I have the exact opposite problem. I own at least a dozen game consoles and a gaming PC, and have a huge attach rate for all of them. Games look fun and interesting to me, I watch reviews and follow industry news and get hyped for new games etc, but I spend very little time actually playing them. I rarely spend more than 60 minutes playing a game before I get this weird mix of boredom and anxiety, like the contrivance of the game becomes highly apparent and I feel like I should be doing something else. Despite owning literally hundreds of games, I can count the number of games I've beat/completed on both my hands. I'm nearly 40, married with kids, but this behavior dates back to when I was a youth/teen and had loads of free time.
Ask HN: How do you avoid video game addiction?
81–90 of 165 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do you avoid video game addiction?
#82>According to Steam I played over 2.000 hours during 2020 and 2021. Less than three hours a day for passive recreation is hardly out of line with modern western lifestyles. The average American spends more than that watching television. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2021-07-22/... I obviously wouldn't want to deter anybody from productive work in favor of entertainment, but physical and mental rest…
I don't think its healthy because he changed his lifestyle around it. He said he would wake up early, go to sleep late and put off work. Americans watch a lot of TV, but no one is setting an alarm to binge watch Jeopardy.
Yes. Spot on comment. You are absolutely right
Re: Ask HN: How do you avoid video game addiction?
#83If you really need to stop, use cheats. That will break the dopamine cycle and you’ll be free. Maybe it also works to limit play time to healthy levels. For example, I was once playing quite a bit of WoW, and after I trying it out on an unofficial server where I could teleport anywhere made the game lose all its appeal.
Seconded, cheat to break the cycle. It's helped me out of many mobile games.
How can you cheat on mobile games?
Re: Ask HN: How do you avoid video game addiction?
#84Have you ever been evaluated for ADHD? I'm not a specialist, nor does your post have anywhere near enough info for me to judge, but your second to last paragraph especially sent up some flags for me so I thought I'd mention it
no, never been evaluated for ADHD. But let's assume I knew I had it, what would change?
The simplest answer would be medication. (The following is a vast oversimplification of the biology involved but essentially) the ADHD brain is starved for dopamine. When it finds something that's a reliable source of dopamine (like video game are designed to be), it latches on leading to hyperfocus. Stopping is especially difficult because there's a "dopamine cliff" (going from an extra rewarding activity to nothing).
Many ADHD drugs work by (more or less) increasing dopamine levels in the brain. This makes regular activity more rewarding, and lessens that steep "cliff" effect. For me at least, it allows me to indulge in activities like video games and other hobbies in moderation which was never possible before (in addition to a lot of other quality of life benefits).
Medication isn't the only answer of course. There are treatment and management strategies that don't involve drugs, and I often find that just understanding the mechanisms behind my behavior helps me come up with effective strategies to manage them.
(And of course, not all video game addictions are ADHD related, and I absolutely don't mean to suggest they are. But there are well documented links between ADHD and addictive behavior. And ADHD is widely misunderstood by the public, so many individuals that don't display classic hyperactive symptoms aren't diagnosed or are diagnosed late in life. So I thought it'd be worth mentioning as something to consider anyway)
Re: Ask HN: How do you avoid video game addiction?
#85I have the exact opposite problem. I own at least a dozen game consoles and a gaming PC, and have a huge attach rate for all of them. Games look fun and interesting to me, I watch reviews and follow industry news and get hyped for new games etc, but I spend very little time actually playing them. I rarely spend more than 60 minutes playing a game before I get this weird mix of boredom and anxiety, like the contrivanc…
When I was younger I asked my parents to buy me the Play Station 2 and a couple of games and realized it actually wasn't as fun as I thought it would be. So I didn't buy another console ever again.
But this game hit something in my brain that made me so addicted to it. As I said, maybe the flow, maybe the competitiveness, the ladder, or a combination of them all.
Re: Ask HN: How do you avoid video game addiction?
#86I’m 34, love gaming, and have been married for 12 years with 3 kids. “Healthy” amount of play is playing as much as you want as long as your on track in accomplishing your short and long term goals.
In addition, you need to make sure your wife’s expectations are being met daily. My wife lets me spend my time however I want as long as I’m clearly communicating my efforts in meeting her expectations, both in the short and long term.
Re: Ask HN: How do you avoid video game addiction?
#87By believing that Dark souls (the first one) is an unrepeatable masterpiece and not liking any other game (except hollow knight) And then feeling tired of finishing it more than 5 times and being unable to play it again.
Elden ring?
Re: Ask HN: How do you avoid video game addiction?
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
Seconded, cheat to break the cycle. It's helped me out of many mobile games.
How can you cheat on mobile games?
Well, on a rooted android device, specifically to combat mindless tapping games, tap titans / egg inc /etc, an auto-clicker program helped me break a multiweek long gaming cycle.
Re: Ask HN: How do you avoid video game addiction?
#89What games you play?
Re: Ask HN: How do you avoid video game addiction?
#90Part joke part truth: become a game developer. Since I started to make games I spend much less time playing them. Also sometimes I just have to play more diverse set of games to use them reference for my game design job. Okay now here is serious note. > Is it possible to have a "healthy" amount of playing? Talking from experience - even without taking real drugs into account it's certainly possible to get "unhealthy"…
> Part joke part truth: become a game developer. Since I started to make games I spend much less time playing them. Also sometimes I just have to play more diverse set of games to use them reference for my game design job. I played an unhealthy amount of video games through college, to the point where it affected my grades, and for a few years after graduation. My first job was not in game development, but was extrem…
Which worthwhile things?