I Was Given a Second Chance and I Almost Blew Itĭespite my bad grades, I managed to land a summer internship. I consider myself VERY lucky that it wasn’t much worse. I had bad grades, but somehow, I didn’t fail any courses. The only thing that kept my gaming in check was the very real fear of dropping out of school, and I would somehow not game during key points of the year such as midterms week, finals week, and the few days before a big project due date.
I played all sorts of games (mostly MMO RPG’s, and League of Legends) and would often skip lectures to play. While I did grow tremendously living far from home, there were no parents to tell me to stop when my gaming got out of hand. I purposefully chose a school far away from home to experience independence.
I never thought I had a gaming addiction.
#Toontown infinite rant Pc#
Sure, I played video games with the family PC but my gaming was kept in check by my strict parents. I got good grades in school, and never had a gaming console growing up. I grew up as an average kid riding bikes and playing soccer. I started to physically exercise and my health improved! Depression, suicidal thoughts, and loneliness began to disappear as I gained new hobbies and connected on a deep level with people.Īfter all this, I’m so grateful for the life I have discovered for myself! I have no desire to go back to video games when the real world is so much better! If you’re struggling with addiction to gaming, please know this: you’re not alone! You WILL get through it and find a life worth living beyond video games! Hope this is an encouragement to all of you! I joined a book club that met at a local coffeehouse and began to make some friends. I completely deleted every single of my online gaming accounts.Īfter that everything began to change! I suffered withdrawal for about 3 months and then it got better. I sold and donated ALL of my gaming equipment. I began seeing a therapist and she encouraged me to unplug from video games and begin to build relationships with other people and take up some new hobbies. When I started to experience suicidal feelings, I knew I needed help. I felt I had been wasting my life in a virtual world, while the real world was out there waiting for me. I was exhausted of having no goals or vision for my life. Related: Find new activities to replace gamingĮventually, this all caught up to me. I would stay up for hours gaming and then be extremely tired the next day. I could only think about the next video game I wanted to play. Things like reading, family vacations, spending time with friends, was boring for me. Video games became the only thing I enjoyed doing. Teenage IsolationĪs I became a teenager, I started to isolate myself more and more from my peers and family.
Doing well at first person shooters made me feel in control and gave me a purpose.
I could be accepted and validated in a virtual world, while the real world felt harsh and unsafe for a gay kid raised in the nineties. Little did I know it would lead to addiction.ĭuring school I was bullied a lot for being gay, so video games became my escape. I absolutely fell in love with it and enjoyed all the incredible games that were popular at that time. I began gaming at the age of 7 and my first console was the PlayStation 2. My name is Anthony, I’m 23 years old and reside in Philadelphia.