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Writer's pictureJulian jST

Your brain on video games

Couple of things you may want to know about serious video game use/or addiction:


  1. You get sustained doses of hormones over a prolonged amount time (e.g., adrenaline, dopamine). The key difference with gaming, is that you can sustain higher levels hormones for longer periods than things such as sex, eating, and even drugs (drugs have a down, you take breaks, sex you orgasm (hopefully) then take a break, but gaming you can go 10+ hours straight - what a beast, sad.)

  2. Your raging after gaming, because your stress hormones are peeking (e.g., cortisol)

  3. The biggest issue with gamers is a lack of sleep. Lack of sleep causes grouchiness, anger, irritability, hallucinations, feeling detached, and the list goes on...Bad sleep, also leads to bigger issues in your brain (such as killer cells not being produced as much). Look up Joe Rogan's Podcast with psychologist Matthew Walker who studies sleep. Great episode. Actually, nevermind, here: https://smashnotes.com/p/the-joe-rogan-experience/e/1109-matthew-walker

  4. You have been gaming for a specific use. Either to detached/escape from reality (because life sucks or it's boring, etc.), or you are using it to manage stress (tough place in life, uncertainty, anxiety about x). And a great way to manage stress is video game (escape) + his buddies porn and junk food (body needs calories...especially when it's tired, it goes for fatty foods, more calories - better for survival).

  5. The issue with this repetition or habit creation(#4) you've done, is your brain is now wired to go to gaming to relax each time you are stressed. You now have actually accomplished gene transcription and established permanent neuronal pathways geared to gaming as your #1 stress reliever. And if you have been doing it for years, guess, you're fucked. Just kidding, it's just really strong. Once again, you have trained your brain to use gaming to relieve stress. Hence, why a lot of us go back, relapse, like most people dealing with addiction - they can't go back and just have a taste. Watch this guy (he is now a doctor), he was a huge SC player (StarCraft and Warcraft, back in the day before StarCraft created DOTA), he was in deep and he explains it well: https://vimeo.com/106415581

  6. To break #5 (your brain thirsting you to go to gaming), you need to stop playing for 30 days to break down that thirst (neural pathways). You may actually never be able to play in a healthy way again or at least for a long time. Sorry League of Legends, Call of duty and World of Warcraft dudes..., just to name a few. The good news, life outside the game can be even better.






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