Escaping video game addiction: Cam Adair at TEDxBoulder

Today, millions of people around the world from all ages struggle with video game addiction. This issue affects all of life including school grades, job retention, career aspirations and even marriages yet too often the conversation focuses on whether we should play games instead of helping those who want to stop but cannot. A video game addict for more than ten years, Cam joins us to share his story on overcoming and how he changed his life.

Videography credits
Jenn Calaway, Enhancer
Michael Hering, Lodo Cinema
Sarah Megyesy, Side Pocket Images
Satya Peram, Flatirons Films
Sean Williams, RMO Films
Anthony Lopez, Cross Beyond
David Oakley

[jonahray]

the truth is you can't play video games in moderation if you've been addicted to them for so long. the only way to stop the addiction is to stop all together

[AGM-tsbb]

All those who quit: That's REAL strength!
All those who are trying: Be strong. Behind you 100%!👍👍

[ShockwavesFTW]

This video honestly made me tear up. I was in your shoes at a certain point in my life and I knew I needed to quit. I managed to bring down my gaming early in high school as I made friends and didn't have as big of a hole to fill as I did. But as I lost more and more friends through normal aspects of life (graduation, drifting, going different paths), I filled that void with online FPS's and MMO's. Luckily, I fell in love with an amazing girl and quit practically cold turkey for a little over a year or so. I noticed so much improvement in my life, I was finally being the person I wanted to be. But, I got too comfortable and started playing online MMO's again. Our relationship ended shortly after. I'm not saying it was solely because of my addiction to gaming I recently got back into, but it definitely played a role. Now I'm junior and college and want to break free from this. The reasons you listed as to why we play were spot on and I'm sure that many people are partially aware of them. But they really resonated with me and were completely accurate.

I had a game plan for how I was going to do it but I kept making excuses. Thanks to this video, I'm going to stick with the plan. I just wanted to say thanks for this video. People have no idea how much a lack of self control with video gaming can harm a person's life. It's an actual addiction. It isn't a joke and it's not "just a video game".

If anyone is reading this, there's one crucial point that isn't mentioned in this video. If you're a video game addict and you decide to quit, you're taking a HUGE part of your daily routine and life away from you. That isn't a bad thing, it just means you're going to have a lot more time on your hands, making it easier to 'relapse'. Before you quit cold turkey, make sure you can't come back to the video game. Sell your consoles, delete your accounts, do what needs to be done, play your final games so you can have closure. But even before that is done, plan out what you want to do with your life. What are your dreams? What interests you? Is it love? Adventure? Friends? Set new goals and make sure to fill the void video games left. It's fucking hard, trust me I know. Video games make everything so easy. Achievement is measurable, friends are easy to make, and progress is clearly seen. Life isn't that simple, unfortunately. But it can be as you get better at it. If anyone managed to get this far, thank you for reading. You *can* do it. And even if you fall, you can stand back up.

Thanks to the video maker and to Cam. You're helping a lot of people and doing amazing things just by making this issue more public.

[GameQuitters]

100, 000 views! Wow! Thank you everyone for supporting my talk. It's so cool to see how many people it's managed to help over the years. Very grateful for each of you. - Cam

[ChlsyxxSubs]

The hardest thing about a video game addiction is that no one takes it seriously, therefore its really hard to find support. I told one of my closest friend that I was addicted to video games and she replied " but its not really an addiction" even though she knew i was playing 14 hours a day 5 days a week.

[chad]

I've been struggling with this for a long time and I want to break this cycle. I have developed no/little social skills and I'm paying the price at the age of 29. Sure I'm a skillful gamer but a noob in real life. Recently I've sold my consoles and began to take walks outside or going to the gym.
I've managed to greet strangers in my small way and I hope it can become conversations and eventually establishing friendships.

To those who are struggling, please don't give up because myself and many others are trying to change it. Don't give up!

[zyzzsdisciples]

I can't comprehend why people cannot understand how quitting an activity I've been doing everyday for 10+ years is a massive undertaking

[GameQuitters]

Hey everyone! It's Cam here. Thanks for checking out the TEDx talk, I really hope you've enjoyed it. I've decided to launch a YouTube channel to answer reader questions and share more insight into the gaming problem and how you can overcome it in yourself. Feel free to come leave a comment and I'll answer it in a video. :)

[Bewmbshakalaka]

I've been addicted to video games for about 6 years now. Team Fortress 2, Dota, running this channel... It takes a huge chunk out of my life. The reason I do all these is because at school I'm treated like I'm invisible, my teachers are jerks, and I'm depressed. Like you mentioned in the talk, online you are judged on how you play and how you interract with the community. I have made over 300 friends playing online who like me only for who I am, and not for some embarrasing happening or a bully. It's a place where I can be me with no judges. But becuase of this I am failing my schoolwork and and getting more depressed. I don't know why, but my addiction feels more like something glued me to my chair infront of my computer. Great talk. Thank you.

[oyinsi]

I had a video game addiction but I stopped by doing heroin

[Alijjose]

I uninstalled all the games on my computer and picked up a few books at chapters instead of buying skins for LoL. I'm tired of these feelings of regret, depression, disconnection and temporary escape. The worst part is that I was aware of these feelings since I would be bombarded by them constantly. Time for me to change myself..

[pedrozz]

I was addicted to video games since I can remember, Took me 2 years to try and get out of it .
since i quit i lost 25kg, traveled and lived abroad in 3 countries and keep evolving as a person, I hope you all find your way, some people can manage but I know for me I had to cut off the thing i loved the most .

You have to cut it out, otherwise its impossible, I'll always love gaming but I cannot have it in my life .

[BeatboxAllstars]

"THEY NEED INTERACTION, NOT ENTERTAINMENT"

[drouphy]

Gamequitters seems like a cool guy, I like how he's replying to ever comment and helping people.

[RabaalXer]

One of the biggest things I've noticed with my video game compulsion (I hesitate to use the term addiction) is the loss of presence in my every day life. I've played video games since I was a small child but it didn't become a compulsion until around ten years ago. Originally it began as a coping mechanism and pure escapism since I had just been forcibly uprooted and moved to a place where I knew nobody. Video games gave me a sense of presence and agency in my life, where the real world did not.

Over the two years I lived in that place it was not uncommon for me to spend 10 to 16 hours a day playing video games. This is behavior pattern followed me as I moved back to my home town. I would work, then come home and spend the rest of my time playing video games. This behavior became further compounded when I loss my job due to an injury and no longer had a reason to leave the house. I would spend all day, from the moment I woke to the moment I fell asleep, playing video games.

It has progressed to the point where (pardon the crassness) I can't even sit on the toilet without playing a game on my phone because I feel like it's a waste of time. Any time I get into a stressful situation I immediately want to retreat to a virtual world and escape the situation. Any time I become remotely bored I feel the strong compulsion to run to a game.

This compulsion hasn't cost me anything truthfully. I lead a full life. I'm a loving husband and attentive father, but, even while spending time with my daughter, i'm thinking about video games, Googleing video games, watching videos about video games. Looking back, this loss of presence in my life has felt like it has robbed me of the most important of human currencies, time. Through my lack of presence in my life I feel that the last ten years of my life have disappeared in a blink because I just wasn't there.

[lunaleia]

Feels like im 10 years behind everyone else at my age because i've spent my whole youth playing video games..

[Diptangshu]

Playing Skyrim 14 hours a day. It's got to a point where I can't really do anything else, even playing another game for that matter.

[sldir]

Lol I legit just looked that up word by word “how to quit video games”😂

[countryroadstakemehome]

Just uninstalled League of legends, Fortnite and all my other games in one go. As much as I love playing them, it's taking away from me being able to learn guitar, play darts and get outside more.

Hey, we might be back for some games down the track. But i'm happy cleansing that dopamine rewards system with some fresh exciting new activities in life.. and maybe a job lol.

[underoath]

I'm really struggling with my video game addiction during this quarantine. I was kinda beating it back then when I broke up with my gf a few months ago by traveling more. But damn, this quarantine got the worst of me again. I play 5-8hrs a day during this pandemic! I'm 28 years old, have a supervisory job, earning well, and I'm with my family so I'm in much better situation than others, but damn, I feel horrible about it. I should be doing more productive things.