Whether you want to (1) reclaim your life, (2) help a friend who is addicted to gaming, or (3) just understand the dangers of online gaming and how to minimize them, this book will teach you everything you need to know.
There are negative consequences to a gaming addiction. This book will help you fully comprehend the problems and learn how to help yourself or others break out of the addiction. Free yourself or others from unproductive behavior so life can be healthy and enjoyable again.
Online gaming is fun, there’s no doubt about it! Gaming can help you explore your personality, enhance your creativity, and sharpen your problem-solving skills. However, if your virtual reality starts to damage your real-life interactions and health, then you have a problem. That is what this book is designed to address.
I wrote “Gaming Addiction” for the purpose of guiding you through the process of evaluating your gaming activities to determine what is helping you and what aspects of your game of choice are actually messing up your life. I know, I know, gaming is your life! But is it a life that will lead to good things, or will it ultimately take you to a place you don’t want to go? There is a healthy balance that can be attained.
You can get what you want out of life, yes, real life. It is possible to continue to play online and still have a happy family, loving relationships, meaningful work, and delightful social experiences. The challenge is not letting the draw of the game overpower what you know you need to do and who you want to be. It’s not healthy to spend all your time “checked out” from real life; some of the time it’s okay to escape, but remember: while you’re escaping from your life, there’s nobody else out there who will live it for you.
I get it. Sometimes life is just too harsh. We sometimes just need to get away. Yet, if you find yourself “escaping” to a virtual world to the point that you use your avatar more often than your real name, you’re in trouble. For those of us who don’t feel 100% confident around other people 100% of the time, it’s easier to just camp out in an alternate universe. However, it’s equally important to resist the temptation to spend all of your time there. While gaming can help improve social interaction (at least virtually), you need real world social interactions to truly grow and develop as a person. You also need real life social interaction to help avoid getting depressed. In this book I offer a variety ways you can take steps to interact without hiding behind an avatar.