Suppressing my emotions with video games

[dannyboy65]

I noticed every time I feel anxious, depressed, or lonely. I play video games. I feel when I have those feelings I have to escape to a different world. It's all I do now is play video games. Because I am always feeling these feelings now.

 

[DeLasDudasInfinitas]

I understand you because I do the same, but not only with video games. I sometimes watch TV shows too for hours to avoid situations where I feel too much anxiety.

 

[gustavofring]

I have the same problem with the internet. These days, I literally waste most hours away each day just browsing and visiting forums. Especially movie discussion is a big addiction for me.

I believe it is really like you said a way of suppressing emotions and feelings, not wanting to face certain responsibilities because they bring a lot of fear. I procrastinate a lot and it's preventing me from doing all sorts of tasks. Sometimes even cleaning up.

It's a vicious circle and I know how hard it is to get out of it. Just like any drug really. A way to numb the senses, filling up a void. It feels safe to escape to a virtual world.

I will try to meditate, when I feel the urge to mindlessly browse the internet again. The internet over-stimulates my mind a lot and distracts me from the essentials. Just taking a deep breath and accepting the moment instead of wanting to run away from it, it can help.

 

[NamiraWilhelm]

We sure do like our games on here huh

 

[clarissa87]

Hmmmph. Excellent points. Sometimes I'm just too tired and lazy to do anything else. I used to really enjoy video games but now I'm too tired to even do that. I waste countless hours on my smartphone. In fact I think that's all I do lately in my free time. I'm even too lazy/unmotivated to play mobile games yet I download new ones endlessly :/

 

[Metal_isthe_Answer]

I'm a huge gamer, I know some people (like my parents) think that gaming causes you to be antisocial and whatnot, I think it's the other way around. Gaming was my favorite pasttime for many years but I became a much more "hardcore" gamer when I was older and could just buy my own games.
On the other hand though, I do kind of feel like my music is taking a backseat to gaming, but I could just be semi bored with music cause I dont really have any new samples to use, its been hard to get my friend to come over and play guitar, I used to be able to do six songs a day, now its 6 songs or less a month (but far better songs).
Kind of lost my train of thought, but yeah, I dont think of gaming as antisocial, get a friend (or 2 if youre lucky) team up with some co-op and start mowing down enemies. All my favorite games are co-op based (or just have good co-op), Halo, Gears, Borderlands, Saints Row, even Mass Effect had a surprisingly fun co-op feature.

 

[dannyboy65]

I'm a huge gamer, I know some people (like my parents) think that gaming causes you to be antisocial and whatnot, I think it's the other way around. Gaming was my favorite pasttime for many years but I became a much more "hardcore" gamer when I was older and could just buy my own games.
On the other hand though, I do kind of feel like my music is taking a backseat to gaming, but I could just be semi bored with music cause I dont really have any new samples to use, its been hard to get my friend to come over and play guitar, I used to be able to do six songs a day, now its 6 songs or less a month (but far better songs).
Kind of lost my train of thought, but yeah, I dont think of gaming as antisocial, get a friend (or 2 if youre lucky) team up with some co-op and start mowing down enemies. All my favorite games are co-op based (or just have good co-op), Halo, Gears, Borderlands, Saints Row, even Mass Effect had a surprisingly fun co-op feature.

I highly enjoy co op. I'm not very competitive so I usually play single player games. But if there is a great co op game I play it. But also I only have one friend who will play video games with me and all he plays is Dark Souls which I'm not huge on.

But I also get nervous on video games! Just the other day a random person added me while playing destiny. I played with him for 20 minutes, then awkwardly left and deleted him.

 

[Megaten]

I'm a huge gamer, I know some people (like my parents) think that gaming causes you to be antisocial and whatnot, I think it's the other way around. Gaming was my favorite pasttime for many years but I became a much more "hardcore" gamer when I was older and could just buy my own games.
On the other hand though, I do kind of feel like my music is taking a backseat to gaming, but I could just be semi bored with music cause I dont really have any new samples to use, its been hard to get my friend to come over and play guitar, I used to be able to do six songs a day, now its 6 songs or less a month (but far better songs).
Kind of lost my train of thought, but yeah, I dont think of gaming as antisocial, get a friend (or 2 if youre lucky) team up with some co-op and start mowing down enemies. All my favorite games are co-op based (or just have good co-op), Halo, Gears, Borderlands, Saints Row, even Mass Effect had a surprisingly fun co-op feature.

I dunno, I like gaming as much as the next guy but I can say I do think it has made me more antisocial. For one its very time consuming. Two, talking to someone on a mic while blowing things up isnt quite the same as having a casual conversation in person. Ive spent a lot less time trying to actively do things in real life since I started getting back into games tbh. Also wtf happened to couch co-op?

 

[NamiraWilhelm]

Definitely makes me more anti-social. In fact I've stopped myself upgrading to the next gen just to stop gaming so much. That's the problem with my hobbies; I have them but they're either solitary or things I don't share with others.

 

[Metal_isthe_Answer]

I dunno, I like gaming as much as the next guy but I can say I do think it has made me more antisocial. For one its very time consuming. Two, talking to someone on a mic while blowing things up isnt quite the same as having a casual conversation in person. Ive spent a lot less time trying to actively do things in real life since I started getting back into games tbh. Also wtf happened to couch co-op?

Couch co-op seems to have taken a back seat right? If I understand correctly, the game has two run two engines at the same time for couch/local co-op, you arent just seeing the same area through a different camera. If I'm not mistaken when youre playing a game, while you get the feeling of moving your character around, its more accurate to say that your character is running in place and you are moving the world, thus why it has to use two engines.

Its also a little unfortunate that most co-op games seem to be shooters. I love Halo and Borderlands but it would be nice to see a return of beat em ups. I want to see Rocksteady (of Arkham Asylum/City fame) make a Ninja Turtles game.

 

[simona]

I've been binging on watching movies since i had to give up the Master I've always wanted to study in order to go to a full time job i hate

 

[MotherWolff]

I noticed every time I feel anxious, depressed, or lonely. I play video games. I feel when I have those feelings I have to escape to a different world. It's all I do now is play video games. Because I am always feeling these feelings now.

This is not an unusual experience you describe.

Its a defense mechanism but its a far cry from a solution....