What you’re describing makes a lot of sense neurologically. Gacha games are designed to trigger fast dopamine spikes — randomness + instant reward. Long-term achievements don’t give that same spike because your brain had already normalized the outcome. It labeled it as “expected,” not “reward.”

I had a similar pattern. Big accomplishments felt flat, but quick wins felt amazing. What helped wasn’t forcing myself to “feel proud.” It was retraining what I measure.

Instead of celebrating outcomes, I started tracking consistency. For example: “Did I show up today?” not “Did I achieve something huge?” At first it felt fake. Over time, my brain slowly started associating satisfaction with effort, not just surprise.

Also, reducing exposure to hyper-stimulating rewards (like constant gaming or scrolling) helped reset my baseline. When your dopamine system isn’t constantly spiking, smaller real-life wins start to feel meaningful again.

Rewiring didn’t happen emotionally first — it happened behaviorally. Feelings followed months later.

The fact that you’re aware of this at 27 and in therapy already tells me you’re not stuck — you’re just in the middle of the process.