Video games are a lot of fun and many people enjoy them, but some people seem to get addicted and engage in destructive habits. Now if you want to play for 48 hours straight on the weekends that may be your business if you are single, but if you ignore your family regularly due to video games or show up to work without having slept that is a problem.
Some people get so addicted that lose weight from lack of eating and even get fired from there jobs and ruin relationships! The analogy with drug and other addictions has been made before.
In particular, Massively multiplayer online role-playing games or MMORPGs, like World of Warcraft, are extremely addictive to many people and may be seemingly impossible to quit or play in moderation. Here are some tips that work for most people and that you should consider.
Many people try to go cold turkey, meaning simply quit. Although this may work, it often only has short term effects. Even if you delete the games from your harddrive and break the media they came on, eventually you'll hear about a new upgrade or feature or just get the itch to start playing again.
Some games like World of Warcraft actually have so called parental controls built into them. Maybe you can get a friend or relative to take the reigns and keep you locked out at certain times of the day, say perhaps midnight to 7AM for me. This might be tough, but it can work very well. Make sure your friend doesn't let you back in when you call at midnite much like a drug addict looking for a fix!
You can also promise yourself to stop playing when you are not having fun anymore or when it starts to seem like work. You do need to remind yourself that you are playing for fun, not primarily to reach the next level or conquer the current whatever.
Having other interests helps enormously as well. What did you enjoy before your addiction? Start doing these things again. You may also take up a new hobby to keep you from playing obsessively. It helps to have multiple interests in life, and it's healthy too!
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