@@lechatleblanc The issue is that most of us grew up with our entire self-worth/identity being Smart Kid and the only thing we did all by ourselves was play video games. And there's no problems with that for a while, so much so that problems and video games in the same sentence isn't even a thing until like age 10. After enough time though, people don't value you for just living because you're not a cute kid or whatever anymore (you're unaware of this), so the only thing people value you for is smarts and all you want to do is play video games. That's your entire thing too, because what else have you done? School is what's expected of you and everyone expected everything from you there so you've failed even though your grades are good, and your other thing is non-existent. Now there's two states of life: school and video games; you don't apply yourself to school because you hate the schoolwork, you get no positive reinforcement for making it through because that's what you're supposed to do, what people think is positive reinforcement is annoying because smart is dumb, and video game players are treated like -orn addicts (who are also treated unfairly). My foundation as a human is invisible, the thing people humanize me for is vapid, and the human things I've made out of myself are ignored/disliked. Therefore I don't feel human because every human treats me like I'm not and the only ones that do are on the internet which doesn't feel human. Personally I feel human but like my surroundings don't recognize it just cause of who I'm around, that might be oversharing but figured it'd be worth it to say cause the above paragraph is definitely biased to my own experience
@@_DanerJimenez_ i just feel like its cringy to refer to yourself as a 'gamer' in the same way that calling oneself a 'hacker' has been so watered down its more indicative of someone out of touch with what it actually means to be a hacker, or gamer.
@@taggerung_ well what does it mean to be a gamer? do we have an official document that states this meaning and all "gamers" can refer to and agree on? the U.N. Charter perhaps? you know maybe the reason the word "gamer" has been watered down is because the word simply held too much scope to begin with. english speakers know the separate meanings of "game" and the suffix "-er/-r" and combining the two together will literally create a word which means "one who plays games."
@@_DanerJimenez_ I guess I forgot to respond, so here I am a little late. Youre correct in a literal sense, however the same can be said about the word 'runner', as it is literally just "one who runs". But im sure you would agree that it doesnt make a lot of sense to call yourself a runner if you only occasionally run to your car in the rain, or whatever. In the same way, I feel that the word gamer has been watered down to be nearly the literal definition, such that someone who occasionally plays Cut the Rope on their Ipad is now a 'gamer'. It just doesnt capture the original feel of the word, which im my mind is better described as someone who is passionate about video games in some capacity. Maybe if that kid playing cut the rope is eagerly awaiting the next update, then you can call them a gamer. But if theyre just playing a game to pass the time with no real intent or care for what theyre doing, I wouldnt really call that being a gamer. Sorry for the tangent on what it means to be a gamer. It just felt necessary to describe how I see it
Yes!! The only people who can actually say gamers with confidence is twitch streamers, because they get paid to be a gamer and that’s their job so they don’t get judged as harshly.
You are a godsend to the gaming community. We need to be more informed about this stuff considering how widespread Video Game Addiction is. Hope you can reach out to a lot more people in the future.
@@Davidgopaint thing is, that’s not really true. Sure, I play a lot of video games, but that’s because I’ve got little other to do. I’d rather do that and keep quiet than use all my excess free time to do overcomplicated stuff to post on TH-cam(like figure out people’s heights based off a photo of them)
Realizing this might be one of the most important videos in my life I've seen. It clears up alot of why all activities have become as entertaining as paint drying.
@@asCOOLasLau Change anything? No. A bit due to lockdown, but honestly it's an addiction/emotional crutch. I don't have anything else to fill the void that gives the same "dopamine" hit. I guess it's true, you really can't make a horse drink.
@@Blu3W4r10Ck I feel you . I know I should spend less time gaming or watching YT gaming Videos, but knowing it is something completly different than doing it ....
NOT ONLY WITH GAMING! This process makes you addicted to fun itself, and works with other types of fun too: Social medias, drugs, alcohol, sex/ pornography, very sweet/fat "comfort" food, people's attention, buying stuff, activism, religion, conspiracies, ... Our brain just wants to avoid anxiety, and will use all available ways, even bad ones, to do so. Once you understand that, you understand 75% of the whole world's problems...
The only point I disagree with is "conspiracies". Currently, one of the most important things for the survival of humanity is getting as many people aware of the global conspiracies threatening it as possible. That could legitimately be considered more important than a single person's mental state.
I think this applies to other areas of entertainment, like youtube, social media, reddit, netflix etc. I've had all 3 of the aforementioned stages in these areas, and I haven't even gamed in a couple years.
That's how the video game industry gets you! The amount of battle passes and things like them in game these days has made me stop caring about the "fear of missing out" (FOMO) almost entirely; it's just overloaded me. Nowadays, I focus on playing games that I genuinely enjoy and/or connect me with my friends.
@@DiscoCokkroach I need help. I don't enjoy single player games anymore because of Call of Duty. I bought the Mass Effect Trilogy and played it for not even 2 hrs. I go right back to Cold War multiplayer. I'm missing out on great stories but I don't get the same rush as I do from Call of Duty.
@@morbidcorpse5954 I’d suggest finding something simple to do, try perhaps taking some time to meditate maybe, it’ll help focus the mind, so maybe it’ll be like restarting the computer?
Eh, i'm 24 and i still enjoy videogames almost as much as sex, almost... The only game that i dropped because i wasn't having fun anymore is league of legends.
After 12+ years of gaming, I'd say I'm still on phase 2 overall just because games were always more of a social thing for me rather than playing to get rid of some negative emotions, I still enjoy a lot of the games I play. I feel like this video describes me on youtube more than games, watching videos even when it's not enjoyable just because it's become like a routine for me because I USED to enjoy it.
I agree with everything he said. I've recently went cold turkey after 25 years as a gamer. I had to turn off everything including social media for the past 6 weeks. I am at a brink of relapse but trying my hardest to stay away
@CoffeeSA96 still off social media which has been great. Found an idle game that I play for leisure on the train, but no more computer games or high intensity game. I couldn't fill the void of gaming 100%, but in taking guitar lessons and I spend about 1 hour a day practicing. Relationship with my wife and kids has been the best
Wish you apply this knowledge today instead. Yesterday will always be the best moment to make a wise choice, but the ultimate worst moment to make it is the future. So go with the 2nd best, which is NOW, and have no bad feelings and thoughts about it dude
i feel the same way..At least i'm glad such matters got shed light on. How else are you supposed to know whats going on when you were say 14 years old?
I had a gaming addiction probably from as young as I can remember up until the age 20. Around that time I was playing league of legends a lot sometimes even missing days off college. When I decided to go university I knew that if I was to come out with a good grade I'd have to give up gaming and kind of went cold turkey for 3 years. Nowadays I can't even play video games anymore and get enjoyment out of them, so those 3 years really did do something to me.
Thank you for this. I love videos like this because they help me understand what makes me unhappy in life from an outside perspective almost like a therapist. It really helps with understanding your own emotions and thoughts. Stage 3 gang
This is excellent advice! I found as a gamer, one trick I've learnt to do is to go on holiday overseas for 2 weeks each year. While I'm on holiday, I stay away from video games, try a bunch of new things and totally change up my regular routine. I've found that after doing this, my dopamine levels normalize a lot more and I'm feeling far more motivated when I return from holiday.
My summer vacation started today, and you know what, I've decided to not play video games at all the entire 2 month break. I'm a college student and over the pandemic especially, I started playing a lot of video game. Thank you to the doctor in the video for explaining everything so concisely and inspiring me to detox.
@@gedas7058 The first two weeks of trying not to play video games were very difficult. My friends kept telling me to play video games with them and I couldn't resist so I lost self control and played a few days. However, after two weeks, my computer broke down due to a RAM card issue. Without my computer, I couldn't play any video games even if I wanted. As a result, i went one month straight without playing any games. When my friends told me to play, I had an excuse that my computer was broken. I also started naturally waking up earlier at 8am instead of 12 pm like I normally did. Also I had more time to go the gym and spend time with family. After one month I fixed my pc and I started playing video games again, except this time I only played around one or two hours a day if at all. This was much better than the amount of time I used to play, which was around 3-6 hours a day. All in all, I think video games are not inherently bad, it is only bad if it takes too much time away from you each day and if it is addicting to you. The first two weeks of not playing will be the hardest, especially if you have friends asking you to play. It will take a lot of self control to take a break from gaming, but I believe that anyone can do it!
@@randombossgamer1175 has anything changed besides the time spent on various activities? Do you feel more like doing the other productive stuff? By any chance you enjoy that stuff more or have more desire/motivation to do so?
@@gedas7058 well, it’s been 4 months and I’m finally pretty much completely video game free. For me, a change of environment helped me stay away from playing video games all day. I moved into my college dorm and didn’t take my gaming pc or my Xbox with me. It forced me to stop playing altogether. After a month of not playing any games I stopped getting the urge to hop on my pc everytime I was bored. I replaced my free time with going to the gym and making food and sometimes watching Netflix. I went home last weekend and surprisingly didn’t touch my gaming pc or Xbox at all. I think I will still play video games occasionally in the future, but now where near the level I was playing at over the past few years (around 4 hours a day)
So true, and it works! I feel pressure to not miss out on ”free” rewards in games you earn from playing everyday. But if a game needs to trick you into playing like that, is it actually a giving good game
I have the Feeling that watching TH-cam Videos and netflix are the same as gaming. Iam playing for 8 years now almost 6-12 hours every day and youre right it became dull and pointless but going outside wasnt that fun either. But when i stop gaming for 3 weeks iam 90% of the day in TH-cam or Nerlfix or whatever watching soemthing and i have the Feeling its the same. Because when i cannot watch Videos or play my body automaticly tells me do go outside do Sports read a book or whatever but when i watch TH-cam Videos iam still ,,addicted" and do not have the desires to go out or do something. Because iam 100% entertained
when video game started being less fun i just play braindead mmos while listening to audios like these not the best course of action but hey it led me here
interesting, for me I feel like I have to play only certain games, and there are games that I played regularly for years and I'm not addicted. If I try some low budget grind mmo in fact I can't even stand playing it
Same. I could never conceive that gaming would ever stop being fun to me, but in the past few years I’ve steadily lost any drive or interest in playing. Now when I do play a game (on my Switch...which if I had gotten it a decade or 2 decades ago, and the games it has, I’d be playing non-stop all day every day) I play for a little bit but usually listen to podcasts or something from TH-cam while I do it. It makes me sad...I used to get really excited for games 😕
AxeKick80 holy crap, this is the same shit happening to me recent years. (I honestly thought when i was 13-14 yrs old that i will love playing games forever but yeah it didn’t happen), I used to play a lot of different games but i think because we are used to the game mechanics and with experience we understood that all game has the same objective and shit we start getting bored out of it and with time i found out that i am having 200% more fun going outside. I only play 2 game now just to pass time while listening to podcasts and yet i am not having fun as i used before.
These 3 phases apply to me 100%.. This channel is really really great. Im glad that such stuff gets to be talked and shared. If youre in between that age up to 22+ there would be no way for anyone to know what exactly is going on unless someone sheds light on it.
2:50 Thank you so much. For that analysis. You opened my eyes about that, but I think it'll be even more important for me to tell my friend. Hes been suffering from depression and not realising what the hell in the world has changed were not having fun anymore but if I just tell him, hey, its your brain. I think it would help him quite a lot to understand whats going on.
I recently quit Rocket League. Over 4000 hours but in recent years it had grown too toxic and negatively affected my mood and relationships. Since quitting I feel better. I'm doing better and my relaitonships have improved. I'd tried to quit in the past but always came back to it. So far I'm at 3 months off it. I've replaced consatntly booting it up with making healthy dinner, going on runs, crosswords, watching an interesting video etc.
This shit right here is what I needed. I've been stuck in a cycle of gaming but not wanting to game and be more productive and accomplish goals but I always end up back to in front of my computer screen. Thank you Doc.. seriously.
I'm really curious how many gamers swing instantly to another addiction because it's just so hard facing raw unfiltered reality after hiding from it for years.
Raw unfiltered reality? Ok? Bunch of nonsense. I play games daily. I work full time. I play soccer 4-5 times a week. My house is payed off, no mortgage. I pay my bills. I own my car. Tell me what reality i am hiding from?
This is dead on in my experience. If it becomes not fun and feels like work, I think that’s the time to back off and make yourself do something else with that energy. Tough to do but I find that can be helpful. I don’t want to stop playing because there isn’t much entertainment out there on TV (film, series, etc), it’s all so bad right now
This resonates a lot with me, especially the whole "reset" period of 3 weeks - 2 months. For a period of time (around a month in total) in 2017 my life was a whirlwind and I didn't have the time to play games any more, and this is after having played games almost daily for like 8 years at that point. And it was like you mentioned, I didn't even really enjoy myself, I only did it because I didn't know what else to do, and when I did try something else it just wasn't as fun. I still had the urge to play games, but only to satisfy the urge - I always had a dull stressful, itchy feeling that was telling me deep down that what I was doing was a waste of time. But after that month or so I started to realize that that itch was almost completely gone - instead I had the desire to work out, do schoolwork ahead of time, really improve myself, and I enjoyed those things a lot! But then I found games again and here we are 3 years later, still not enjoying games, nor do I enjoy other things (as much as I think I should be). So basically I'm going to try this whole dopamine reset deal. Thanks Dr!
This is AMAZING. I stopped playing video games 8 months ago based on my recognition that the games were no longer fun to me. These 3 stages are spot on and the reboot period is spot on. It’s so important to have this information out now. When I started playing video games there were no studies done on how addictive it is. This information would of changed my life a long time ago, but it’s better late than never.
My goodness he is well-spoken! You can tell he's very knowledgable about this topic as he can explain it in such a way that a goldfish brained individual like myself can understand.
I think I'm have this issue with youtube. I actually scream at myself when I pull up my laptop and visit youtube for the 50 time during the day but I just CANT stop. DAMN!! I need to park my laptop at my moms house and get me a dumb phone for a while. Im really addicted. Thank you for this.
@@dickurkel6910 yeah watching Videos is bad too. When i have nothing to watch or play i actually want to do things like go outside or do Sports. But when i have a phone i can watch TH-cam with i will stay home all day watching TH-cam Videos
Same. Shouldn't underestimate youtube. I think my youtube addiction eventually took over my gaming addiction. Quitting youtube actually made gaming way more enjoyable for me. Though after seeing this video that's not positive.
@@thomasnagtegaal2880 This is as if you just read my mind. I dont play as much games but ive moved on to youtube. Hours and hours of youtube. I dont have much of a social life and honestly if its not youtube i'd rather be dead. Theres nothing else for me to do.
I was forced to move out a few years back, which resulted in my not being able to play games anymore for several reasons. At first I had no joy in anything anymore and I lost a lot of friends during that time. But by now, I enjoy gaming again and enjoy hanging out with people! I started rekindling some of these friendships. Only thing I need to learn now, is to meet new people without "regular unplanned activity" or however you called it in another video.
I definitely have had dopamine exhaustion but it wasn't just videogaming. So cutting out drugs/porn left me with only the videogames as my dopamine fix. I need a new activity and that will maybe motivate me to quit.
@@shotglassanhero Sport? Thats what helps me a lot. As a type 3 being forced to go to Basketball practice and being exhausted therafter is so beneficial
It's so very cool to learn the actual reason behind those feelings, over the years I've noticed over time that tendency to get burned out of games and needing a couple of months before enjoying them instead of being part of the daily routine.
I used to be very addicted as a kid. I didnt have a computer of my own so i used to sneak into my sisters room whenever she was leaving for work. And even if she was going out just for like 15 minutes to the store. I was literally stalking her and pretending to be watching tv and the moment she walks out .. im in. I realized this a few years back and wow. When i was doing it i would have no idea i was addicted. It seemed pretty normal to me :D Im sure you can think of moments like that if u go back. Damn i loved doing this but that probably contributed a lot to my anxiety later on. And there was nobody to stop me from doing it. Its nice to see when someones sheds light on such stuff
"what your brain is actually capable of in terms of feeling enjoyment" That last sentence hit something in me, like your brain is just unable to constantly feel that emotion otherwise it creates exhaustion. So it's okay to actually find less enjoyment after the first shot (for me when it was at the age of 12 with World of Warcraft, i've spent many years trying to live again that period of my life but it's impossible to force it out, I have built tolerance towards that game)
@@punchy9085 Yes I like that image, didn't remember it from that south park episod. It's sad how you can, in your most joyful moments, incorporate such worm in your mind, like a disease
Yeah, that clip went viral on Twitch and YT. Like usually you see him rage and you laugh, but this time it was whole lot more serious and you really see a proof what playing games for hours, tens of hours a day could do to you. Especially when you're playing a competetive game for most of the day and you're still on lose streak. When I come back to CS GO or Valorant I'm stuck in this vicious circle playing just at bronze/silver lvls and still having like 50-50 win-ratio. The toxic community in both forementioned games wouldn't even try to help you win the game, like those PvP games are really mentally draining. I really like playing competitive games, prefferably solo-queue cuz I have a quite stupid mindset that I should be on my own only to adapt to many different factors (which teammates vs enemies, map you play, decisions when it comes to buy certain weapons and stuff before each round etc.) to really prove that I'm playing at this and not another level. Now I'm only playing CS GO just for the sake of earning stars from the Operation, which I can spend on cases that I would sell on Steam Market then.
I can't believe how relatable this video was. I'm really greatful for this video. Thank you! Edit: I'll make sure to send to my friends who I know feel the same.
I used to work out 5+ days a week. I had a lot of fun in the gym and enjoyed the results and people i'd meet there. It was almost like this whole ritualistic thing for me. 2 years later, I can barely get myself to go once a week and I gained 50ish pounds. And what he said about the phases, I can plot that timeline right in the middle of this and It's become clear to me that I don't want to go to the gym anymore because I dont feel that same dopamine from it. It's all been exhausted and I don't get the same high from any activities because of it. Holy shit I wish I could be healthy and game all I want, but I think I have to give myself a break for 2 months at least and learn moderation. Thank you Dr. I hope that others realize they aren't in it alone and that there are others dealing with this (including depression, RIP Byron).
Thank you for this. I always knew about the dopamin issues but it was never as logic to me as it is now. This makes so much sense. Keep doing what you do !
I also feel that this kind of dopamine exhaustion plays some part in achieving skill. When you're not as high on the game, you can concentrate much better on the enemies and make calm decisions. At least what i've felt, the more detached I've grown from the game, the more better I get.
Oooh i get that, i think you are talking about the flow or zoning, i've been constantly playing a game for 2-3 years, i still enjoy it somehow lol and im really high rank in that game.. cuz i watched a vid saying flow state is balanced anxiety/boredness, something like that
Holy shit, I think you got it 100%. I always wonder why everytime I came back from taking a week break from an fps game I always perform well every matches, able to make correct decisions, but when I play nonstop for a week It's like I suck at the game.
Really important video. Man, I definitely went through the 3 stages during lockdown. I've always enjoyed gaming but also had other motivations outside of it so I never played too much. Once we ended up closed inside because of Covid, is when I started gaming for hours and days with no end. At the beginning it was great, then I felt how it stopped being as fun but it was still better than doing nothing. And at the end, I was honestly just doing it because there was nothing else to do, but I was hating every minute of it, jumping from game to game as I felt completely bored, not fully understanding why. Once everything opened up and was able to do stuff outside, I stopped playing for a couple months and now it's back to being fun.
I was definitely stuck in that third stage many years ago. And I can relate to a lot about what he said. But you can break free and get away from it you just have to actually try, and get help if you can't do it on your own. It is nothing to be embarrassed about.
I can definitely agree with this, most of my activities are on a “clock” of sorts, some times i find a game incredibly fun, and some still do, the second phase aswell, i always play games that are now 16 years old and they always bring a smile to my face , and help with a bad day, ive gone through the 3rd phase a few times but at that point i would naturally veer away from that and start doing other activities just because i didnt want to play the same games that ive exhausted, so then id start listening to music, watch a sitcom, go for a jog, board games, and sometimes school, infact at the moment of writing this comment im resetting back to phase 1 naturally , as I legitimately haven’t seriously sat down and decided to play a game in a little bit
@@ericglenn9984 yeah right it wasn't so additives as now. Games are becoming more and more realistic and even more fun. The future will be even darker with VR technology 🙀 You didn't even need to go outside to order food. 🙀
An interesting lecture for me, for sure. I never really left that second (or even first) phase, even having played games for decades, but still found it valuable. I still enjoy the activity and can also find enjoyment in other things.
I find that gaming is just the easier way to maintain social connections with friends. I find that I easily lose contact with all my friends unless we play some game together. I just hate small talk, so I'm never the guy saying 'hey, howsit going'. But if it's 'Hey, isit time to play?!?!?!?!' That feels more normal, because its something I actually want to do. I don't want to just sit looking at an instant messaging app that goes off sporadically. And I definitely don't want to just call someone without any reason, that's just weird. Gaming is a good excuse to speak with people, and then we might spend 2 hours speaking after we decide to call it a night, but just going 'hey, wanna talk' feels hella weird when you have nothing concrete to say... and most of the time I have nothing concrete to say. Just like watching a show someone else has watched, or reading a book they've read can be a conversation opener. I guess I could send funny memes to people or shit, but I'm not really spending my day looking at funny pictures anyway.
Sounds good but why not start a conversation with something you actually want to talk about? Its how I start things I never ask hey you wanna talk/hangout I just bluntly start with the topic and I also prefer if someone else is direct this way too instead of "hi whatsup" it actually makes me kinda anxious with expectation just say whats on your mind (at least for me Im a pretty blunt and direct person)
Sounds like you and your friends are all guarded introverts. I normally “over share” if I feel like the other person isn’t talkative, just so they know right away I trust them to have real convos. If you can’t talk to your friends, then they aren’t your friends. They are gaming acquaintances similar to work friends. If you didn’t have that adjective in front of “friends” in common, they wouldn’t be in your life.
@@kevinc8955 I think you may be overthinking it. Surely he has some irl friends as well but just doesnt have anything interesting to talk about with them? I have a mix of both for example. And our online gaming acquaintances (some of them) are more than just that if you talk to them almost every day (and share memes on discord etc), this is what I prefer to do its just using discord in closed communities you connect with instead of delving into facebook narcisism filled with all kinds of selfaffirmation addicts etc.
See, you feel me. 100% I’ve been raised on gaming since I were 5 years-22, and I rather play a game of UNO than sit & gossip for hours, but I’d hate to be the guy that inquires this out loud..
@@ViltrumiteIsRite99 I am similar to you, I don't enjoy sitting and chatting for hours, I prefer doing something. I have found that doing sports with people is the best bet you have at socialising outside of video-games. You will actually be doing something instead of just sitting and chatting and the shared interested and activity will in turn, give you something extra to talk about.
This is such an important video for me. Im at that phase where im just not entertained by video games. I get on and have enough games to keep me busy but I just change from game to game never satisfied. Guess its time detox for sometime!
It's been a long time since I've felt any pleasure while playing a video game. Nowadays I simply feel something I'd describe as a relief once I sit down and play. But this is probably because I haven't been able to move forward with life and therefore, I've been postponing the forward movement for the day after and it's become an endless loop. My brains hurt with grief and and insecurity for the most time, because I'm unable to pursue anything. But once I finally enter the game, I feel relieved almost completely. But there is no pleasure. In fact, I fucking hate playing a video game. I might be even blaming it, subconsciously, for what's happened to me over time.
For other people reading this, and maybe OP but it's been 10 months, actively try not playing games. Even short fallbacks can reset good progress. I've been there without knowing it. You will have evenings where you are severely frustrated or start to cry because you just don't know what to do but it gets better the longer you can stay away.
league players can relate af...this quarantine kinda helped me ngl. At the beginning of quarantine i’ve been playing league non stop, but about 3 weeks ago i haven’t even played it, and 2 days ago when i played fifa 19 again after MONTHS, holy crap best feeling i’ve felt
When I was at a low point playing would make my negatives even worse even if I was winning in-game. I would listen to loud heavy music while playing in a kind of low emotionless state. When I'm normal though I kind of feel that the game can be fun but it doesn't ever feel like the first time playing. Thanks for posting these videos.
I watched your vids for so long on twitch but finally understanding how addicting video games can be this year so here I am back again but understanding now why it happens thank you 🙏
As a kid I hated having fun because it felt boring. I only had kinda fun when doing things which required to stress a little. Yes, I played games especially with others but I did not like the game, I enjoyed being able to compete and succeed - I enjoyed the metagame. Throughout my life I constantly felt a bit of sadness when happy and a bit of joy when sad. I never liked the simpler things and considered them beneath me. I loved books not because they brought me in a different world but because they made my mind constantly working and asking myself questions. They were more like a surfboard to me. My mind is the ocean.
I've noticed this has happened to me a lot the past nearly 30 years. Now I balance it out by having hobbies outside like woodworking, engine building, shooting, playing with my kids. Then I play games for a few hours every night.
I have been watching your videos and it really seems like you are narrating my life. Thank you and I will continue watching and put these videos into practice! I will report back on this specific video in the next 2-3 months.
You're so important to the gaming comunity, please keep up the awesome job! Would love to know more about the gaming psychologically influence in our brains. Much love from Brazil
I have many times turned on my computer and clicked on league of legends, logged in without realizing i was doing it. And then when I was queued into a game I would just think how did I even get here this fast, Im like a robot.
Ive been gaming since i was a child and play al the time now at 24. For the past few months, my freetime has been completely sucked up by studying purposes. Ive played maybe twice in the last 3 months and it felt so much more fun than when i was actually ABLE to play
Definitely. A core aspect of depression is "Anhedonia" - the inability to feel pleasure. They will lose interest in activities they usually enjoy, they will lose interest in having social relations, and they will have a general feeling of emptiness, as joy and pleasure has disappeared from their lives. This sounds exactly like a dopamine problem.
@@andiemilo2742 I’m glad you’re doing well, man. Many factors probably come into play when we narrow in on an individual case by case basis. For example, perhaps because of your age (if we are to assume you’re very young), your brain physiology is robust, your capacity to endure and tolerate dopaminergic activities in a healthy, non-addictive way is probably influenced by that. Perhaps you lead your life In such a way that it’s unlikely you would ever develop an addictive relationship with gaming. There could be so many factors. In other words, everyone is different, and lead different lives, and are able or not able to adapt to different levels of stress. Just don’t take your good fortune for granted, my friend :) many would kill to be in your position.
There'll be a lot of people on the comments making "funny" comments or making jokes and what not, but i just wanna say, you actually helped me, thank you for doing what you do
Meditation really helps speed up the return to one’s normal dopamine reward level! I don’t know of any academic research; this is my own direct experience
THANK YOU! This is an absolute GOLD! Couldn't agree more with everything you said. This is exactly how I feel. Only thing that tops gaming in "being fun" even when I have this dopamine exhaustion is art. Bad thing, though, is that sometimes it is hard for me to do art and I turn to games instead because it is easier and I have waaay more experience and I am better at them. I will quit all games for at least a month and report back.
@@kavertx9167 I believe so it depends on you usage of it's taking up a lot of your time during the day it probably has the same negative effects as gaming.
@@lerpy4338 Yeah, it is just as toxic. I will attempt not to use twitter and instagram(I use facebook mostly for memes so I can't stop that one :D) for a month like games. Very hopeful right now, we'll see the results in a month.
Yep, turns out I'm in phase 3. Holy shit, well guess I need to detox asap. Thanks Dr. K for helping me realize this, I think I felt it deep inside but my brain just pushed it deeper when I really started to think about it and analyze it. This video truly spoke to me, everything you said hit home like a truck, it was like you were reading my mind and my soul. Time for some serious detox.
If you are losing life's other activities over gaming, you are addicted and you have some sort of mental issues. But, if you are playing games every here and there without affecting your other life, and have the power to stop mid-game when the situation demands, you are not addicted and that's me. I've seen some people act irritated and become violent when they had to shut their game halfway, if you are one of them you need counseling from someone like this guy here. Don't know how I got to this video but I've created a list of people I will share this with and they need it. Thank you, Sir, you couldn't have said it better.
I might have hit the limit to where other things aren’t as fun at some point but as of now I’ve managed to subconsciously find the threshold and distance myself from games in favor of spending time engaging in hobbies I enjoy like bowling, giving pets attention, or even focusing a bit more heavily on working. I haven’t hit the point where all of those fail in a long time.
I found a way of forever repeating the first 2 steps by just playing a new game every few weeks. It looks like I've been keeping my self in a loop for years.
This video made me realize I'm actually addicted to social media, and also made me realize why I could never relate to people saying videogames aren't fun anymore, I guess I never got really addicted. Social media tho? That shit I need to clear off my system
I sort of think of it like an economic equilibrium. If you like gaming it's good to play some games sometimes. Total abstinence will make you miserable. However, it also important to do everything else in life that you enjoy or that will enhance your long term enjoyment of existence. It's a question of balance and your brain is telling you with happiness and unhappiness which direction you need to adjust. You won't get to achieve equilibrium permanently or even truly align with it for a moment, but the best you can do and the happiest you can be is following the ques to always push yourself towards that most balanced point.
This is an interesting video. I've been playing video games off and on my whole life (late 80s and early 90s). Maybe I would be a good candidate for study. For me it was one of the cheapest hobbies that brought great rewards for me. Everything else that I got into was too expensive. I don't really care for simple games, I usually like complex RPGs and then on top of that I really like playing with other people and not really single player stuff. I can see how most people would resonate with this but for me it's not that I don't find a game fun it's that other games don't provide me the same challenges. I literally plug into the game. I become the character and usually build a character like I would a dungeons and dragons character or an RP character and try to wrap my around how he or she thinks and feels. I get so many additional levels of complexity that I just don't get from a normal physical activity like a game of baseball, football, or basketball. If someone asks me to stop playing GTA 5 RP and to come play some baseball or a card game like UNO im like ugh do I have to. It's not that it's not fun, its like playing tic tac toe with a 2 year old. It becomes repetitive and easy. So it's not fun for me or the other player. There just is no challenge and it brings down the mood for everyone. The only physical activity that I have found that brings anywhere NEAR the amount of brain activity that a complex video game brings me is a 3 gun match. A high speed, real gun competition where you have to move quickly through an obtuse obstacle course shooting different weapons (rifle, shotgun, pistol). You have to make sure you are in decent shape, that you actually can hit the target at various distances, remember all your gun safety rules and additional rules such as clearing the gun and putting it on safe before transitioning to the next phase or you are docked points. It's not that I find doing other things not as fun they are just not as complex. Get a giant beach party full of women in bikinis and yep Ill put down the mouse and keyboard. Oh yeah I forgot about that, console games also bore me. The controller usually affects the simplicity at which the game is developed. The restrictions on speed, movement, accuracy and the ability to create macros, chat and monitor computer and background functions is just too important. Controllers alone induce actual rage in me. Its like playing dodgeball while being tied to a large but loose chair.
This is true. When I went to post graduate school, which means I have less time gaming, made gaming very fun for me. I can only spend 8 hours max per week and I had most fun in those 8hours than my past times of spending my whole day gaming.
This explains why I really love rhythm games. They have a constant stream of dopamine and you have to put all your focus into them. Rhythm games are also really hard
instead of "dopamine exhaustion" i've always thought of it as in games they're designed to always have something happening to make them interesting where as in real life there can be big periods of time where nothing much is happening and so then the contrast between those 2 makes life seem really boring. also id say the reason that i don't enjoy games anymore is because there really hasn't been anything that innovative in a LONG time, like its just companies taking the same ideas and changing them very slightly and im always searching for something new so when i try a game at first it can seem fun but after a few hours i realize its just the same thing in a different package. the only games i enjoy now are competitive where i can challenge myself. but yea i am addicted
I realized this when I was playing Call of duty. Always went to bed pissed off most nights because of some bad matches.. And the bad matches would out weight the good ones. So I decided to just take a step back from it and after that I found other things more enjoyable.
Wow way to go!! You might miss gaming eventually but by then you would have lost the ability (and maybe the time) to get addicted and just play from time to time instead 🤠
yep, third phase right now for sure. i hate video games but it's all i know how to do. didn't realize there would be a phase after quitting where i'd need to let my brain "adjust" its dopamine functions back to normal, really helpful advice.
Was playing WoW as I was listening to this. Promptly shut the game off, unsubbed and picked up my tablet to get some painting done instead before continuing with the next part, all three stages feel all too familiar for comfort.
@@lanfour4444 It's going quite well! Whilst I do play videogames again it's usually just for a couple of hours at most during slow weekends if I've nothing else to do or I've recently finished a painting and want to get inspired by cool creature/environmental designs whilst I unwind. Even so, it's strictly relegated to older games/a select few newer indie titles (and always single-player, found that very important) where there are no such things as loot-boxes and the like, almost exclusively played Diablo 2 or Quake lately for example and tend to feel satisfied after one or two hours of playing before I tire of it. Also tend to keep my installed games limited to one at a time. If I get tempted to play something else once bored I have to get through the hassle of uninstalling and then installing another one, which just makes me go "fuck it" and do something else 9/10 times.
@@salthcreative5540 Funny that you point out the single player thing. I have found that before in MMO's specifically. All the dailies I feel like I NEED to do. Dark Souls was my jam back in college cause I could just pick it up and put it down at any time. Once I got out of college I started gaming heavy again and got back into MMO's. (btw also just watched this video while grinding old raids for xmogs in WoW)
@@sourapples3482 If the game feels like a chore, then you probably don't want to continue playing the game. Especially games with battle passes. I can play and pick up cod or bf, but buy a battle pass, it'll start to feel like a full time job getting your money's worth.
This makes me think about the only game I play. Call of Duty, seriously the only console game I've played for years. I can't help but think that they know all this stuff, about how gaming is addicting. They design the games to be even more addicting. Through micro purchases, leveling up, the graphics, the sounds, rewards, prestige, ranking up and even being part of a team. I'm going to take a different approach to this topic (and I do agree with everything this man is teaching). The type of Video games we play touches a need we have in our soul, a good need. A need we were created to have, whether it's an adventure, sports, fantasy, FPS, farming simulator or a total immersive game. Recently I made a list of the games I've played in the last 34 years, and I can see a theme. Try doing that and share it with a trusted friend and see what you find about yourself. Be curious about yourself and don't "should" on yourself.
Games are great now. I just play ones I really love since I hardly have time for them anymore, I do it maybe a couple hours a week. Get on dark souls, conquer an area, feels good.
I can’t just conquer an area. I must destroy several bosses in quick succession and get from point a to b really quick. Can’t enjoy normal playthroughs anymore :(
@@Ropewatch try out other weapons, some could be op, thats what i did and now i reached irythil (however u spell it) personelly i use greathammers or greatswords since they do big dmg, and dont stick to the single weapon since u might find more stronger ones
I was addicted to league for a year and the first month of gaming was fun until I hit ranked games and started grinding that was the turning point of my gaming turning into addiction, now I hit d4 split 1 and then I felt like "what if I tried another game would I have the same feeling as league?" and then I downloaded apex after a month of playing the game(May-June) I hit plat 3 and since I am forced to play in Asian servers I need to give my best every time and right now is the turning point where I am getting competitive again and I feel like I am getting into addiction again, all I can say is that this vid came in clutch.
I feel like I don't reach "phase 3" that often. I definitely can think of times where I have experienced phase 3 if I stick to the same game for too long and burn out on it. But for me generally all it takes to go right back to phase 1 is to switch games. I never seem to lose the phase 1 thrill of gaming at a whole. And even for a game I an bored of, if I stay away from it for a bit, even as short as as few months, and then go back it will be right back to exciting and stimulating again. With that being said, I totally experience the "dopamine exhaustion" effect for other things. I've always struggled to enjoy "normal" fun activities. I used to have a group of friends in college who got together every other weekend to play board games or card games. I would go just to keep up the social connections, but it always felt boring to me. Same goes for parties, beach trips, camping trips. Part of me always feels like it'd just be more fun to be at home playing whatever game I am into at the time. I have definitely found that in periods where I would abstain from gaming the other activities would become more enjoyable. But even then it would never ever reach the level of joy I get out of diving deep into a new game and playing it for hours and hours every day. It's easy to rationalize too, good games have more depth, complexity, and interesting problems to solve than a lot of more "mundane" real life activities. Not really sure what to make of it. I've always wished I could enjoy "normal" stuff as much as other people seem to, though.
I've definitely experienced that as well, it's hard to go out and enjoy other things when I can visualize myself doing X, Y and Z in this game or this game.
Your comment, and the video gave me this idea for myself: when something X has stopped to be fun, I can switch to something (completely) different; then after 2 months I could revisit X and have fun again. Not sure how this will work, but I'm definitely going to experiment with it.
oh dude the only thing im thinking about when i do go outside sometimes is.... "i only wanna get home and sit in fornt of my pc asap" its been like this for years i am a hardcore gamer for last 8 years of my life, im 25 now :P + combined with alcohol...
Hey man, absolutely feeling the same here (22). I used to be so extroverted back in School. However, since my one friend showed this game to me (I am not blaming him, since it was my decision to play and my decision to continue to play) I changed, and have stayed the same ever since. Im in therapy at the moment and can only vouch for that. You can be that guy you were once, again, and so can I!
Being outside "damn, couldve been playing that XYZ-game right now".. Playing the game "I dont like this, why am I still playing, Id rather be outside"....
I do experience what he's talking about for non-competitive games, but for games like Dota 2 I have 7000 hours played and I still enjoy it regularly. Sometimes I get bored and stop for a few weeks but I always come back and I always have fun when I play actively.
Feels so good to be talked about like a human being.
Because that is what you are!
Doesn't help much during dating tho
With a wallet
so maybe the problem in the first place is u don't feel fully human even without ur game addiction :)
@@lechatleblanc The issue is that most of us grew up with our entire self-worth/identity being Smart Kid and the only thing we did all by ourselves was play video games. And there's no problems with that for a while, so much so that problems and video games in the same sentence isn't even a thing until like age 10. After enough time though, people don't value you for just living because you're not a cute kid or whatever anymore (you're unaware of this), so the only thing people value you for is smarts and all you want to do is play video games. That's your entire thing too, because what else have you done? School is what's expected of you and everyone expected everything from you there so you've failed even though your grades are good, and your other thing is non-existent. Now there's two states of life: school and video games; you don't apply yourself to school because you hate the schoolwork, you get no positive reinforcement for making it through because that's what you're supposed to do, what people think is positive reinforcement is annoying because smart is dumb, and video game players are treated like -orn addicts (who are also treated unfairly). My foundation as a human is invisible, the thing people humanize me for is vapid, and the human things I've made out of myself are ignored/disliked. Therefore I don't feel human because every human treats me like I'm not and the only ones that do are on the internet which doesn't feel human.
Personally I feel human but like my surroundings don't recognize it just cause of who I'm around, that might be oversharing but figured it'd be worth it to say cause the above paragraph is definitely biased to my own experience
i wish i could say the word "gamers" as confident as this man can
well, the word has been successfully gatekept by the "gamers" themselves.
@@_DanerJimenez_ i just feel like its cringy to refer to yourself as a 'gamer' in the same way that calling oneself a 'hacker' has been so watered down its more indicative of someone out of touch with what it actually means to be a hacker, or gamer.
@@taggerung_ well what does it mean to be a gamer? do we have an official document that states this meaning and all "gamers" can refer to and agree on? the U.N. Charter perhaps?
you know maybe the reason the word "gamer" has been watered down is because the word simply held too much scope to begin with. english speakers know the separate meanings of "game" and the suffix "-er/-r" and combining the two together will literally create a word which means "one who plays games."
@@_DanerJimenez_ I guess I forgot to respond, so here I am a little late.
Youre correct in a literal sense, however the same can be said about the word 'runner', as it is literally just "one who runs". But im sure you would agree that it doesnt make a lot of sense to call yourself a runner if you only occasionally run to your car in the rain, or whatever. In the same way, I feel that the word gamer has been watered down to be nearly the literal definition, such that someone who occasionally plays Cut the Rope on their Ipad is now a 'gamer'. It just doesnt capture the original feel of the word, which im my mind is better described as someone who is passionate about video games in some capacity. Maybe if that kid playing cut the rope is eagerly awaiting the next update, then you can call them a gamer. But if theyre just playing a game to pass the time with no real intent or care for what theyre doing, I wouldnt really call that being a gamer.
Sorry for the tangent on what it means to be a gamer. It just felt necessary to describe how I see it
Yes!! The only people who can actually say gamers with confidence is twitch streamers, because they get paid to be a gamer and that’s their job so they don’t get judged as harshly.
You are a godsend to the gaming community. We need to be more informed about this stuff considering how widespread Video Game Addiction is. Hope you can reach out to a lot more people in the future.
My teacher sent me this Bc she thinks I’m addicted and that video games are the same a cocaine
@@alexvasilescu929 they are, games are just a much slower burner and algorithmic
@@Davidgopaint thing is, that’s not really true. Sure, I play a lot of video games, but that’s because I’ve got little other to do. I’d rather do that and keep quiet than use all my excess free time to do overcomplicated stuff to post on TH-cam(like figure out people’s heights based off a photo of them)
@@flyingturret208thecannon5 Cope
@@Alaskanman cope, as in do literally nothing?
Realizing this might be one of the most important videos in my life I've seen. It clears up alot of why all activities have become as entertaining as paint drying.
i know right
So how did you do in the 11 month since this comment? Did you change anything , or felt anything changing ?
@@asCOOLasLau I’m curious too, commenting to follow thread.
@@asCOOLasLau Change anything? No. A bit due to lockdown, but honestly it's an addiction/emotional crutch. I don't have anything else to fill the void that gives the same "dopamine" hit. I guess it's true, you really can't make a horse drink.
@@Blu3W4r10Ck I feel you . I know I should spend less time gaming or watching YT gaming Videos, but knowing it is something completly different than doing it ....
When you reach stage3, you turn to competitive gaming and then it's normal not to have fun
Really agree, and this is how gaming company exploited their players.
i didn't know my condition was this bad
becaue you play when you are burnt out and had enough. imagine drinking 5 liters of your favourite iced coke, you will hate it.
Yeah that's when I stopped myself, thankfully
I needed this comment. Gonna stop playing comp.
This needs to be seen by more people. Guys, interact with this video so that YT algorithm recommends it to more people. Really helpful video.
he is sort of big now. Check out the channel
I really do think more gamers should see this video
Hi
I agree, y'know this guy actually has helped me immensely and I just stumbled across him about 20-22 minutes ago.
The man is truly a blessing.
This was recommended to me!
NOT ONLY WITH GAMING! This process makes you addicted to fun itself, and works with other types of fun too:
Social medias, drugs, alcohol, sex/ pornography, very sweet/fat "comfort" food, people's attention, buying stuff, activism, religion, conspiracies, ...
Our brain just wants to avoid anxiety, and will use all available ways, even bad ones, to do so. Once you understand that, you understand 75% of the whole world's problems...
can also happen with some non-fun things, like work
@@TremblingQualifier imo its because its rewarding in a sense , we are addicted to that reward mechanism
@@TremblingQualifier It's all forms of addiction. Even what people wouldn't normally perceive as an addiction.
The only point I disagree with is "conspiracies". Currently, one of the most important things for the survival of humanity is getting as many people aware of the global conspiracies threatening it as possible. That could legitimately be considered more important than a single person's mental state.
Exactly, we could say that we are getting "high"all the time through dopamine.
I think this applies to other areas of entertainment, like youtube, social media, reddit, netflix etc. I've had all 3 of the aforementioned stages in these areas, and I haven't even gamed in a couple years.
It's applicable to anything that is a constant source of easy dopamine. The entire internet basically.
*Thinks of pausing games for 3 weeks*
*Stares at online games daily/weekly rewards or with season/time locked rewards*
Man.
That's how the video game industry gets you! The amount of battle passes and things like them in game these days has made me stop caring about the "fear of missing out" (FOMO) almost entirely; it's just overloaded me. Nowadays, I focus on playing games that I genuinely enjoy and/or connect me with my friends.
@@DiscoCokkroach I need help. I don't enjoy single player games anymore because of Call of Duty. I bought the Mass Effect Trilogy and played it for not even 2 hrs. I go right back to Cold War multiplayer. I'm missing out on great stories but I don't get the same rush as I do from Call of Duty.
@@morbidcorpse5954 I’d suggest finding something simple to do, try perhaps taking some time to meditate maybe, it’ll help focus the mind, so maybe it’ll be like restarting the computer?
@@morbidcorpse5954 k you need to stop playing COD, but do it gradually. Try to change COD for something a little boring, and continue until you stop.
@@sakuraa2008 I started playing Horizon Zero Dawn and old games off Playstation Now like Sonic and Virtual Fighter
Phase 1: 0-14
Phase 2: 14-21
Phase 3: 22+
With Pokémon games somehow I still feel that phase 1 kick, must be a mix of nostalgia from the time I was like 11/12 and adventure.
True! Phase 1 was amazing.... Minecraft ❤️
sad but true
Eh, i'm 24 and i still enjoy videogames almost as much as sex, almost...
The only game that i dropped because i wasn't having fun anymore is league of legends.
@@nilen tfw you were already 24 when Minecraft came out
After 12+ years of gaming, I'd say I'm still on phase 2 overall just because games were always more of a social thing for me rather than playing to get rid of some negative emotions, I still enjoy a lot of the games I play. I feel like this video describes me on youtube more than games, watching videos even when it's not enjoyable just because it's become like a routine for me because I USED to enjoy it.
I agree with everything he said. I've recently went cold turkey after 25 years as a gamer. I had to turn off everything including social media for the past 6 weeks. I am at a brink of relapse but trying my hardest to stay away
How are you now?
@CoffeeSA96 still off social media which has been great. Found an idle game that I play for leisure on the train, but no more computer games or high intensity game. I couldn't fill the void of gaming 100%, but in taking guitar lessons and I spend about 1 hour a day practicing. Relationship with my wife and kids has been the best
Wish I saw this back in 2016 during highschool...
same
Wish you apply this knowledge today instead. Yesterday will always be the best moment to make a wise choice, but the ultimate worst moment to make it is the future. So go with the 2nd best, which is NOW, and have no bad feelings and thoughts about it dude
Wish I saw this in 2006 when I dropped out of high school..
i feel the same way..At least i'm glad such matters got shed light on. How else are you supposed to know whats going on when you were say 14 years old?
Yeah...me too
This is so shocking and honestly a relief hearing somebody so accurately identify my pain. Thank you I hope you discuss how to reverse this
just watched the whole 15 videos and im quitting games for good, thanks man
I had a gaming addiction probably from as young as I can remember up until the age 20. Around that time I was playing league of legends a lot sometimes even missing days off college. When I decided to go university I knew that if I was to come out with a good grade I'd have to give up gaming and kind of went cold turkey for 3 years. Nowadays I can't even play video games anymore and get enjoyment out of them, so those 3 years really did do something to me.
Thank you for this. I love videos like this because they help me understand what makes me unhappy in life from an outside perspective almost like a therapist. It really helps with understanding your own emotions and thoughts.
Stage 3 gang
This is excellent advice! I found as a gamer, one trick I've learnt to do is to go on holiday overseas for 2 weeks each year. While I'm on holiday, I stay away from video games, try a bunch of new things and totally change up my regular routine. I've found that after doing this, my dopamine levels normalize a lot more and I'm feeling far more motivated when I return from holiday.
My summer vacation started today, and you know what, I've decided to not play video games at all the entire 2 month break. I'm a college student and over the pandemic especially, I started playing a lot of video game. Thank you to the doctor in the video for explaining everything so concisely and inspiring me to detox.
Please share your experience and tell me what has happened after not playing games for 2 months.
@@gedas7058 The first two weeks of trying not to play video games were very difficult. My friends kept telling me to play video games with them and I couldn't resist so I lost self control and played a few days.
However, after two weeks, my computer broke down due to a RAM card issue. Without my computer, I couldn't play any video games even if I wanted. As a result, i went one month straight without playing any games. When my friends told me to play, I had an excuse that my computer was broken. I also started naturally waking up earlier at 8am instead of 12 pm like I normally did. Also I had more time to go the gym and spend time with family.
After one month I fixed my pc and I started playing video games again, except this time I only played around one or two hours a day if at all. This was much better than the amount of time I used to play, which was around 3-6 hours a day.
All in all, I think video games are not inherently bad, it is only bad if it takes too much time away from you each day and if it is addicting to you.
The first two weeks of not playing will be the hardest, especially if you have friends asking you to play. It will take a lot of self control to take a break from gaming, but I believe that anyone can do it!
@@randombossgamer1175 has anything changed besides the time spent on various activities? Do you feel more like doing the other productive stuff? By any chance you enjoy that stuff more or have more desire/motivation to do so?
@@gedas7058 well, it’s been 4 months and I’m finally pretty much completely video game free. For me, a change of environment helped me stay away from playing video games all day. I moved into my college dorm and didn’t take my gaming pc or my Xbox with me. It forced me to stop playing altogether.
After a month of not playing any games I stopped getting the urge to hop on my pc everytime I was bored. I replaced my free time with going to the gym and making food and sometimes watching Netflix.
I went home last weekend and surprisingly didn’t touch my gaming pc or Xbox at all. I think I will still play video games occasionally in the future, but now where near the level I was playing at over the past few years (around 4 hours a day)
a lot of games try to make you feel more hooked in with time-sensitive rewards like dailies, log in bonuses, limited-time quests ect..
So true, and it works! I feel pressure to not miss out on ”free” rewards in games you earn from playing everyday. But if a game needs to trick you into playing like that, is it actually a giving good game
I have the Feeling that watching TH-cam Videos and netflix are the same as gaming. Iam playing for 8 years now almost 6-12 hours every day and youre right it became dull and pointless but going outside wasnt that fun either. But when i stop gaming for 3 weeks iam 90% of the day in TH-cam or Nerlfix or whatever watching soemthing and i have the Feeling its the same. Because when i cannot watch Videos or play my body automaticly tells me do go outside do Sports read a book or whatever but when i watch TH-cam Videos iam still ,,addicted" and do not have the desires to go out or do something. Because iam 100% entertained
when video game started being less fun i just play braindead mmos while listening to audios like these
not the best course of action but hey it led me here
interesting, for me I feel like I have to play only certain games, and there are games that I played regularly for years and I'm not addicted. If I try some low budget grind mmo in fact I can't even stand playing it
SAME
Same. I could never conceive that gaming would ever stop being fun to me, but in the past few years I’ve steadily lost any drive or interest in playing. Now when I do play a game (on my Switch...which if I had gotten it a decade or 2 decades ago, and the games it has, I’d be playing non-stop all day every day) I play for a little bit but usually listen to podcasts or something from TH-cam while I do it.
It makes me sad...I used to get really excited for games 😕
AxeKick80 holy crap, this is the same shit happening to me recent years. (I honestly thought when i was 13-14 yrs old that i will love playing games forever but yeah it didn’t happen), I used to play a lot of different games but i think because we are used to the game mechanics and with experience we understood that all game has the same objective and shit we start getting bored out of it and with time i found out that i am having 200% more fun going outside. I only play 2 game now just to pass time while listening to podcasts and yet i am not having fun as i used before.
it's a start man, let it slowly rewire you
These 3 phases apply to me 100%.. This channel is really really great. Im glad that such stuff gets to be talked and shared. If youre in between that age up to 22+ there would be no way for anyone to know what exactly is going on unless someone sheds light on it.
shouts out to the camera man, i know he was trying to be competent as possible to acquire precise focus, pure success
2:50 Thank you so much. For that analysis. You opened my eyes about that, but I think it'll be even more important for me to tell my friend. Hes been suffering from depression and not realising what the hell in the world has changed were not having fun anymore but if I just tell him, hey, its your brain. I think it would help him quite a lot to understand whats going on.
I recently quit Rocket League. Over 4000 hours but in recent years it had grown too toxic and negatively affected my mood and relationships. Since quitting I feel better. I'm doing better and my relaitonships have improved. I'd tried to quit in the past but always came back to it. So far I'm at 3 months off it. I've replaced consatntly booting it up with making healthy dinner, going on runs, crosswords, watching an interesting video etc.
This shit right here is what I needed. I've been stuck in a cycle of gaming but not wanting to game and be more productive and accomplish goals but I always end up back to in front of my computer screen. Thank you Doc.. seriously.
Another reminder
I'm really curious how many gamers swing instantly to another addiction because it's just so hard facing raw unfiltered reality after hiding from it for years.
Yeah, tried all of that and eventually, came back to gaming... turns out life isn't that nice.
We come back to gaming... Or other things. Drugs, alchohol, etc. Sometimes both. But yea life sucks, why not enjoy something.
@@redcitadel8354 why not better yourself? Videogames can be regressive
@@ericglenn9984 "because i am happy remaining the same as I was last year" - ron the don swanson
Raw unfiltered reality? Ok? Bunch of nonsense.
I play games daily. I work full time. I play soccer 4-5 times a week. My house is payed off, no mortgage. I pay my bills. I own my car.
Tell me what reality i am hiding from?
This is dead on in my experience. If it becomes not fun and feels like work, I think that’s the time to back off and make yourself do something else with that energy. Tough to do but I find that can be helpful. I don’t want to stop playing because there isn’t much entertainment out there on TV (film, series, etc), it’s all so bad right now
This resonates a lot with me, especially the whole "reset" period of 3 weeks - 2 months. For a period of time (around a month in total) in 2017 my life was a whirlwind and I didn't have the time to play games any more, and this is after having played games almost daily for like 8 years at that point. And it was like you mentioned, I didn't even really enjoy myself, I only did it because I didn't know what else to do, and when I did try something else it just wasn't as fun. I still had the urge to play games, but only to satisfy the urge - I always had a dull stressful, itchy feeling that was telling me deep down that what I was doing was a waste of time. But after that month or so I started to realize that that itch was almost completely gone - instead I had the desire to work out, do schoolwork ahead of time, really improve myself, and I enjoyed those things a lot! But then I found games again and here we are 3 years later, still not enjoying games, nor do I enjoy other things (as much as I think I should be).
So basically I'm going to try this whole dopamine reset deal. Thanks Dr!
This is AMAZING. I stopped playing video games 8 months ago based on my recognition that the games were no longer fun to me. These 3 stages are spot on and the reboot period is spot on. It’s so important to have this information out now. When I started playing video games there were no studies done on how addictive it is. This information would of changed my life a long time ago, but it’s better late than never.
My goodness he is well-spoken! You can tell he's very knowledgable about this topic as he can explain it in such a way that a goldfish brained individual like myself can understand.
I think I'm have this issue with youtube. I actually scream at myself when I pull up my laptop and visit youtube for the 50 time during the day but I just CANT stop. DAMN!! I need to park my laptop at my moms house and get me a dumb phone for a while. Im really addicted. Thank you for this.
Use Coldturkey, it will really help.
@@dickurkel6910 yeah watching Videos is bad too. When i have nothing to watch or play i actually want to do things like go outside or do Sports. But when i have a phone i can watch TH-cam with i will stay home all day watching TH-cam Videos
Same. Shouldn't underestimate youtube. I think my youtube addiction eventually took over my gaming addiction. Quitting youtube actually made gaming way more enjoyable for me. Though after seeing this video that's not positive.
@@thomasnagtegaal2880 This is as if you just read my mind. I dont play as much games but ive moved on to youtube. Hours and hours of youtube. I dont have much of a social life and honestly if its not youtube i'd rather be dead. Theres nothing else for me to do.
Our parents generation suffered from TV addiction and TH-cam is just TV on steroids...
I was forced to move out a few years back, which resulted in my not being able to play games anymore for several reasons. At first I had no joy in anything anymore and I lost a lot of friends during that time. But by now, I enjoy gaming again and enjoy hanging out with people! I started rekindling some of these friendships.
Only thing I need to learn now, is to meet new people without "regular unplanned activity" or however you called it in another video.
Any phase 3 boys? eyyyy
He read my mindddd. Going on a gaming detox for a few weeks I think.
I just play games to pass the time these days
Eyyy
I definitely have had dopamine exhaustion but it wasn't just videogaming. So cutting out drugs/porn left me with only the videogames as my dopamine fix. I need a new activity and that will maybe motivate me to quit.
@@shotglassanhero Sport? Thats what helps me a lot.
As a type 3 being forced to go to Basketball practice and being exhausted therafter is so beneficial
@@saidbristina6196 yeah same here got my workout pass last week going to start all over again sadly i lost everything i gained in the gym :(
It's so very cool to learn the actual reason behind those feelings, over the years I've noticed over time that tendency to get burned out of games and needing a couple of months before enjoying them instead of being part of the daily routine.
well i always thought im not gaming adicted, cause its never been as bad as the cases you see in media.
turns out i definitely am
I used to be very addicted as a kid. I didnt have a computer of my own so i used to sneak into my sisters room whenever she was leaving for work. And even if she was going out just for like 15 minutes to the store. I was literally stalking her and pretending to be watching tv and the moment she walks out .. im in. I realized this a few years back and wow. When i was doing it i would have no idea i was addicted. It seemed pretty normal to me :D Im sure you can think of moments like that if u go back. Damn i loved doing this but that probably contributed a lot to my anxiety later on. And there was nobody to stop me from doing it. Its nice to see when someones sheds light on such stuff
♥️ Your honesty with yourself is huge!! I wish my brother would realize / admit it….
I hope you’re well! 🍀
"what your brain is actually capable of in terms of feeling enjoyment"
That last sentence hit something in me, like your brain is just unable to constantly feel that emotion otherwise it creates exhaustion. So it's okay to actually find less enjoyment after the first shot (for me when it was at the age of 12 with World of Warcraft, i've spent many years trying to live again that period of my life but it's impossible to force it out, I have built tolerance towards that game)
its pointless, kinda like a drug addict chasing the dragon. the best thing is to move on, do other things, play other games
@@punchy9085 Yes I like that image, didn't remember it from that south park episod. It's sad how you can, in your most joyful moments, incorporate such worm in your mind, like a disease
Blizzard was my dealer too.
when he mentioned the 3rd phase like part of it i just got the tyler1 clip in my head of him screaming i cant stop playing cus im addicted
Yeah, that clip went viral on Twitch and YT. Like usually you see him rage and you laugh, but this time it was whole lot more serious and you really see a proof what playing games for hours, tens of hours a day could do to you. Especially when you're playing a competetive game for most of the day and you're still on lose streak. When I come back to CS GO or Valorant I'm stuck in this vicious circle playing just at bronze/silver lvls and still having like 50-50 win-ratio. The toxic community in both forementioned games wouldn't even try to help you win the game, like those PvP games are really mentally draining.
I really like playing competitive games, prefferably solo-queue cuz I have a quite stupid mindset that I should be on my own only to adapt to many different factors (which teammates vs enemies, map you play, decisions when it comes to buy certain weapons and stuff before each round etc.) to really prove that I'm playing at this and not another level. Now I'm only playing CS GO just for the sake of earning stars from the Operation, which I can spend on cases that I would sell on Steam Market then.
I can't believe how relatable this video was. I'm really greatful for this video. Thank you!
Edit: I'll make sure to send to my friends who I know feel the same.
Came from reckful stream really informative video thank u
Rip
I used to work out 5+ days a week. I had a lot of fun in the gym and enjoyed the results and people i'd meet there. It was almost like this whole ritualistic thing for me. 2 years later, I can barely get myself to go once a week and I gained 50ish pounds. And what he said about the phases, I can plot that timeline right in the middle of this and It's become clear to me that I don't want to go to the gym anymore because I dont feel that same dopamine from it. It's all been exhausted and I don't get the same high from any activities because of it. Holy shit I wish I could be healthy and game all I want, but I think I have to give myself a break for 2 months at least and learn moderation. Thank you Dr. I hope that others realize they aren't in it alone and that there are others dealing with this (including depression, RIP Byron).
Thank you for this.
I always knew about the dopamin issues but it was never as logic to me as it is now. This makes so much sense.
Keep doing what you do !
This whole lecture is to the point and this guy really knows his stuff! This video I found the most helpful
I also feel that this kind of dopamine exhaustion plays some part in achieving skill. When you're not as high on the game, you can concentrate much better on the enemies and make calm decisions. At least what i've felt, the more detached I've grown from the game, the more better I get.
Oooh i get that, i think you are talking about the flow or zoning, i've been constantly playing a game for 2-3 years, i still enjoy it somehow lol and im really high rank in that game.. cuz i watched a vid saying flow state is balanced anxiety/boredness, something like that
Holy shit, I think you got it 100%. I always wonder why everytime I came back from taking a week break from an fps game I always perform well every matches, able to make correct decisions, but when I play nonstop for a week It's like I suck at the game.
Really important video. Man, I definitely went through the 3 stages during lockdown. I've always enjoyed gaming but also had other motivations outside of it so I never played too much. Once we ended up closed inside because of Covid, is when I started gaming for hours and days with no end. At the beginning it was great, then I felt how it stopped being as fun but it was still better than doing nothing. And at the end, I was honestly just doing it because there was nothing else to do, but I was hating every minute of it, jumping from game to game as I felt completely bored, not fully understanding why. Once everything opened up and was able to do stuff outside, I stopped playing for a couple months and now it's back to being fun.
I was definitely stuck in that third stage many years ago. And I can relate to a lot about what he said. But you can break free and get away from it you just have to actually try, and get help if you can't do it on your own. It is nothing to be embarrassed about.
Im done gaming now, ima be a gamer of my real life thanks to this guy... i need my dopaming source to be success and not fake success
I can definitely agree with this, most of my activities are on a “clock” of sorts, some times i find a game incredibly fun, and some still do, the second phase aswell, i always play games that are now 16 years old and they always bring a smile to my face , and help with a bad day, ive gone through the 3rd phase a few times but at that point i would naturally veer away from that and start doing other activities just because i didnt want to play the same games that ive exhausted, so then id start listening to music, watch a sitcom, go for a jog, board games, and sometimes school, infact at the moment of writing this comment im resetting back to phase 1 naturally , as I legitimately haven’t seriously sat down and decided to play a game in a little bit
Older games don't waste ur time like GTA Online
@@ericglenn9984 meh ,im a campaign and single player person myself , i like the older GTAS
@@ericglenn9984 yeah right it wasn't so additives as now.
Games are becoming more and more realistic and even more fun. The future will be even darker with VR technology 🙀
You didn't even need to go outside to order food. 🙀
@@sam_widge9183 same.
An interesting lecture for me, for sure. I never really left that second (or even first) phase, even having played games for decades, but still found it valuable. I still enjoy the activity and can also find enjoyment in other things.
I find that gaming is just the easier way to maintain social connections with friends. I find that I easily lose contact with all my friends unless we play some game together. I just hate small talk, so I'm never the guy saying 'hey, howsit going'. But if it's 'Hey, isit time to play?!?!?!?!' That feels more normal, because its something I actually want to do. I don't want to just sit looking at an instant messaging app that goes off sporadically. And I definitely don't want to just call someone without any reason, that's just weird. Gaming is a good excuse to speak with people, and then we might spend 2 hours speaking after we decide to call it a night, but just going 'hey, wanna talk' feels hella weird when you have nothing concrete to say... and most of the time I have nothing concrete to say.
Just like watching a show someone else has watched, or reading a book they've read can be a conversation opener. I guess I could send funny memes to people or shit, but I'm not really spending my day looking at funny pictures anyway.
Sounds good but why not start a conversation with something you actually want to talk about? Its how I start things I never ask hey you wanna talk/hangout I just bluntly start with the topic and I also prefer if someone else is direct this way too instead of "hi whatsup" it actually makes me kinda anxious with expectation just say whats on your mind (at least for me Im a pretty blunt and direct person)
Sounds like you and your friends are all guarded introverts. I normally “over share” if I feel like the other person isn’t talkative, just so they know right away I trust them to have real convos.
If you can’t talk to your friends, then they aren’t your friends. They are gaming acquaintances similar to work friends. If you didn’t have that adjective in front of “friends” in common, they wouldn’t be in your life.
@@kevinc8955 I think you may be overthinking it. Surely he has some irl friends as well but just doesnt have anything interesting to talk about with them? I have a mix of both for example.
And our online gaming acquaintances (some of them) are more than just that if you talk to them almost every day (and share memes on discord etc), this is what I prefer to do its just using discord in closed communities you connect with instead of delving into facebook narcisism filled with all kinds of selfaffirmation addicts etc.
See, you feel me. 100%
I’ve been raised on gaming since I were 5 years-22, and I rather play a game of UNO than sit & gossip for hours, but I’d hate to be the guy that inquires this out loud..
@@ViltrumiteIsRite99 I am similar to you, I don't enjoy sitting and chatting for hours, I prefer doing something. I have found that doing sports with people is the best bet you have at socialising outside of video-games. You will actually be doing something instead of just sitting and chatting and the shared interested and activity will in turn, give you something extra to talk about.
This is such an important video for me. Im at that phase where im just not entertained by video games. I get on and have enough games to keep me busy but I just change from game to game never satisfied. Guess its time detox for sometime!
It's been a long time since I've felt any pleasure while playing a video game. Nowadays I simply feel something I'd describe as a relief once I sit down and play. But this is probably because I haven't been able to move forward with life and therefore, I've been postponing the forward movement for the day after and it's become an endless loop. My brains hurt with grief and and insecurity for the most time, because I'm unable to pursue anything. But once I finally enter the game, I feel relieved almost completely. But there is no pleasure. In fact, I fucking hate playing a video game. I might be even blaming it, subconsciously, for what's happened to me over time.
For other people reading this, and maybe OP but it's been 10 months, actively try not playing games. Even short fallbacks can reset good progress. I've been there without knowing it. You will have evenings where you are severely frustrated or start to cry because you just don't know what to do but it gets better the longer you can stay away.
I've had the same thing
@@Selyidar Had? How did you overcome that? :)
This is to relatable
@@jonnil1997 Hang in there fam!
league players can relate af...this quarantine kinda helped me ngl. At the beginning of quarantine i’ve been playing league non stop, but about 3 weeks ago i haven’t even played it, and 2 days ago when i played fifa 19 again after MONTHS, holy crap best feeling i’ve felt
When I was at a low point playing would make my negatives even worse even if I was winning in-game. I would listen to loud heavy music while playing in a kind of low emotionless state. When I'm normal though I kind of feel that the game can be fun but it doesn't ever feel like the first time playing.
Thanks for posting these videos.
I watched your vids for so long on twitch but finally understanding how addicting video games can be this year so here I am back again but understanding now why it happens thank you 🙏
As a kid I hated having fun because it felt boring. I only had kinda fun when doing things which required to stress a little. Yes, I played games especially with others but I did not like the game, I enjoyed being able to compete and succeed - I enjoyed the metagame. Throughout my life I constantly felt a bit of sadness when happy and a bit of joy when sad. I never liked the simpler things and considered them beneath me. I loved books not because they brought me in a different world but because they made my mind constantly working and asking myself questions. They were more like a surfboard to me. My mind is the ocean.
I've noticed this has happened to me a lot the past nearly 30 years. Now I balance it out by having hobbies outside like woodworking, engine building, shooting, playing with my kids. Then I play games for a few hours every night.
I have been watching your videos and it really seems like you are narrating my life. Thank you and I will continue watching and put these videos into practice! I will report back on this specific video in the next 2-3 months.
Hope you're doing well.
You're so important to the gaming comunity, please keep up the awesome job! Would love to know more about the gaming psychologically influence in our brains. Much love from Brazil
I have many times turned on my computer and clicked on league of legends, logged in without realizing i was doing it. And then when I was queued into a game I would just think how did I even get here this fast, Im like a robot.
Ive been gaming since i was a child and play al the time now at 24. For the past few months, my freetime has been completely sucked up by studying purposes. Ive played maybe twice in the last 3 months and it felt so much more fun than when i was actually ABLE to play
This guy is an actual hero savings lives
Wacthing this video was so fun for me, I knew some of the things already but it clarified some doubts about what I feel most of the time. Thank you 💪
to me, dopamine circuitry exhaustion sounds pretty similar to depression
It is literally like the same concept to depression like over loading on serotonin
Like a sort of self claimed depression. We could do with stuff like this being touched on in schools
Definitely. A core aspect of depression is "Anhedonia" - the inability to feel pleasure. They will lose interest in activities they usually enjoy, they will lose interest in having social relations, and they will have a general feeling of emptiness, as joy and pleasure has disappeared from their lives. This sounds exactly like a dopamine problem.
@@andiemilo2742 physical exercise, as well as sleep, help with resetting dopamin uptake.
@@andiemilo2742 I’m glad you’re doing well, man. Many factors probably come into play when we narrow in on an individual case by case basis. For example, perhaps because of your age (if we are to assume you’re very young), your brain physiology is robust, your capacity to endure and tolerate dopaminergic activities in a healthy, non-addictive way is probably influenced by that. Perhaps you lead your life In such a way that it’s unlikely you would ever develop an addictive relationship with gaming. There could be so many factors.
In other words, everyone is different, and lead different lives, and are able or not able to adapt to different levels of stress.
Just don’t take your good fortune for granted, my friend :) many would kill to be in your position.
There'll be a lot of people on the comments making "funny" comments or making jokes and what not, but i just wanna say, you actually helped me, thank you for doing what you do
Meditation really helps speed up the return to one’s normal dopamine reward level! I don’t know of any academic research; this is my own direct experience
THANK YOU! This is an absolute GOLD! Couldn't agree more with everything you said. This is exactly how I feel. Only thing that tops gaming in "being fun" even when I have this dopamine exhaustion is art. Bad thing, though, is that sometimes it is hard for me to do art and I turn to games instead because it is easier and I have waaay more experience and I am better at them. I will quit all games for at least a month and report back.
I have a question though. Does social media do a similar job to games? Because it wastes your time and every text you get releases dopamine as well.
@@kavertx9167 I believe so it depends on you usage of it's taking up a lot of your time during the day it probably has the same negative effects as gaming.
@@lerpy4338 Yeah, it is just as toxic. I will attempt not to use twitter and instagram(I use facebook mostly for memes so I can't stop that one :D) for a month like games. Very hopeful right now, we'll see the results in a month.
Hey I'm rooting for ya:D
Yep, turns out I'm in phase 3. Holy shit, well guess I need to detox asap. Thanks Dr. K for helping me realize this, I think I felt it deep inside but my brain just pushed it deeper when I really started to think about it and analyze it. This video truly spoke to me, everything you said hit home like a truck, it was like you were reading my mind and my soul.
Time for some serious detox.
How did the detox go its been 2 months
@@CarterRY I've still got a long way to go, that's all I can say, lol.
Bro you can do it find something meaningful like studying. You can do it.
@@georgewillow112 What's up now?
@@kral3046 He's dead 😓
If you are losing life's other activities over gaming, you are addicted and you have some sort of mental issues. But, if you are playing games every here and there without affecting your other life, and have the power to stop mid-game when the situation demands, you are not addicted and that's me. I've seen some people act irritated and become violent when they had to shut their game halfway, if you are one of them you need counseling from someone like this guy here. Don't know how I got to this video but I've created a list of people I will share this with and they need it. Thank you, Sir, you couldn't have said it better.
developers came forward with ways to mitigate this One of the best ones to lower your dopamine levels is to play Jump King
I might have hit the limit to where other things aren’t as fun at some point but as of now I’ve managed to subconsciously find the threshold and distance myself from games in favor of spending time engaging in hobbies I enjoy like bowling, giving pets attention, or even focusing a bit more heavily on working. I haven’t hit the point where all of those fail in a long time.
This video helped me literally to quit gaming.
I found a way of forever repeating the first 2 steps by just playing a new game every few weeks. It looks like I've been keeping my self in a loop for years.
It is like you were reading my mind.
This video made me realize I'm actually addicted to social media, and also made me realize why I could never relate to people saying videogames aren't fun anymore, I guess I never got really addicted.
Social media tho? That shit I need to clear off my system
bruh i'm in phase 4
So you've become a video game character?
stage 4 terminal gamer moment
@@frostbd lmao
Phase 4, you play league of legends all day and cry all night.
LMAO
I sort of think of it like an economic equilibrium. If you like gaming it's good to play some games sometimes. Total abstinence will make you miserable. However, it also important to do everything else in life that you enjoy or that will enhance your long term enjoyment of existence.
It's a question of balance and your brain is telling you with happiness and unhappiness which direction you need to adjust. You won't get to achieve equilibrium permanently or even truly align with it for a moment, but the best you can do and the happiest you can be is following the ques to always push yourself towards that most balanced point.
This is an interesting video. I've been playing video games off and on my whole life (late 80s and early 90s). Maybe I would be a good candidate for study. For me it was one of the cheapest hobbies that brought great rewards for me. Everything else that I got into was too expensive. I don't really care for simple games, I usually like complex RPGs and then on top of that I really like playing with other people and not really single player stuff. I can see how most people would resonate with this but for me it's not that I don't find a game fun it's that other games don't provide me the same challenges. I literally plug into the game. I become the character and usually build a character like I would a dungeons and dragons character or an RP character and try to wrap my around how he or she thinks and feels. I get so many additional levels of complexity that I just don't get from a normal physical activity like a game of baseball, football, or basketball. If someone asks me to stop playing GTA 5 RP and to come play some baseball or a card game like UNO im like ugh do I have to. It's not that it's not fun, its like playing tic tac toe with a 2 year old. It becomes repetitive and easy. So it's not fun for me or the other player. There just is no challenge and it brings down the mood for everyone. The only physical activity that I have found that brings anywhere NEAR the amount of brain activity that a complex video game brings me is a 3 gun match. A high speed, real gun competition where you have to move quickly through an obtuse obstacle course shooting different weapons (rifle, shotgun, pistol). You have to make sure you are in decent shape, that you actually can hit the target at various distances, remember all your gun safety rules and additional rules such as clearing the gun and putting it on safe before transitioning to the next phase or you are docked points. It's not that I find doing other things not as fun they are just not as complex. Get a giant beach party full of women in bikinis and yep Ill put down the mouse and keyboard. Oh yeah I forgot about that, console games also bore me. The controller usually affects the simplicity at which the game is developed. The restrictions on speed, movement, accuracy and the ability to create macros, chat and monitor computer and background functions is just too important. Controllers alone induce actual rage in me. Its like playing dodgeball while being tied to a large but loose chair.
This is true. When I went to post graduate school, which means I have less time gaming, made gaming very fun for me. I can only spend 8 hours max per week and I had most fun in those 8hours than my past times of spending my whole day gaming.
I already knew about these concepts but these episodes are pure gold.
This explains why I really love rhythm games. They have a constant stream of dopamine and you have to put all your focus into them. Rhythm games are also really hard
instead of "dopamine exhaustion" i've always thought of it as in games they're designed to always have something happening to make them interesting where as in real life there can be big periods of time where nothing much is happening and so then the contrast between those 2 makes life seem really boring. also id say the reason that i don't enjoy games anymore is because there really hasn't been anything that innovative in a LONG time, like its just companies taking the same ideas and changing them very slightly and im always searching for something new so when i try a game at first it can seem fun but after a few hours i realize its just the same thing in a different package. the only games i enjoy now are competitive where i can challenge myself. but yea i am addicted
I realized this when I was playing Call of duty. Always went to bed pissed off most nights because of some bad matches.. And the bad matches would out weight the good ones. So I decided to just take a step back from it and after that I found other things more enjoyable.
Amazing video. Everything is so spot on, especially the phases. Experienced all of em.
He's not the hero we deserve, but the hero we need.
I felt myself shifting into phase 3 so I sold all $2000 worth of gaming stuff and bought a mountain bike with the money. So much better now
Wow way to go!! You might miss gaming eventually but by then you would have lost the ability (and maybe the time) to get addicted and just play from time to time instead 🤠
yep, third phase right now for sure. i hate video games but it's all i know how to do. didn't realize there would be a phase after quitting where i'd need to let my brain "adjust" its dopamine functions back to normal, really helpful advice.
my guy said dozens. now look at him. Aoe healer
This is really interesting. Kinda of applies to any activity, since everything has the potential to hijack our brain's reward system.
Was playing WoW as I was listening to this. Promptly shut the game off, unsubbed and picked up my tablet to get some painting done instead before continuing with the next part, all three stages feel all too familiar for comfort.
How are doing today? It has been 7 months.
@@lanfour4444 It's going quite well!
Whilst I do play videogames again it's usually just for a couple of hours at most during slow weekends if I've nothing else to do or I've recently finished a painting and want to get inspired by cool creature/environmental designs whilst I unwind. Even so, it's strictly relegated to older games/a select few newer indie titles (and always single-player, found that very important) where there are no such things as loot-boxes and the like, almost exclusively played Diablo 2 or Quake lately for example and tend to feel satisfied after one or two hours of playing before I tire of it.
Also tend to keep my installed games limited to one at a time. If I get tempted to play something else once bored I have to get through the hassle of uninstalling and then installing another one, which just makes me go "fuck it" and do something else 9/10 times.
@@salthcreative5540Amazing, I'm happy for you, the hint about having only one game installed, is perfect, thank you.
@@salthcreative5540 Funny that you point out the single player thing. I have found that before in MMO's specifically. All the dailies I feel like I NEED to do. Dark Souls was my jam back in college cause I could just pick it up and put it down at any time. Once I got out of college I started gaming heavy again and got back into MMO's. (btw also just watched this video while grinding old raids for xmogs in WoW)
@@sourapples3482 If the game feels like a chore, then you probably don't want to continue playing the game. Especially games with battle passes. I can play and pick up cod or bf, but buy a battle pass, it'll start to feel like a full time job getting your money's worth.
This makes me think about the only game I play. Call of Duty, seriously the only console game I've played for years. I can't help but think that they know all this stuff, about how gaming is addicting.
They design the games to be even more addicting. Through micro purchases, leveling up, the graphics, the sounds, rewards, prestige, ranking up and even being part of a team.
I'm going to take a different approach to this topic (and I do agree with everything this man is teaching). The type of Video games we play touches a need we have in our soul, a good need. A need we were created to have, whether it's an adventure, sports,
fantasy, FPS, farming simulator or a total immersive game. Recently I made a list of the games I've played in the last 34 years, and I can see a theme.
Try doing that and share it with a trusted friend and see what you find about yourself. Be curious about yourself and don't "should" on yourself.
Games are great now. I just play ones I really love since I hardly have time for them anymore, I do it maybe a couple hours a week.
Get on dark souls, conquer an area, feels good.
I can’t just conquer an area. I must destroy several bosses in quick succession and get from point a to b really quick. Can’t enjoy normal playthroughs anymore :(
@@Ropewatch try out other weapons, some could be op, thats what i did and now i reached irythil (however u spell it) personelly i use greathammers or greatswords since they do big dmg, and dont stick to the single weapon since u might find more stronger ones
I was addicted to league for a year and the first month of gaming was fun until I hit ranked games and started grinding that was the turning point of my gaming turning into addiction, now I hit d4 split 1 and then I felt like "what if I tried another game would I have the same feeling as league?" and then I downloaded apex after a month of playing the game(May-June) I hit plat 3 and since I am forced to play in Asian servers I need to give my best every time and right now is the turning point where I am getting competitive again and I feel like I am getting into addiction again, all I can say is that this vid came in clutch.
loltyler1 needs to see this
very well explained. i would take long breaks from games for about half a year.. didn't realize i was doing it because of dopamine exhaustion.
I feel like I don't reach "phase 3" that often. I definitely can think of times where I have experienced phase 3 if I stick to the same game for too long and burn out on it. But for me generally all it takes to go right back to phase 1 is to switch games. I never seem to lose the phase 1 thrill of gaming at a whole. And even for a game I an bored of, if I stay away from it for a bit, even as short as as few months, and then go back it will be right back to exciting and stimulating again.
With that being said, I totally experience the "dopamine exhaustion" effect for other things. I've always struggled to enjoy "normal" fun activities. I used to have a group of friends in college who got together every other weekend to play board games or card games. I would go just to keep up the social connections, but it always felt boring to me. Same goes for parties, beach trips, camping trips. Part of me always feels like it'd just be more fun to be at home playing whatever game I am into at the time.
I have definitely found that in periods where I would abstain from gaming the other activities would become more enjoyable. But even then it would never ever reach the level of joy I get out of diving deep into a new game and playing it for hours and hours every day. It's easy to rationalize too, good games have more depth, complexity, and interesting problems to solve than a lot of more "mundane" real life activities.
Not really sure what to make of it. I've always wished I could enjoy "normal" stuff as much as other people seem to, though.
I've definitely experienced that as well, it's hard to go out and enjoy other things when I can visualize myself doing X, Y and Z in this game or this game.
Your comment, and the video gave me this idea for myself:
when something X has stopped to be fun, I can switch to something (completely) different; then after 2 months I could revisit X and have fun again. Not sure how this will work, but I'm definitely going to experiment with it.
Ton Bil hows it going
Excellent video. Thank you for enlightening me on the process of video games and addiction
oh dude the only thing im thinking about when i do go outside sometimes is....
"i only wanna get home and sit in fornt of my pc asap" its been like this for years
i am a hardcore gamer for last 8 years of my life, im 25 now :P + combined with alcohol...
Hey man, absolutely feeling the same here (22). I used to be so extroverted back in School. However, since my one friend showed this game to me (I am not blaming him, since it was my decision to play and my decision to continue to play) I changed, and have stayed the same ever since. Im in therapy at the moment and can only vouch for that. You can be that guy you were once, again, and so can I!
@@levinwirth9761 what game did you play?
@@iwantum League of Legends
bam?
Being outside "damn, couldve been playing that XYZ-game right now".. Playing the game "I dont like this, why am I still playing, Id rather be outside"....
I do experience what he's talking about for non-competitive games, but for games like Dota 2 I have 7000 hours played and I still enjoy it regularly. Sometimes I get bored and stop for a few weeks but I always come back and I always have fun when I play actively.