I used to be trapped in those icky Skinner boxes, and feel so much better to have moved on. While I have some good memories of my time in WoW, especially the ea

I used to be trapped in those icky Skinner boxes, and feel so much better to have moved on. While I have some good memories of my time in WoW, especially the early “wonder days” of shared social space and learning how to communicate with people online, and fewer good memories relative to time spent in Diablo 3, Heroes of the Storm, and Hearthstone, I feel like there are large chunks of time missing from my past. From what I’ve read about alcoholism it feels similar. Thanks to The Blindboy Podcast and his sharing the mental-health tools (CBT, TA & others) that helped him crawl through crippling anxiety I feel much more in control of my time and actions. Very rarely now do I feel like hours slipped by with no lasting benefit. Escaping responsibilities with games I wasn’t refreshed, but drained. Multitasking will elicit this drained feeling still. Reading or listening to a good book (and I’m more and more willing to not finish books that aren’t “good” for me), going for a walk in the woods, gardening, making music, and making useful things are how I’ve replaced the videogame Skinner box.