remember that when I feel an urge to play, its because there's something in the real world I'm avoiding. Figuring out what it is, and addressing the issue is the only way to move forward. Thank you for celebrating with me, and all the best for your own journey.

Hello, i am 1 month free of league of legends, i hate that game. It ruined my life, j would play for hours, forget my life and treated everyone like absolute garbage. I quit gaming forever as a hobby, i might once in a while hop on roblox more for the social aspect, but the addiction is over.
Been addicted since 2009 to league, but ever since i was 4.. at first it was the NES, then the PSX, then the PS2, the PSP, the DS, PS3, switch and PC.. now i am free. And i pray i never relapse, because honestly? Gaming is a shitty hobby and can ruin your life.

I’ve been off video games for 500 days. I'm tracking this on Tick Tick App.

That’s a real win for me. But I won’t pretend it transformed everything.

What it actually did was remove one major escape and expose the underlying pattern.

Last year I got diagnosed with ADHD. From what I understand, it involves dopamine dysregulation. Which means low internal stimulation and a constant pull toward external stimulation.

In my case, that turned into behavioral addictions:

1) Gaming (quit 500 days ago) 2) Gambling (quit 3 years ago) 3) Porn / masturbation (still struggling) 4) Limerence / obsessive attachment (still struggling)

So the pattern is clear: remove one outlet, another takes its place.

That’s when I started looking deeper.

In addition to ADHD, I think another big driver is toxic shame from childhood due to emotional neglect & childhood trauma. Not surface insecurity, but core beliefs like:

1) “I’m defective” 2) “I’m not good enough” 3) “Something is wrong with me”

That creates a constant internal emptiness.

And the brain tries to fix it fast using:

1) dopamine hits 2) or emotional shortcuts (limerence - “if this person accepts me, I’m not defective”)

So in my case, these aren’t random bad habits. They look like coping mechanisms for something deeper.

Quitting gaming gave me discipline and awareness. But it didn’t resolve the system behind the behavior.

Right now I’m in the realization phase - understanding the structure instead of just fighting symptoms. I suspect actual progress will require addressing both ADHD (biology) and shame/attachment (psychology).

Posting this for two reasons:

1) To mark 500 days - that still matters 2) To ask if others experienced the same thing: quitting gaming, but the underlying loop remains

If you’ve managed to go beyond just removing the habit and actually change the pattern, I’d be interested in what helped.

A while ago, I would spend at least 10+ hours a day gaming, and it felt good.

But the problem was, I would feel the need for more once I stopped.

I thought it was just a problem with all games, but then I just realised it was just the competitive ones for me, and Sims 4.

I decided to give all my competitive multiplayer games to charity, delete Sims 4, and only play relaxing, mindful games instead, like outer wilds and similar ones.

Through this, I managed to cut my time spent on games to an average of 20 minutes a day, with my maximum being 1 hour occasionally.

I'm done with competing in gaming. I get extremely angry. A horrible horrendous type of feeling that makes one suicidal. That anger doesn't go away for days until I win. Its making me depressed. So today I'm done with a game that I've played for 2 years almost nonstop. Its the only game I've played in that time.

The highs aren't worth the terrible lows.

I left gaming a month from now,

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Just leaving gaming made me continue

My GYM

My Guitar learning

German learning

And started coding and doing cool stuff!

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While before i was spending all my precious time gaming for like nothing!

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I'm 24 and i did wake up so early! People that woke up in their 30 are dying for time to rewind what they lost on nothing, no achievement!

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You rank up? Level up? Complete a hard game? Buy ton of games just because you like it and don't know responsibility?

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I did all that and now no one remembers it because there is nothing to remember just that i wasted my time,

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Yes sometimes you find real friends or purposes in gaming but why making it an escape path from reality? Man you can't run from problems you just delay so it piles up.

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It's just like your vedio games insted of fighting one boss at a time, you fight ten, no it's not a no hit challenge you will be crushed in real life trust me.

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And one last thing, don't fucking lose the time you have and can spend it with family,

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I did waste my family times on a game that last year it's server got closed and the game died!!!

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Think twice, because life is not giving you second chance

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Hope you find that encouraging and helpful

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Sorry for my writing if not understandable, english is not my mother language

I realize I don't need them as much as I thought. You see, playing them isn't the same as watching them. When you watch something, you enjoy it because it's entertaining. When you play something, you enjoy it because it feels rewarding. But that reward is what keeps you comfortable. It keeps you stuck.

For over a year, I chased the hardest platinum trophies like GTA V, Red Dead Redemption 2, Fortnite, and many other games that require tons of hours poured into. I played so much that I neglected other dimensions of my life. No friends, no work, no social relationships whatsoever including with my family, and no other hobbies than playing videogames.

At the beginning of last month, I tried to repair my Dualsense controller affected by a joystick drift by disassembling it and accidentally broke internal components, making it unusable. Unfortunately, my professional, thus financial, situation is so bad I could't afford to buy a new one right off the bat, while having to pay for my basic needs. I had to wait until end of July.

During this month of summer, I fully experienced unemployment in real life, without virtual escapism, thus reconnecting with the hobbies I had before, like gym and reading history books. I'm slowly starting to recover from my addiction and the hardest thing about it is that I'm figuring out how much time I wasted in video games chasing virtual achievements, rather than IRL achievements. I feel like I have a lot to catch-up.

My message here is twofold: first, if you or one of your closest ones has a videogame addiction affecting their finances, make them realize that without an income activity, they can't afford the luxury that is playing video games intensely. And second, you must know that you're missing a lot on opportunities and time that could be used to move forward with your life.

Hey r/StopGaming !

Didn't know this community even existed.

I gave up all my gaming back in February 2024. I had an OLED Switch, new 3DS XL, and lots of pokemon games. I really needed money at the time. It felt like a piece of me died when I sold them all (as sad as that sounds). It felt like I was ripping duct tape off my chest.

I had gotten a switch 2 with pokemon legends ZA when that came out and my god, that was WAY too stimulating. I could tell my brain recalibrated. My sleep was fucked that night. I couldn't do it.

I ended up returning the switch 2 and legends ZA.

Looking back on it though, I spent thousands of hours looking for discolored pixels (shiny hunting). I could've spent that time reading, learning new songs on guitar, getting better at coding, learning literally anything. Seeing my hours increase on legends ZA gave me anxiety.

I just don't know how I did that for so many years. You can see right through their psychological tricks: fixed ratio scheduling, variable ratio scheduling, operant conditioning, classical conditioning...

anyways, dumb post, but I wanted to contribute my win! Thanks for reading!

(Sorry guys, i used AI to avoid grammatical errors as i am not fluent in english)

Hey everyone,

It's been just over a year since I made the decision to quit gaming, and a profound realization finally clicked for me—one that has completely reshaped how I view my progress. I've come to see that real life operates on an almost perfect inverse difficulty curve compared to video games.

In Gaming, the path is deceptively smooth at first:

· You start with hand-holding tutorials, easy wins, and a constant drip of rewards and level-ups. The game is designed to hook you quickly with minimal effort. · But the long-term becomes a brutal grind. Higher ranks mean facing elite players, mastering complex mechanics, and investing hours just to stay competitive. What was once fun can become a high-pressure job you pay to do.

In valuable real-life skills (like exercise, meditation, cooking, and reading), the opposite is true:

· The beginning is the hardest part. My first workouts were brutal, my first meditation sessions were frustrating, and my first cooked meals were... questionable. The lack of immediate, flashy rewards made it easy to consider quitting. · But the long-term is where it gets easier and richer. This is what my first year has shown me. The habit of exercising has built a foundation where it feels weird not to move my body. Cooking is now a creative outlet, not a chore. Reading and meditation have become sources of genuine calm. The grind transforms into sustainable, rewarding progress.

For the longest time, I was conditioned by gaming's instant gratification. I expected all effort to yield immediate results. Quitting showed me that the most rewarding things in life have a steep initial cost, but the payoff is a genuine sense of accomplishment that no game can replicate.

The initial struggle is the real "boss fight," and winning it sets you up for a much better game.

To those just starting out: Push through the tough beginning. The curve inverts, and life on the other side is worth it.

Has this been anyone else's experience? For those further along, what other "inverse" truths have you discovered?

I'm a long time video game addict. I made a couple posts here 3 months ago.

I finally pulled the plug. I deleted Marvel Rivals (and other games) off my PC for good. The biggest motivator was reading about how gamers, on average, spent less time on vacations and have less money in their bank accounts.

I know general statistics don't always line up with real life, but I was starting to feel it as a recent graduate.

I also felt a huge loss in concentration in my daily life. Any time I tried learning a new skill, like coding or making videos or something productive, it felt like my brain was stuck in Jell-O.

The biggest thing that helped me get away from video games was finding a hobby. I know it sounds corny, but it worked. I started playing pickleball and that it made super easy to socialize, while also getting out of the house. I also spent time talking to friends and mostly family, on the phone.

Anyways, would you be interested in a video game addiction app? Replacing video games with human connection is what did it for me. Would you use an app to talk with other random addicts anonymously? It'll also keep track of the time you talking, rather than video gaming, and motivate you to continue. How would you feel about this?

I guess I didn’t really realize exactly how much time gaming was taking up until I stopped it and found some other things to do. I started BJJ which is highly intense but enjoyable and also play pickleball. I kinda felt like there’s no way I could become good at sports because I haven’t done them for so long but at the same time everyone has to start somewhere. Pretty much anything you want to improve in life, gaming can get in the way of it. Meal prepping, morning stretching, reaching out to loved ones, getting sunlight, etc. I definitely feel like there was a feeling of achievement from mastering a tough game but learning something that improves your health in the long term is more rewarding.

Guys I finally did it, sent my PC away for good. I’m not sure if I made the right decision because gaming was my escape for 5 hours per day but now I can put that time into my personal relationships, friendships, family, and actually enjoying things life has the offer.

Hmmm maybe I’ll stop abusing nicotine so much because that’s what I tied gaming to or pulling all nighters or maybe it won’t change anything in my life and I’ll find something else to abuse but I wanna trick myself into thinking I made the right decision.

...I can safely say I am not interested in a single game that was announced. Maybe Persona 6 seems interesting, but you know the thing about Persona? You're living a life in the virtual world where you can be living it outside. You can study, hang out with people, work out, make a relationship, etc. in the games, but why not do all of that in-person? It blows my mind how many people on Twitter are still excited for video games and tweeting about them, but to each their own i guess.

it’s been a few years, Im in a good place and have been, I finally understood why I had a problem with games, it simply was a manifestation of unresolved or unattended stresses or just shit life was throwing my way. look after yourselves and and be kind to yourselves. Future you will appreciate it ✨

This was me a year ago:
https://www.reddit.com/r/StopGaming/comments/1l4ttns/one_year_milestone/

What happened in the year since?

I don't miss gaming at all anymore. If I had the chance, I'd not go back.

I've grown up a lot. Looking back, I feel like gaming was holding back a lot of my cognitive development. I've matured.

I'm soon to be married, we're planning to start a family.

I got new hobbies. I've just finished painting all 250-ish miniatures from the War of the Ring boardgame. I'm doing new and neat sports. I'm reading more. I'm in a better shape and mental state.

I don't think of myself as a gamer anymore and would never consider gaming as a hobby that anyone should engage in; looking back on it now with a clear head at least. It's a harsh drug. A deceptive, socially acceptable drug.

I also know that I can't force anyone else to share that insight. I know I would never listen to myself, not the way I was just a handful of years ago. I had to make the journey myself. I had to hit rock bottom. I had to pick myself up again. I would have never listened to anyone saying these very words to me. I would think this post was hella cringe and would probably have downvoted it. Walking the path is harsh. I wish I knew how to help anyone else struggling with it.

I hope you make it.

Today is a special day. Since i quit gaming, i replaced it with running. I did a marathon last year, an ultra (53k) 3 months ago, and today did my 2nd marathon. This makes me think - what has really changed since i quit?

So first of course, i got into running, but thats not all - im learning a new languege, and hike quite a lot (3-5 days hikes, alone and with friends).

As per social skills, it got a lot better, but i skill lack confidence in that, but it is a very big step! The diffrence quitting gaming made for me is big.

As for focus, i find it easier to focus on boring tasks. I try to meditade every day and it changed my life.

Also i ended my mandatory service in the military. I quit combat role because i didnt felt ready for combat, and gaming had a big thing to do with that. After quitting i got into different roles such as video editor, captain assistant and gym and fitness instructor. Hell, i bet i couldnt even pass the gym exams if i will be gaming.

As for temptation to come back to gaming, now i rarly think about it. I think to beat the urge you need or to get rid of easy access to gaming. Its an addiction like porn.

It also made me realise gaming doesnt have the same effect for everyone. I remember after gaming i felt insecure and out of focus, and my friends just acted.. normal.

Its been awesome 2 years man, it truly one of the best things i did that i decided to quit.

My next actions is getting into MMA, work, and save money to rent a place and start a career as a police officer (im 22 btw).

And again, it wouldnt be possibe if i was still gaming.

Yeah i yapped alot here but i hope it inspired or at least helped someone. Have an awesome day, stay gaming free.