Yes, it is an addiction. It took me many years to realize it. People would say it’s an addiction. I’d deny it. People would say I spent to much time gaming. I would make up excuses. I would play it off like I didn’t play too much. Deep down I knew I did though.

Did it control my life? No, I wouldn’t say that. Through my addiction I managed to get through school with a 3.75 GPA. I received a dual bachelors, got a good job, a new house and prospered. So what’s the problem then? I had no life! Gaming was my life. It was all I did with my free time. I told myself, “It’s what I enjoy doing, so why not do it all the time?” The problem was I didn’t realize there was so much more out there.

If you’re a current addict, you hate reading this. You blow it off while at the same time something inside you acknowledges it, at least a little bit. It was the same way for me. I hated when people made posts like this. Superior, condescending, sons of *#$(# is what I used to think. Now I realize the people that posted these kinds of things were right.

I’ll be honest, when I stopped gaming so much I didn’t know what to do with myself. I watched T.V. and a lot of movies at first. I swapped one form of couch potatoism for another. It took a concerted effort and a clear mental decision to get out there and start socializing and doing things in the world. Now I’m happier than ever.

Gaming gave me that instant gratification. A sense of accomplishment. I could sit at the computer for several hours and come away a level higher, 500 gold richer, or with that new uber item and I felt that I had accomplished something. To be honest, I had. I’m not knocking it. I just finally realized there were more important and long lasting things I wanted to accomplish.

I learned to cook. I never thought that would happen. I renewed old friendships and made new ones. I put more effort into my career and have prospered because of it. I bought a new house and instead of upgrading my character, I work at upgrading my house. I began exercising more, eating healthier, and generally feeling better.

That’s not to say I don’t still enjoy gaming. I do! I’ll probably join back up in a MMORPG here soon, but I won’t be the same aggressive, addictive player that I used to be. I realize there’s more out there and most importantly…I realize that things outside of gaming are just as gratifying, if not more so than gaming.

Just a few thoughts from a former addict.