MidwestLandlord
Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
759%
- Dec 6, 2016
- 1,479
- 11,232
Yes.
No shame in that. Thanks for answering.
1) Read this book : https://www.amazon.com/dp/0091917034/?tag=tff-amazonparser-20
and this book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/081298160X/?tag=tff-amazonparser-20
Yes, I know it's about smoking, but the PROCESS is the same. Just substitute the word smoking with gaming or whatever.
2) Follow what the smoking book says. It's been a long time since I read it, so I can't remember what all it says verbatim. However, the gist of the book is that you need to change your internal language. In other words, you are not "a gamer" you are "a person that plays games"
It seems subtle at first, but it isn't. The first part of changing the PROCESS of addiction is changing the language you use in your mind.
3) The power of habit book:
An addiction that is not chemically based is basically a habit on steroids. Your brain craves the dopamine (and other feel good chemicals) that gaming and gambling gives you. So the idea is to change the PROCESS of addiction, by substituting it with something that gives you that dopamine hit.
A habit or addiction looks like this: CUE, ROUTINE, REWARD. It is literally just a PROCESS your brain has developed. You can interrupt that PROCESS at any point.
CUE: What is the cue for gaming? What causes your brain to crave it? Boredom? Stress? Loneliness? Anxiety? Identify the cue(s) and BE HONEST. You can interrupt the PROCESS of habit here by fixing the underlying issue. Not easy obviously, but can be done.
ROUTINE: This is the gaming part. Your brain sends a cue, you follow the script and start the routine/process (our brains are assholes). This is where you change the PROCESS or routine, and start to retrain your brain to follow a different programming script. Learn to recognize the cue, then consciously follow a new routine. You want to pick something that gives feel good chemicals. Your brain likes those a whole lot. I recommend push-ups. When you feel the cue, do 5 push-ups. Still feel it? Do 5 more. Repeat until the cue goes away.
REWARD: This is the dopamine hit that escapism gives you. The temporary disconnect from the original cue (stress, loneliness, whatever)
You can interrupt the reward part of the habit PROCESS by giving yourself a different reward. In my push-up example, you get feel good chemicals to the brain through the physical exertion. (this is why runners can get addicted to running too) The trick is to give your body a HEALTHY reward, like in my push-up example. People that quit smoking get fat because they like to substitute sugary foods when they get the cue. (plus nicotine is an appetite suppressor)
So currently you have: Stress (cue) = Gaming (routine) = Escape from life (reward)
Change that to: Stress (cue) = Push-ups (routine) = Dopamine (reward)
The easiest place to start is by identifying the cue. Then interrupt the routine. After you have built new habits, you can go after whatever causes the cue to begin with. But be honest with what the cue is!
See?
I've kicked some serious addictions this way, including gaming. Changing addiction habits is difficult, you'll slip up. But this gives you a place to start.
I spent a lot of time typing this, so I hope you take it seriously. Happy to help though, I've been there. Let me know if I can help with this more.
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum:
Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.