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There was a period in time of my life where I would say I was addicted to games. Looking back, it was 100% a response to trauma. Once I was in a better spot in
by ok_coo 5y ago
There was a period in time of my life where I would say I was addicted to games. Looking back, it was 100% a response to trauma. Once I was in a better spot in my life, my gaming scaled way back to something more reasonable. Sometimes now, I will go weeks without playing anything.
My own experience is why I believe a lot of addictions find their roots in trauma. I was trying to escape the real world and found something better in the virtual.
- me_me_me 5y agoI couldn't agree more with your points. In my case, gaming was response to depression. I would play immersive or competitive games. Those would 100% hijack my brain so it couldn't focus on anything else. I especially love RTS games as they demand more attention that you have. Inadvertently making all your problems 'go away' (for a time).
- farseer 5y agoI think for most people, its not trauma but rather nothing interesting going on in their lives.
- FearlessNebula 5y agoThis, or the extension of it: the interesting things take more friction. I could start a programming project I had an idea for, practice vector art, read some technical blog posts I have bookmarked, but I often don’t. I probably average 3 hours a day of time wasted on Reddit and YouTube because there’s so little friction. I can pull my phone out of my pocket and navigate in the browser before I even consciously know what I’m doing. I’m 99% sure I don’t have trauma, and my childhood was almost as privileged as it gets.
- JKCalhoun 5y agoIt's downtime for the brain. I think we need it. You could also go on 45 minute walks.
- FearlessNebula 5y agoIt doesn’t feel like downtime. My brain isn’t resting, it’s jumping from topic to topic parsing information for dopamine hits. It’s a totally different experience from stepping away from the devices and just being with your thoughts which is why is refreshing, rather than draining.
- lostmsu 5y agoSome most interesting thoughts are not less draining, than video games.
- ballenf 5y agoLack of human contact is a form of trauma -- it's used as the basis for almost all forms of torture and punishment.
- aidenn0 5y agoIt doesn't have to be just trauma, but a therapist once told me, "any time you see someone overindulge in anything -- food, drugs, gambling -- ask yourself 'what are they medicating'" People rarely engage in self harmful behaviors without any reason.
- analyte123 5y agoIndeed, playing video games after traumatic experiences has been studied for reducing disturbing flashbacks with promising results [1, 2]. These cases specifically used Tetris, but it seems like any game that leads to a flow state would help. My guess is that playing games you already know is better than learning a new game. [1] https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0013706 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal... [2] http://europepmc.org/article/MED/28348380 http://europepmc.org/article/MED/28348380
- loonster 5y agoFor me it is just the act of doing something. Reading, working, cooking, talking, flying a kite, playing a game, etc. all engage my mind and are relaxing. It doesn't matter what the activity actually is. Sitting still is tortue. I would rather do something I don't like to do than nothing at all.