How I Conquered My Video Game Addiction

Join me for an insightful discussion on overcoming video game addiction. In this video, I'll share my personal journey and delve deeper into what I've termed the 'professional tipping point'—a pivotal moment where the innate drive to be productive triumphs over the tendency to procrastinate and indulge in time-wasting activities.

Conquering video game addiction often involves reaching a critical juncture where the desire for personal growth and productivity outweighs the allure of gaming. I'll explore the intricate process of identifying and harnessing this tipping point, sharing practical insights and strategies that aided me in overcoming this addiction.

Healthy Gamer Coaches have helped more than 10,000 people across the internet with proven outcomes.

Dr. K’s Guide to Mental Health explores Anxiety, Depression, ADHD, and Meditation

▼ Timestamps ▼
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00:00 - Preview
00:16 - Introduction
01:05 - Grammarly Ad
02:09 - Capture your creative impulses/reflect on what you've done
08:50 - Indriyas
10:57 - Dealing with boredom
18:53 - Recap & conclusion

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#Grammarly

DISCLAIMER

Healthy Gamer is an online community and resource platform for gamers and their families. It does not provide medical services or professional counseling, and it is not a substitute for professional medical care. Our coaches are peer supporters, not professionally trained experts, and they cannot provide medical service. If you or a loved one are experiencing an emergency, please call your nation's emergency telephone number.

All guests of Healthy Gamer are informed of the public, non-medical nature of the content and have expressly agreed to share their story.

#healthygamergg #mentalhealth #videogameaddict

[timgehrsitz]

I'm not even really a gamer and I don't watch twitch, but I love this content so much more than most other oriented content because you do a phenomenal job of contextualizing things with a story, explaining the neurological mechanisms at play, and structuring it like a conversation. I feel engaged by your content and I always learn something about myself and, most importantly, I learn WHAT I need to address to fix these problems as well as your tips on how to address it, rather than just being told "just work harder, put your phone down, stay motivated..." by someone who just wants to tell people what to do for the sake of gaining a following.

[ButteCreekBanjo]

I can relate so much to this. As a paramedic of over a decade, I used to get exceedingly frustrated when we would get a call while I was "doing" something to manage my boredom.
It quickly devolved into me becoming jaded and disinterested with my profession. Tolerating my own boredom for a period of time led me to discovering creative writing and re-inspired my interest in the theoretical aspects of my profession. Strong work, and great video!

[panswen]

As someone who's worked in a call center, I can definitely relate to Dr. K's experience with being on call. I noticed that when I spent time between calls browsing social media, I felt resentful whenever I was forced away from it, and because of that, working actually felt miserable. But when I didn't have time between calls, or if I just allowed myself to be bored, working was a lot more pleasant.

And I can definitely second jotting down one's thoughts. After I began sketching a year ago, I've noticed that I've become a lot more naturally drawn towards being creative - whereas before, trying to do anything creative was incredibly hard. I'm still nowhere near the tipping point that Dr. K describes.

[JessHotch]

I've heard of this concept for ADHD called "Lightning in a Bottle", meaning that in order to get that spark or dopamine hit, you go and look at the things that made you want to do them in the first place (A journal of ideas, a mood board, etc.)and let me tell you, it works. But sometimes at the wrong times baha!

[xXx_Regulus_xXx]

another one of those uncannily timed videos, I just started writing between calls yesterday and felt better despite spending all day fighting a major breakage at my workplace

[pietrusso]

I just watched this 4 times in a row to really embed it into my brain. Dealing with boredom is a huge problem for me and I always feel very unproductive. Amazing vid, thank you!

[patchoulighoul]

Aside from the content of this video, which is incredibly valuable for me right now, I LOVE the design of the room you film in. The green accent wall with the white shelves and the plants, CHEFS KISS

[SaucyLiving]

You made me realize that I practiced this on my own yesterday before ever watching this video. It was Sunday and I kpet bouncing between games and youtube, not really enjoying any of it. I was about to jump back onto a game but I was hit with "do I really want to do that?" So I sat with that thought for a min and started doing things OFF SCREEN. Felt good :)

[endyy]

this is a really interesting video, I loved the story about being on call. I hope that you do more personalized "take away" videos like this, they're great.

[kanacteeol]

I had a similar experience happen to me!! I work in an inpatient psychiatric and we can't use our cell phones on floor. I have ADHD and i need something to take notes with to remember everything. I found i started jolting down notes and ideas to help my patients in my notebook when i had free time. I also draw and color in it now too and i find its much much easier to pay attention while coloring then just staring down a hall. I find that I cannot stop writing ideas now even at home. I used to only care about video games, now all I want to do is to use my ideas to help my patients. I love my job now.

[zzz-ocfe]

I've been a competitive PC gamer for over a decade now, and many times I've found myself sitting for 12+ hours grinding Rust or League. I still casually return to those games sometimes but as Dr.K says at the very end of the video, once you reach a point where you actually become distracted FROM THE GAME because you have a handful of creative thoughts to pursue, things really do begin to swing in your favor. The smile at the end tells it all, and it's very satisfying to know that I can honestly say I've done the work and can now connect with that feeling he explains.

Even though I'm not where I want to be professionally, I've been on a great path for the last few years and can't wait to see what the future holds.

[daintyonion]

“apathy’s a tragedy and boredom is a crime, anything and everything all of the time”
-bo burnnam

[Eminent_wolf]

It seems like the editor finally chilled out a bit with this video. This video reminds me of the OG content when he was just chilling and talking to us. Love it! It's still pretty cut and pasted but it's not as jarring as previous videos so it feels more like I'm listening to a lecture rather than some other type of content

[simonzuni]

Man I'm so glad I decided to watch this video while bored at work 🤣I'm a programmer and things can get very chaotic. But also a lot of the time there's not much to do and not a lot of pressure to do what little needs to be done (especially now that it's summer where I live, since most clients are on vacations), so I end up getting bored and watching YouTube and procrastinating way too much. After watching this I unironically feel so motivated to just close YT and get everything done so I can have time to be productive in other stuff, so that's exactly what I'm gonna do now :) Thanks doc!

[LeoTheMonts]

This is such a better way of looking at this. So much of my thinking around this was "if I don't get better at this, I'll die without ever doing anything worthwhile". It's so helpful to hear it framed as a "tipping point" - a point anyone can reach, after which harnessing your creative energy becomes easier.

[MRLebanonnn]

This really resonates with some realizations I came too recently. Particularly that walking away from a game didn’t mean I was actually away - I’d be reading guides, discussing on Reddit, reading patch notes etc.

When I started to feel empty I couldn’t put my finger on why, until I started following impulses outside of gaming. I’ve started to look at some of those creative impulses and take action and it’s wild to see the life I am living now vs where I was even a year ago

Productivity used to intimidate me, I never could understand people who I viewed as always “on.” What could anyone get out of working so hard? I would think.

Wholeness, is what I’m finding.

[studyinginthedesert]

This is a great middle piece between 'Is Progress in Gaming Destroying your Real Life' and 'Why Video Games Are Hard To Put Down' and 'Dr. K, how do I Focus?'. Your ideas actually hang together as a complete system to understand the self and rewrite our behavior in a holistic way. Literally the first self help guru who has helped me to help myself. Thanks for the continued work 👍📿📿📿

[lizharless]

Dude, i love you! I have never been a gamer, but I am ADD and a mother of 4 boys who are ADHD, ages 16, 29, 37 and 39.What I connect with is your train of thought, and wanting to help others around you. I connect with their friends and everyone I meet. My mind is always problem solving. I super appreciate your videos about people with diagnosis's. I realized my daughter in law is borderline, and you have helped me deal with that. Your interview with the guy planning the school shooting was amazing! That poor guy should have had help, God bless the cheer leader reaching out to him! He really touched on so many problems with our society. I hope you can reach more people to share your knowledge and promote psychiatric help. You are showing people therapy is not scary or judgmental. Thank you!

[bugbreadbuns]

Loved the cuts from the livestreams, but this new format of dedicated YouTube lectures is SO GOOD

[FraudulentEconomics]

I am constantly in shock at how you're able to put form to thought considerations I have. I have been doing this completely unknowingly since I was 5 years old and the whole way through I was constantly discouraged from it (likely early ADHD showing its teeth since I'd focus too much on it, I'm diagnosed now!). It became my method of maintaining sanity at work, and my most successful jobs were ones that I could get away with it. I found I used to be in a loop of wanting to play games and then wanting to think of ideas, but lately I only ever want to play a game if for an idea! I thought I was broken but just this shift in perspective has enlightened me to how I've actually grown.

Thank you.