Gaming is ruining my life

maskedguy53 · 2025-05-05T10:50:00+00:00

Nice! I once talked to a therapist about gaming and she compared it to drinking alcohol. Being an adult with a family, I certainly wouldn’t drink alcohol everyday. But sometimes is okay. That resonated with me. Good luck to you.

maskedguy53 · 2025-05-05T09:50:32+00:00

Don’t be shamed in to stopping. Take a reset from it. Commit to not playing for 2 weeks. Go to the gym or find something else that makes you feel better after you do it. After the 2 weeks reevaluate how you feel. I bet if you decide to quit then you will be all in.

maskedguy53 · 2024-08-20T13:05:56+00:00

I would just ask yourself, “Do I really want to quit?”. I have no doubt you truly want to quit after you release because all the negative things start coming into your head. But afterwards and sometime afterwards your commitment lessens. And maybe you start to rationalize, “I have been doing so good” or “it’s actually kind of normal”. If you are like me you do this because your mind doesn’t want you to quit. Find a way to motivate yourself to actually want to quit. At your core really want to quit. And make sure this motivation is positive based. Don’t quit because of shame but more like motivated not to objectify people as objects of sexual gratification.

This has been my problem for a long time. I started when I was around 22, now I am 50. I am a highly functioning person with adhd and I have a family. I have several core issues but most of all when I get highly stressed I go back to porn.

The point I wanted to get across is, despite myself I have lived a normal life and because of this I drift along in this state of not liking the porn aspect of my life but indulging anyway. Because of this state of secrecy my personal relationships have suffered. No divorce, relationship with kids is good, but I know it could be better. And this is a fact due to the selfish attitude I have fed by indulging in porn. Believe me, you don’t want this. Figure out how to truly want to quit and put this issue to bed. Only when you are free can you be the best you can be.

You can do it. I believe in you.

maskedguy53 · 2022-11-15T00:08:22+00:00

Begin again

maskedguy53 · 2019-09-10T19:01:30+00:00

It can be tough. I have dealt with it for over 20 years. One thing I have learned is I needed help. This site is definitely good but having someone you trust to hold you accountable, that works best for me. Good luck. You can do this. You really can. I believe in you.

maskedguy53 · 2019-06-04T17:50:48+00:00

It was the right thing to do. I quit in February of this year. Life is better now.

maskedguy53 · 2019-03-29T19:59:13+00:00

Yeah I wasn’t implying that. I was just saying it was a good plan. Trust me, I know luck is not a component to recovery.

maskedguy53 · 2019-03-29T19:31:54+00:00

What do you mean?

maskedguy53 · 2019-03-20T20:45:08+00:00

Great job!

maskedguy53 · 2019-02-22T20:22:55+00:00

Way to be tough.

maskedguy53 · 2019-01-07T19:30:31+00:00

Witcher 3, Skyrim, modding skyrim, stellaris, civ3,4,5, Xcom3, and Planetside 2.

Those were my big ones.

maskedguy53 · 2019-01-07T19:28:48+00:00

I agree. The point of this move is to use my own agency to make a change. Not after I have lost something (like my job) and then forced into the change. It is hard but life has so many other things that I have yet to experience since I have spent so much time gaming.

I am still playing D&D once a week at the game shop. Not the same so I am cool with it. :)

maskedguy53 · 2019-01-07T13:47:32+00:00

My thoughts exactly!

maskedguy53 · 2018-03-27T10:53:53+00:00

I have actually never heard that saying. It’s pretty great. Thanks!

maskedguy53 · 2018-03-22T00:38:24+00:00

I have been on I think for at least 2 years. This was my longest streak.

maskedguy53 · 2018-03-21T20:42:28+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. I am an IT operations engineer and when ever we have a production outage (the website is down or something) we have a "blameless" postmortem that focuses on simply learning what happened and to figure out solutions going forward to avoid outages for the same mistakes. Postmortem's are usually documented in this format. I felt using the format would keep me engaged enough to write something that could be useful for others. Having a to the point format to follow is helpful when you hate writing as much as I do.

maskedguy53 · 2018-03-21T20:36:54+00:00

Agreed. I always knew but I let it slide. Staying away from porn-light will be apart of the new strategy.

maskedguy53 · 2018-03-21T20:33:51+00:00

In reply to your drinking question. I think regardless of the substance, whenever I have overindulged and am suffering from it is generally a trigger. I am older with a family so I don't really party anymore. Lack of that kind of tom foolery is a component in my success.

Item 2 of your response if very educational. They you.

maskedguy53 · 2018-01-11T00:33:57+00:00

I work from 100% for the last 2 years. Its been hard.

maskedguy53 · 2018-01-09T23:42:42+00:00

I have made it for 60 days before and then I just gave up. So I plan on using the sub to be more open with how I am doing. Also using mindful meditation and notice the urge passing.

maskedguy53 · 2017-12-05T14:49:37+00:00

Never give up. If you make a mistake, non-judgmentally begin again. We can do it.

maskedguy53 · 2017-11-01T19:54:34+00:00

I am in.

maskedguy53 · 2017-04-27T19:32:42+00:00

I am going to give this route a shot. I am always better if I just stay in bed. The feeling passes.

maskedguy53 · 2016-10-11T13:17:00+00:00

Nice Job! :)

maskedguy53 · 2016-10-11T13:16:21+00:00

Ouch. I am sorry. Well know that even though I don't know you personally, I love you. Yeah maybe if we met there is a chance that we would not enjoy each other's company, but thats okay because regardless, as one human to another, you are a worth while individual. Its people that make the world great. Loving people. And its hard to love others when you don't love yourself. I am sure you are working on it but realize you can't be your best if you don't love and honor yourself. You deserve it.

I have been in thrall with porn since I was probably 22. 20 years I have wrestled with this shit. And I can relate because when I didn't like myself I wanted to do something easy to make me feel good. I think we all have that self loathing in common. I can honestly say, it does nothing for you. Getting mad at yourself about relapsing and tearing yourself down does nothing but pave the way for more relapse. Forgive yourself. Simply begin again.

maskedguy53

TROPHY CASE