It took me a full two years of complete abstinence before I stopped feeling the pull. It was a much more powerful addiction than I realized - leaving a gaping

It took me a full two years of complete abstinence before I stopped feeling the pull. It was a much more powerful addiction than I realized - leaving a gaping black hole in my life that seemed to suck the life right out of me. It would come and go in powerful waves. I decided that I needed to fill that hole with something or I wasn't going to make it. So I took up studying Chess. This appealed to my competitive nature, and felt enough like a video game that it helped reduce the pull somewhat. Exercise was also instrumental. I often get weird looks when people hear about my experience, but the fact is, my video game addiction was destroying me.