Why Gaming is so Addictive (It Replaces IRL Achievement)
Over the past few days, I have been going through gaming withdrawals big time. The pull of wanting to play an MMORPG has been immense ever since I decided to stop gaming all together and focus on reading and writing for the book I am writing. I have felt no physical withdrawals during this period, but my god, the mental withdrawals have been brutal. As I have gone through this, I have been thinking why gaming withdrawal and addiction is such a hard one to beat, and what I think it comes down to is that gaming gives people a sense of achievement and accomplishment in a virtual world at a much faster pace than they would ever get that acknowledgement in the real world. Even if the achievements are made in pixels, the dopamine that someone gets for getting those achievements in game feel very much similar, if not greater, than IRL accomplishments.
I think this is why I ended up playing 15,000 hours of Albion Online, in fact, I know it is. It is no secret that I have praised that game immensely for its addictive progression system that is long term in nature but still provides dopamine constantly as you level up your characters weapons, armor, gathering, crafting, farming, and so on. The way the game presents each level you earn by showing popups and rewarding loot for completing activities simulates the IRL treadmill but on a much faster scale, giving the player the feeling of accomplishment at every step of their journey. This is in stark contrast to IRL achievements and accomplishments. In the real world, work promotions take years, studying to get a degree takes years, and ultimately, the achievements one receives and the acknowledgement for those achievements are much less frequent than in a game.
Even if the IRL achievements are much more beneficial to someone, they may not get the same level of acknowledgement or appreciation for their achievement than they would get in a PC video game. In a game, you know the rules and know what to expect, so when you do something, you understand the results of those actions and expect them. In the real world, you have other humans who usually are giving you the satisfaction that you are seeking, and that is a variable that often times disappoints many people. There are literally gamers out there (me included) that became streamers just to find a way to replace their IRL completely with income by streaming because of the addicting level of gaming there is. There are also gamers out there who have lost any sense of ambition for IRL activities as a result of gaming, because they would rather just sit at home in the comforts of their own home and ignore the world outside because of their addiction.
As games get more sophisticated (although I will admit, the MMORPG genre is in decline at present) the rewards and the reality blending will get even worse and addiction levels will become more sophisticated and harder to break. With AI entering the picture, players will literally be able to talk to AI companions in game and replace some of their friends or even make friends for the first time with the in-game AI. This will further cause emotional dependency on games for gamers to even get any kind of interaction with another being altogether. This is where the world is heading, and if people do not consciously realize that it is possible to get happiness and joy out of real-world activities, even if you do not have a ton of money, then the gaming addiction will simply serve as the replacement to their life itself.
For 10 years, I tried to actually convince myself that gaming was my new reality. When I did this, I actually excelled at streaming because I gave in to the temptation of gaming and its addictive properties and simply replaced all of my real-world achievements with in-game achievements and streaming achievements. I subverted my internal self-speak which was making me feel guilty to go all in on it, and for a time, it seemed to work out. Ultimately though, once my stream started dying off, the internal me woke up and started making gaming a much less enjoyable experience as I felt like I was wasting so much time for little reward other than meeting the people I met online as my friends. I believe that all gamers are operating against their internal guidance system in some way. In order to not feel guilty wasting their life in video games, they have to justify it by saying, "IRL sucks anyways" or "The System is Rigged, why even bother". I know I said these things constantly and it did not make me feel good or empowered in any way.
While I mention my own thoughts and feelings about the topic through first-hand experience, I acknowledge that every gamers situation may be different than my own. Ultimately, we all have the right and desire to live our lives the way we choose, and millions of people are choosing to use the gaming medium as their form of relaxation or escapism. It is not my place to say whether they are wrong or right in doing so. I allow them to choose their own destiny as I am allowing myself to choose mine. I just wish for myself, and others like me, that there were ways to make our IRL feel better than the virtual worlds we are addicted to, because ultimately, gaming can be a terrible thing for someone who cannot control their urges to game and ignores all other elements of their life for the sake of gaming.
With my 5th day of abstaining from gaming beginning, I can say that there are some solutions that people can take if they want to try to escape the clutches of gaming addiction. The first key component is directly finding an empowering and enjoyable activity that can replace gaming. For me, that has been reading, writing, and walking. Moving one's body through daily walks allows you to start on the path of doing things IRL more easily and effectively. You likely have been sitting on a chair for so long, gaming for hours on end, that you may be out of shape. Starting your day with walking in a park and appreciating the world around you and the beauty of nature is a great way to break the cycle of immediately turning on the computer and gaming. If you are a gamer, then you have a vivid imagination. Filling that imagination with reading a book instead of gaming would be a much better way to satisfy your imagination as it makes your brain sharper. Even if you are not a good writer, writing in a journal has helped me personally as I fight against my addiction. Writing in this blog has helped me immensely as well as I share the challenges and urges to game while also continuing to seek the positive alternatives that will make me forget about gaming altogether one day.
What I hope for anyone who is struggling like I am right now is simply take the first step towards making your life better. Anything that you can do to find a way to break the cycle that is positive for you and brings you joy is the way to go. You are not alone in feeling trapped in the game worlds that are taking up so much of your precious life. We are here to do much more than just game, and perhaps one day you can have a healthy relationship with yourself and your real world to allow yourself some gaming time in a healthy fashion. In the early stages of trying to break gaming addiction however, I believe it is best to quit cold turkey, because the mind and its addictive side will find a reason for you to game more until you are back to where you started. Even if you slip up, start over again. Try to find a way to realize that you are strong enough to do whatever you want in your life. You have the power to break free. You have something important to offer the real world, and the uniqueness of you is why the world needs you. I wish you all the best as you go on this journey. Stay strong, you got this!
Until next time,
Blackboa