If you spend a lot of time playing video games you are certainly a video game addict! Though it’s not a bad addiction at all (compared to other addictions like alcohol), it can still have a negative impact on your life!
In fact, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has included gaming disorder in a draft of its upcoming 11th International Classification of Diseases, and described it as “a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behaviour (‘digital gaming’ or ‘video-gaming’), which may be online or offline” and is severe “to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other life interests and daily activities”.
If you are unclear whether you fall into this category or not the following signs may help you decide
* You spend a lot of your free time playing video games
* You sometimes ignore quality time with your family and instead choose to play video game sitting alone in your room
* You have been noticing some changes in your health such as you are gaining weight, have become lazy, have mood swings, etc
* One of the biggest and an unhealthy sign is that you stay awake until unsuitable hours which affects your sleeping pattern
How can I overcome this addiction?
Do not go cold turkey
Do not stop playing video games altogether, stopping suddenly can create a void in your life and cause further unwanted consequences. Remember the goal here is to decrease your video game playing time to the bare minimum.
Play but in moderation
Set a countdown on your phone for a specific time. And once that timer goes off you immediately stop playing for real.
Commit to yourself
Once you accept that you have a problem and you have to get rid of it somehow and commit to yourself for your own betterment and stick to it. It will seem tough in the beginning days but eventually you will start feeling glad that you choose to overcome your addiction.
Do your other significant work
Before starting to play do what needs to be done first, in short set your priorities.
Go to bed early
Don’t let a video game affect your sleeping pattern, go to bed earlier each day (than you usually do) It will make a positive and healthy effect on your brain and health as well.
Do something else
Instead of playing video games try to do something else such as going for a walk, run, read a book, or whatever stimulates your brain and takes video game off your mind even for a while!
Start going out
Start going out; spend some quality time with your friends. Start interacting with people around you it can be your neighbor or your friend living on the block.
Do some thinking
Talk to yourself; boost your confidence as only you can make a change in your life. Start talking yourself out of this addiction. Reinsure yourself that you can do it and you will. It will really help you in growing further in life.
Meditation, Pranayam, Yoga
Meditation can really uplift the quality of your life. Practicing yoga and pranayam adds to awareness levels and are a perfect recreation as well. The only difference is that this is a positive investment for life
(unlike video games).