The only way to really tell if your addicted to something is to say to yourself okay i'm not playing for a week.

Any healthy activity can be turned on and off at will, as it has no physical or chemical hold over you and if your not addicted you won't feel bad or restless for doing it. If you can't do that then yes, like me, you have a problem.

Trouble is with this problem its virtually impossible to speak to friends and family about because of the stigma attached to doing so. Most people think your crazy or try and reason that this addiction doesn't exist, I guess they don't understand all the positive stimulus you get from playing 16-20 hours a day, I do because i've been doing it for 15 years.

Someone else said it best, you need to work out exactly what video games give you that real life isn't giving you and then go and find that in real life.

For me, when your i'm not playing things seem much duller, boring, less easy to control. I have an overactive imagination, so I need to read or watch t.v but also I love to achieve goals and in a game this is done almost instantly, fueling that need and taking away drive from my real life goals.

I've found out many times its an all or nothing deal for me, it might not be for you. I need to drop games completely but in doing so find other things to take its place.

Good luck man, hope you beat it.

>>sounds like fun can i come to your >>house smoke a bowl and play FFXI >>with you?

Inane comments such as this serve to highlight the stigma attached to 'daring' to speak about this problem or behavior, though I must confess I didn't think anyone so bored they'd come to this forum to make them.

haha would be fun to come to my house and smoke a bowl and play ffxi from dusk to dawn+ more, but im sober now =). I'm trying to limit my time on videogames now to only the evenings and do productive things during the day.

hey nick...i hear ya completely. i've been playing eq2 for 3 years every second of everyday that i can. i love it. but what has it got me? i'm a registered nurse of 20 years and i lost my job because of the game and may not be able to work as a nurse again. how am i going to support myself? will i lose my home next? why was i playing? because it filled a void in my life..met needs that werent' getting fulfilled in rl. well, this morning i woke up, meditated, grounded with the energy of the earth (kooky sounding i know but it works for me) and came to the realization that i am an addict. i haven't yet told my guild that i will stop playing but that will come soon. I've recently turned 50 years old. yeah i know a real old lady. but hey, i'm intelligent, good looking, and very caring. so with these positives things going for me, it's time i looked at why i elected to waste 3 years of my life in a game and allowed it to destoy my life. difficulty maintaining longterm friendships/relationships and difficulty controlling my emotions are probably my biggest problems. at this point i'm going to go cold turkey, but hope the part time playing works out for you. maybe i can go back to casual playing someday because...well we know it's just too much fun. good luck to you nick. /hugs