In here, you can publicly announce that you will be sober this month. This is for gamers who are in the process of quitting, or for former gamers who want to stay sober.

Going public can help you strengthen your will.

Being sober means to be gaming free:

To not play any video game
To not consume any gaming media (videos, streams, articles, etc.)
To not participate in any gaming community

This is from our article on quitting gaming, the first step of the effective quitting.

You might not manage to honor your commitment. Relapses happen and it's ok, as long as you manage them. In this case, we simply would like you to mention the fact that your relapsed here.

To be clear, we are talking about real relapses, like opening up a game and playing for two hours, not watching 5 minutes of a gaming video in a moment of distraction. The reason we ask this is to give some weight to those commitments.

Good luck, stay strong!

In here, you can publicly announce that you will be sober this month. This is for gamers who are in the process of quitting, or for former gamers who want to stay sober.

Going public can help you strengthen your will.

Being sober means to be gaming free:

To not play any video game
To not consume any gaming media (videos, streams, articles, etc.)
To not participate in any gaming community

This is from our article on quitting gaming, the first step of the effective quitting.

You might not manage to honor your commitment. Relapses happen and it's ok, as long as you manage them. In this case, we simply would like you to mention the fact that your relapsed here.

To be clear, we are talking about real relapses, like opening up a game and playing for two hours, not watching 5 minutes of a gaming video in a moment of distraction. The reason we ask this is to give some weight to those commitments.

Good luck, stay strong!

In here, you can publicly announce that you will be sober this month. This is for gamers who are in the process of quitting, or for former gamers who want to stay sober.

Going public can help you strengthen your will.

Being sober means to be gaming free:

To not play any video game
To not consume any gaming media (videos, streams, articles, etc.)
To not participate in any gaming community

This is from our article on quitting gaming, the first step of the effective quitting.

You might not manage to honor your commitment. Relapses happen and it's ok, as long as you manage them. In this case, we simply would like you to mention the fact that your relapsed here.

To be clear, we are talking about real relapses, like opening up a game and playing for two hours, not watching 5 minutes of a gaming video in a moment of distraction. The reason we ask this is to give some weight to those commitments.

Good luck, stay strong!

In here, you can publicly announce that you will be sober this month. This is for gamers who are in the process of quitting, or for former gamers who want to stay sober.

Going public can help you strengthen your will.

Being sober means to be gaming free:

To not play any video game
To not consume any gaming media (videos, streams, articles, etc.)
To not participate in any gaming community

This is from our article on quitting gaming, the first step of the effective quitting.

You might not manage to honor your commitment. Relapses happen and it's ok, as long as you manage them. In this case, we simply would like you to mention the fact that your relapsed here.

To be clear, we are talking about real relapses, like opening up a game and playing for two hours, not watching 5 minutes of a gaming video in a moment of distraction. The reason we ask this is to give some weight to those commitments.

Good luck, stay strong!

Today marks my gaming sobriety anniversary. In December 2022, I was still deep in LoL, but I decided to make a change for myself. One year after, I am 100% sure it was the right decision for me, and still is.

I have a long history with gaming, started as a kid in the 90s, gamed a lot as a teenager, stopped for a while when I started my undergraduate studies then my first professional experiences. But I went back to the stuff in 2016 and my years 2016-2022 have been tainted with more or less intense gaming phases.

With hindsight, I know that gaming has never made me happy. I always turned to gaming because my life was not great, and always left it when my life got better. I started to use gaming as an escape, to cope with a violent home and toxic parents, then kept it as an escape mechanism. Gaming probably helped me survive, but it also damaged me a lot.

I have lost so much time, so much energy, so much negative emotions to this stuff, I cannot even count. In the long run, gaming has not given me anything really worth remembering. At this point, it's mostly painful or cringe memories.

This is so different from what I consider to be healthy hobbies. I am proud of having learned some guitar in my life, having read some great books, and I can see what it brings to me, including in the long term. Chasing those short term dopamine hits is not healthy, please don't do it, please take care of yourselves.

This year has been about recovery for me, and I am not completely out of the woods yet, but I have made a lot of progress. I quit several other addictions, I reinvested my carrier, I lost weight and got fitter, I took care of my home, I took some holidays and traveled, I cut some toxic people and met new better persons or reconnected with old friends who are good to me. Everything in my real life has been improving during this year as, progressively, the virtual obsession disappeared, and I could redirect my energy to healthier activities.

It took time, it took discipline, it took efforts, it took suffering, but it's all worth it in the long run. Our lifetime on this earth is limited, our attention is limited, our energy is limited, be very careful of what you do with it.

Best of luck to all of you girls and guys!

In here, you can publicly announce that you will be sober this month. This is for gamers who are in the process of quitting, or for former gamers who want to stay sober.

Going public can help you strengthen your will.

Being sober means to be gaming free:

To not play any video game
To not consume any gaming media (videos, streams, articles, etc.)
To not participate in any gaming community

This is from our article on quitting gaming, the first step of the effective quitting.

You might not manage to honor your commitment. Relapses happen and it's ok, as long as you manage them. In this case, we simply would like you to mention the fact that your relapsed here.

To be clear, we are talking about real relapses, like opening up a game and playing for two hours, not watching 5 minutes of a gaming video in a moment of distraction. The reason we ask this is to give some weight to those commitments.

Good luck, stay strong!

In here, you can publicly announce that you will be sober this month. This is for gamers who are in the process of quitting, or for former gamers who want to stay sober.

Going public can help you strengthen your will.

Being sober means to be gaming free:

To not play any video game
To not consume any gaming media (videos, streams, articles, etc.)
To not participate in any gaming community

This is from our article on quitting gaming, the first step of the effective quitting.

You might not manage to honor your commitment. Relapses happen and it's ok, as long as you manage them. In this case, we simply would like you to mention the fact that your relapsed here.

To be clear, we are talking about real relapses, like opening up a game and playing for two hours, not watching 5 minutes of a gaming video in a moment of distraction. The reason we ask this is to give some weight to those commitments.

Good luck, stay strong!

In here, you can publicly announce that you will be sober this month. This is for gamers who are in the process of quitting, or for former gamers who want to stay sober.

Going public can help you strengthen your will.

Being sober means to be gaming free:

To not play any video game
To not consume any gaming media (videos, streams, articles, etc.)
To not participate in any gaming community

This is from our article on quitting gaming, the first step of the effective quitting.

You might not manage to honor your commitment. Relapses happen and it's ok, as long as you manage them. In this case, we simply would like you to mention the fact that your relapsed here.

To be clear, we are talking about real relapses, like opening up a game and playing for two hours, not watching 5 minutes of a gaming video in a moment of distraction. The reason we ask this is to give some weight to those commitments.

Good luck, stay strong!

In here, you can publicly announce that you will be sober this month. This is for gamers who are in the process of quitting, or for former gamers who want to stay sober.

Going public can help you strengthen your will.

Being sober means to be gaming free:

To not play any video game
To not consume any gaming media (videos, streams, articles, etc.)
To not participate in any gaming community

This is from our article on quitting gaming, the first step of the effective quitting.

You might not manage to honor your commitment. Relapses happen and it's ok, as long as you manage them. In this case, we simply would like you to mention the fact that your relapsed here.

To be clear, we are talking about real relapses, like opening up a game and playing for two hours, not watching 5 minutes of a gaming video in a moment of distraction. The reason we ask this is to give some weight to those commitments.

Good luck, stay strong!

In here, you can publicly announce that you will be sober this month. This is for gamers who are in the process of quitting, or for former gamers who want to stay sober.

Going public can help you strengthen your will.

Being sober means to be gaming free:

To not play any video game
To not consume any gaming media (videos, streams, articles, etc.)
To not participate in any gaming community

This is from our article on quitting gaming, the first step of the effective quitting.

You might not manage to honor your commitment. Relapses happen and it's ok, as long as you manage them. In this case, we simply would like you to mention the fact that your relapsed here.

To be clear, we are talking about real relapses, like opening up a game and playing for two hours, not watching 5 minutes of a gaming video in a moment of distraction. The reason we ask this is to give some weight to those commitments.

Good luck, stay strong!

In here, you can publicly announce that you will be sober this month. This is for gamers who are in the process of quitting, or for former gamers who want to stay sober.

Going public can help you strengthen your will.

Being sober means to be gaming free:

To not play any video game
To not consume any gaming media (videos, streams, articles, etc.)
To not participate in any gaming community

This is from our article on quitting gaming, the first step of the effective quitting.

You might not manage to honor your commitment. Relapses happen and it's ok, as long as you manage them. In this case, we simply would like you to mention the fact that your relapsed here.

To be clear, we are talking about real relapses, like opening up a game and playing for two hours, not watching 5 minutes of a gaming video in a moment of distraction. The reason we ask this is to give some weight to those commitments.

Good luck, stay strong!

My last gaming session was 14th December 2022. I was deep in LoL, playing fulltime, having this fantasy that maybe I could become a pro, then I came to my senses and quit.

I had this reminder in my calendar to make a post around 6 months, 180 days, here we go.

A lot happened in those 6 months. I cannot tell you about everything, it has been quite challenging sometimes, but overall it has been very positive.

I am a different man than 6 months ago. I matured. I have progressed on my career, my personal life. I have met many people, went to many events. I have lived and am living a fuller life.

I cannot say I'm perfectly happy at the moment (not many people can, I guess), but I have this feeling that I'm on the right path and that things will only get better in the long run.

I have come to realize how fragile mental health can be, how much it is attacked in our current societies, and how much work I have to put in to feel good on this side.

Something that has been very important in my progress, after becoming free from gaming (this liberation happened after being 90-100 days sober), has been to work on another addiction of mine, something more intimate: sexual addiction. I don't want to elaborate on this here, but I recommend everyone to check /r/NoFap and to experiment with abstinence.

IMO, the whole "regular sex is healthy" and "masturbation is good for you" is another massive contemporary lie, comparable to the "gaming makes you smarter" bullshit.

There are huge forces in this world carelessly – or purposefully – promoting very dangerous behaviors that are harming billions of people. Please don't be a slave to the mainstream ideologies, start experimenting on your own, preserve your mind and bodies.

I wish you all to find balance and happiness.

In here, you can publicly announce that you will be sober this month. This is for gamers who are in the process of quitting, or for former gamers who want to stay sober.

Going public can help you strengthen your will.

Being sober means to be gaming free:

To not play any video game
To not consume any gaming media (videos, streams, articles, etc.)
To not participate in any gaming community

This is from our article on quitting gaming, the first step of the effective quitting.

You might not manage to honor your commitment. Relapses happen and it's ok, as long as you manage them. In this case, we simply would like you to mention the fact that your relapsed here.

To be clear, we are talking about real relapses, like opening up a game and playing for two hours, not watching 5 minutes of a gaming video in a moment of distraction. The reason we ask this is to give some weight to those commitments.

Good luck, stay strong!

In here, you can publicly announce that you will be sober this month. This is for gamers who are in the process of quitting, or for former gamers who want to stay sober.

Going public can help you strengthen your will.

Being sober means to be gaming free:

To not play any video game
To not consume any gaming media (videos, streams, articles, etc.)
To not participate in any gaming community

This is from our article on quitting gaming, the first step of the effective quitting.

You might not manage to honor your commitment. Relapses happen and it's ok, as long as you manage them. In this case, we simply would like you to mention the fact that your relapsed here.

To be clear, we are talking about real relapses, like opening up a game and playing for two hours, not watching 5 minutes of a gaming video in a moment of distraction. The reason we ask this is to give some weight to those commitments.

Good luck, stay strong!

In here, you can publicly announce that you will be sober this month. This is for gamers who are in the process of quitting, or for former gamers who want to stay sober.

Going public can help you strengthen your will.

Being sober means to be gaming free:

To not play any video game
To not consume any gaming media (videos, streams, articles, etc.)
To not participate in any gaming community

This is from our article on quitting gaming, the first step of the effective quitting.

You might not manage to honor your commitment. Relapses happen and it's ok, as long as you manage them. In this case, we simply would like you to mention the fact that your relapsed here.

To be clear, we are talking about real relapses, like opening up a game and playing for two hours, not watching 5 minutes of a gaming video in a moment of distraction. The reason we ask this is to give some weight to those commitments.

Good luck, stay strong!

I have this old riot account I wanted to get rid of. It's an account I bought from a marketplace (eldorado). I did not create it but I have been the owner for about 2 years.

I sent a deletion request from riot's website and they asked me for information. I explained my situation, gave them screenshots of the deal on the marketplace, gave them much information such as the last digits of the credit card number I used for in-game purchases. I also have kept the same IP all the time. They know very well it's my account. Yet, they refused to delete it.

The reason they gave me is only the creator of the account can delete it.

This is such bullshit. I live in Europe and I'm going to file a complaint for not respecting article 17 of the GDPR.

This is such a dishonest practice from riot, they just want to keep their account numbers up and retain as much data as they can. I wanted to warn you guys in case you encounter the same issue.

I just read this comment with a few upvotes.

What do you think about this? Is this "moderate gamers" unhappy with my anti-gaming position? Is this gaming lobbyists? Is this a genuine issue with me posting too many links to the wiki?

I'm curious of your opinions.

EDIT: I just read this comment that shows links can be helpful (there are others)

That's it. I have reached 90 days gaming free: no gaming, no gaming media, no gaming community. This is the last post of the series I started at day 50: 50, 60, 70, 80, and now 90.

I will start with the downside. Yes, I have reached 90 days and it has been very beneficial, but it did not solve everything in my life. I still have quite a few issues to deal with and I don't want to make people think that quitting gaming is a silver bullet.

It helps a lot though. Quitting gaming has allowed me to reinvest every part of my actual life: professionally, intimately, socially, etc. I stopped binge eating at the virtual buffet and I have had to look for new sources of food. Those sources are not as easy as gaming, it is challenging, but it helps me a lot to grow as a person.

It really is about maturing and finding my place in the world. Progressively, as I have been making more and more efforts in the real world, some good things are happening to me: better health, professional opportunities, better friends, romances, etc. Hopefully it will get better and better. But, it really is about being patient and thinking for the long term.

As the saying goes: You reap what you sow. IMO, this is very true, and I recommend everyone reading this to start planting quality seeds as soon as possible.

Lastly, I had a phase where I was very active on Reddit. I can say I was quite obsessed at some point, so I voluntarily restricted my activity. I only go on reddit once a day and only read 3 or 4 posts max. It has been helpful.

Good luck to all!

The series keeps going: 50, 60, 70, and now 80. It is my 80th day gaming free: no gaming, no gaming media, no gaming community.

Everything is getting better for me. My cognitive skills are improving, my focus is better, my social skills are better. I was a bit overweight and I'm getting fitter. I eat consciously, I do not binge anymore. I swim every week and I keep getting better at it. I sleep better. I feel better in general.

This morning, I woke up early after a good night. I meditated. I started doing some chores, and now I'm writing this. This weekend is going to fine. I will see some friends, go birdwatching, go to the cinema, see an exhibition, maybe a concert.

I am not lying to you. Quitting works. 80 days ago, I was a hardcore gamer. My plan for the weekend would have been to play League of legends and that would have been about it. It took efforts, it took suffering, but it is worth it.

I am not completely there though. There is still something. I am pissed. I am pissed at gaming, I am pissed at gaming junkies, and I am pissed at the world who let this dope infect so many people. This dope that cuts people from the beautiful things in life: art, science, nature, healthy relationships, physical activity. This dope that turns people into zombies.

This is a wake up call. Please, stop this dumb activity, stop wasting your life on pointing/clicking idiocy, stop competing all the time, become humans again.

Good luck to all!

This is something I wanted to work on for some time.

I finally made an article: Link.

Feedbacks are welcome!

I made a new wiki page to be clearer about why we need this sub: Link

Your feedbacks are welcome!

I recommend to have a look at this post.

It's quite interesting. The OP is very probably a big gamer. He is not happy with the fact that /r/stopgaming has been pro quitting recently, because he never managed to really stop. I do not believe what he said about quitting since November.

So, what does he do? He makes a post to try to convince everybody to go for moderation. This is insane. Gamers …

In here, you can publicly announce that you will be sober this month. This is for gamers who are in the process of quitting, or for former gamers who want to stay sober.

Going public can help you strengthen your will.

Being sober means to be gaming free:

To not play any video game
To not consume any gaming media (videos, streams, articles, etc.)
To not participate in any gaming community

This is from our article on quitting gaming, the first step of the effective quitting.

You might not manage to honor your commitment. Relapses happen and it's ok, as long as you manage them. In this case, we simply would like you to mention the fact that your relapsed here.

To be clear, we are talking about real relapses, like opening up a game and playing for two hours, not watching 5 minutes of a gaming video in a moment of distraction. The reason we ask this is to give some weight to those commitments.

Good luck, stay strong!

I just talked to the guy who made that post. I found the post suspicious as the OP is, at the same time, very active on r/learndota2 and other gaming subs.

As we chatted, he told me he is studying to become a game designer. He would like to start his own indie game studio. And he comes to r/StopGaming. That's quite an irony isn't it? It's like if an alcohol producer would go to r/stopdrinking.

So, be warned, there are actually professionals from the industry there, or wannabe pros, who will fight hard to defend their so-called "safe" video games, while actually they are defending their business with zero concern for people's health. God damn!

There was 50, 60, and now there is 70. I will keep those coming until 90.

I am u/StarryEnvoy, 33M, and I used to be a big gamer. I have been gaming free for 70 days today: no gaming, no gaming media, no gaming community.

My life has changed a lot in those 70 days and I am definitely sure quitting gaming was the right thing to do. It is not all roses, my life is still pretty messed up, but I'm convinced it's the right path.

Things keep coming on the personal and professional sides, some of those things are very positive, some of those things are challenging. At least, my life is not devoured by video games anymore, I am actually starting to have a real life again.

I said I started dating a woman last time, it did not work in the end. I have met someone else though. It is complicated, but that is a lot more than everything that happened for months or even years under heavy gaming influence.

To conclude on a positive note, I swim every week, and every week I notice I am getting harder, better, faster, stronger, a lot more than when I was gaming. I am not there yet, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Good luck to all of you girls and guys!

PS: A tip I found out lately and that might be more important than it seems, when you eat, especially when you eat alone, IMO it is better not to turn on the computer, the TV or the radio, but to focus on the meal happening

EDIT: Minor corrections

https://www.reddit.com/r/StopGaming/comments/1175r14/talk_some_sense_into_me/j9ad1kz/

I love these guys. He says he doesn't game, but he has some kind of sick motivation to try and get someone who wants to eliminate gaming from their life to change gears and reconsider.

See, it's important for him that the REASON a person stops gaming is not because games inherently carry some problem, but because that person has a personal issue not related to gaming.

What is this NEED that makes people do this. If he has already quit gaming himself, it's even weirder.

I think one possible covert motivation is NARRATIVE CONTROL. We live in an age where public consciousness is gold.

I think it's very important for these people to block the public from forming an anti-gaming narrative.

It must affect them in some way. May they or a loved one are gamers and don't want that babysitter/pacifier affected.

Maybe they are in the industry or adjacent and are worried about that paycheck....

A real anti-gaming movement would be a society shaking event. Many, many entrenched interests and lifestyles would be disrupted or downright destroyed.

I want these people to know that I know.

They are doing the work of evil. They are acting against public health.

I made a post for my 50 days and I decided to keep posting every 10 days until I reach 90. So, today is day 60. 60 days gaming free: no gaming, no gaming media, no gaming community. My life has changed a lot during this time.

It is a challenge to quit gaming, I'm not going to lie. Getting back in touch with reality is sometimes hard, it can be painful, but it is absolutely necessary. My life was devoured by gaming. It was my main concern, and, as a result, everything else did not progress as it should have.

Now that I removed this dope, this "everything else" is coming back. This everything else is about family, friends, romantic relationship, professional life. I am not going to detail everything that is happening to me, but I can give you an example.

Romantically, nothing much had happened to me for a while, but, recently, things have started to get better. A woman contacted me this week telling me she would like to date and we have started exchanging many texts, maybe this will go beyond texting. Many similar things are happening: reinforced friendships or family bonds (with the right ones), professional opportunities, etc.

IMO, that is what happens when you remove gaming from your life. You become a better person and the world turns to you.

Take care of yourselves, good luck to all!

/u/Ascles became a new mod yesterday. He is studying to become a physician, it might be helpful if we want to dig a little bit in the medical research on gaming.

Welcome to him!