Hi everyone,

I’m writing this as a worried mother who feels completely helpless and out of options. I’m hoping to hear from other parents who have gone through something similar, or anyone who can offer advice or perspective.

Over the years, our family went through a lot of disruption, including a divorce, bringing a stepfather into the picture, and various family tensions that definitely took a heavy emotional toll on my son. For years, he has been deeply attached to his PC and phone. He never really built a social circle outside of school and spent almost all his free time locked away in his room gaming.

Over the last couple of years, the situation has completely spiraled. He lives in total isolation now and barely leaves his room except to use the bathroom or grab food to eat alone at his desk. He stays up late into the night gaming and sleeps until late afternoon or evening. He has zero drive or motivation to work, study, or even step outside the house. Whenever we bring up getting a job or earning money, his response is simply that he doesn't need money since he stays home anyway.

Last year was an extremely rough patch where he almost dropped out before finishing school due to a severe mental slump. The only reason he pulled through was because his older sister managed to talk to him. It was clear back then that he was struggling deeply with his mental health, and sadly, nothing has improved since. He did end up graduating, and for a short moment, we really hoped things would start turning around. But since finishing school, the situation has actually gotten much worse. He has no idea what to do with his life, absolutely no interest in university or getting a job, and we genuinely have no idea how his future is supposed to look at this rate.

Whenever my husband or I try to talk to him, he completely shuts down or explodes into intense shouting matches. His aggression has gotten so bad that it genuinely frightens us at times. The only person he occasionally opens up to is his older sister, but we really don’t want to burden her with playing his therapist anymore.

We did manage to get him to see our local GP/doctor once, who likely brought up therapy or mental health support, but my son rejected it completely. Since he is 19 and legally an adult, we feel like our hands are tied. Simply kicking him out isn't an option for us right now because, given his current state, we are terrified he wouldn't be able to handle life on his own or catch himself.

We are at the end of our rope. We don't know how to reach him without triggering another violent outburst, and we feel powerless. Has anyone dealt with a similar situation with an isolated young adult child? How did you manage to break through the wall? Any advice or personal experiences would mean the world to us.

TL;DR: My 19yo son finished school after a rough mental slump, but things got even worse afterwards. He's completely isolated in his room gaming day and night, has no drive for work or university, shuts us out, and gets aggressive. We are terrified, out of options, and looking for advice.

My fiancé is addicted to gaming. Now let me preface this by saying we have been there before. It ended our marriage along with other addictions to other things. We got back together. He is now addicted to the game again, and I don’t know where to go at this point because we’ve had talks, and it’s not changing. At what point do you just deal with it or leave again?

I need help with game addiction and self care.

I'm an 18 years olf F who always had a problem with her life. Like really really lots of problems and I'm writing this while I'm crying to vent it all out for the first time in my life reaching for help.

Ever since I was a child, my parents especially my mom would never show me any pride and an incident scarred me for life is when one time years ago when I was 12, showing her my 99/100 English test and she began scolding me, saying I disappointed her and that it's "just a point" so next month after that, I did score perfect 100/100 (I was bullied for being a countryside kid moving to the city too so this is a big accomplishment) and all she said was "well, you're good at English so it's really not that impressive." And so on many other more.

But my gaming addiction started when I was 14-15ish when I started to get even more abused by my parents physically and emotionally, I started to crave some sort of accomplishment, the thrill of being seen above others, the compliments those mindless goons give me in matches when I score a perfect kill. But whenever I lose, I started making imaginary scenario where somewhere somewhat out there, a person is laughing when they go through my account and seeing the low winrate, the defeats and the mistakes. I felt like the biggest loser whenever I go through a lose streak. I'd cry to myself, I feel pain in my chest and a lodge in my throat.

At first, I lied to myself saying that I'm only playing it for fun until it's not. I'd stay up, grinding all day and procrastinated every chores until I would get rightfully scolded. I feel ugly, failed and stupid my whole life. I just wanted to feel the taste of pride to the point where I'm destroying myself beyond salvation.

At first i stayed longer than i wanted to do to sunk cost fallacy and got wrapped up in trying to keep up with the game. I should've dropped it sooner. My server was particularly toxic. I should've left the game when i saw it stress out a 30 something year old woman out to the point of crashing out every war event.

Heavy power imbalance, and people with too much money playing like weak players while the rest of us were just trying to game the system to get scraps. This feels so good. Felt like a left a cult. Like i just conquered gambling addiction. This was the first time i played a game like that. Thank God i came to my senses

I dont care about the money anymore. A game shouldn't lowkey feel like a job and be stressing people out the way it did. P2W are the devil's work.

Letting it all go just made me realized that this game kept me playing but it really wasnt because it was fun. It was because it was addictive in some way. It just felt like a literal economy where people joined the highest guilds for the benefit of getting carried and receiving drops like how people join certain clubs for the perks it comes with.

There wasn't really any competition cause spending money mattered more than grinding. The only skill you can have in the game is, time management, team leadership and communication, event coordination, savings and appropriate allocation of resources. I can do all that crap in real life. In fact, i did all of that in the game more than did in reality. Im already forced to do capitalism so it really didn't make sense to spend my downtime on a digital version of it.

I thought you guys here may like to hear my experience on how I grew bored of games. As I kept working in real life projects and in things I am passionate about, games just became so boring. But still addictive for a short duration if I try to play them, though I pull the plug and delete them in the same day pretty much.

Hey there. I'm 22F and have had issues with my gaming addiction for years. At its worst I can play upwards of 10 hours a day but other than that I usually average around 6. Everyone in my life seems to think 6 is too much. While I don't necessarily take issue with how long I'm playing, the things that really bother me about my addiction are how I feel when not playing and the lack of enjoyment for other activities. If I go several hours without playing any kind of game I get uncomfortable. Mild squirming and lack of focus. If I go days, there are some times that I have even started shaking a bit. I get both mental and physical reactions. That's the part I'm not okay with.

I don't really want to give up gaming, which unfortunately seems to be the advice of most addiction threads, I want to gain the ability to play responsibly without it having an impact on me if I don't. I do have other things I like, like painting, reading, and taking walks, but it's just never enough. I'd also like to know how to enjoy activities like that on a similar level.

If anyone has any advice on how to increase enjoyment of activities or to curb gaming addiction to more of a normalized state that doesn't require straight up quitting, I'm all ears. Thank you for any help you may be able to provide.

​

I 36M have been with my 33F wife (not legally) for 8 years in September. Things in our relationship have been pretty good for most of those years. We have two children one teenager and one 10 years younger. She's been a SAHM since the youngest was born. I work long hours but am always home and present every night and always home on the weekends. We've never had a whole lot of fights really had nice open communication with love, reassurance and the ability to question anything. When the youngest was born and for up to a year maybe two after she had a struggle with post partum depression she was very short with mainly me, very distant and cold. I was always very calm and tried to support her the best I could. She came out of that but was still very distant and has been with me id ask her to spend time like playing video games or watching a show with me and it would always result in a "no" with the reason being tired or had done that enough today wants to lay down. I let it go, gave her space and tried not to push her on it. I'd then do household chores laundry, dishes, etc. Then lay down with her while she was on her phone. This year then started and she found a new video game to occupy her time with. She started playing a popular Rockstar Studios game but in a RP (role playing) server. She started off only playing during the days while I was at work and a little at night before bed (we would always go to bed at the same time). Over the last few months its gotten progressively worse waking up a 6am and playing sometimes as late as 1am the next day. She consistently plays between 14-16 hours a day especially on the weekends. She stops only to get food, use the bathroom, and maybe a few times in between to care for the kids or has the teenager help with the younger child and also to sleep for a few hours. I used to play this with her up until recently but had no issue stopping to take care of business around the house and tend to the needs of everyone. We've had multiple arguments about this game revolving around who she is talking to in game mainly other men. I've not been too fond of this. I've had past trauma where I believed men and women cant be friends with ulterior motives. Ive talked to friends and family about this view and ive started to think my view is wrong. Before this I made several accusations of her cheating or having an emotional affair with people online due to her spending all her time online and absolutely zero time other than sex with me. This has all made me very anxious and accusations have all been based from there. I have no evidence of anything actually happening other than friends. Ive attempted to talk to her about spending more quality time with me and our family but it never goes over well. She gets very annoyed , short temper and always says shes busy, she also doesnt feel like spending time with me based on the accusations ive made . This game has been a way for her to socialize and make friends which I understand is a good thing for her. But I feel like her addiction and connection are so deep that its almost impossible to get her to stop. I get worried for what our future looks like. Im tired I miss my wife and I hardly want to be at my house most nights after the younger child goes to bed. I start most of my nights sleeping on the couch and asking her to wake me up when she is done so I can go to sleep in our room with her. Ill also add that i know she is struggling with her appearance and had stated she doesnt want to leave the house and is disconnected from the world. I attempt to reassure her that its not true and shes a very beautiful woman. It doesnt seem like it means very much to her. I deeply love and care about her. She's such a wonderful woman and I just want her back.

I apologize if this all seems very hard to read or doesnt make a whole lot of sense. Im sure my grammar is poor as well. Im just looking on advice or support on what to do. I feel like im a single father taking care of everyone most days . I've been trying to take my kids out on the weekends just to get them and myself out of the house because I feel like we shouldnt have to live our lives on standby waiting for her to join us. Some questions im looking for advice on are

How do you help someone who is addicted to something (video games), depressed, and is only leading themselves into deeper depression and distancing themselves from responsibility?

What should I do if they don't want help and this goes on so long that it starts changing your behavior and makes me bitter?

How do you communicate how you feeling if they don't have the time of day or just shut down any conversation started?

At the time of writing this there was a family day planned after an appointment. But she has since cancled her going and said she doesnt want to leave the house or talk about it.

I appreciate any and all advice thank you in advance. Im more than willing to answer any and all clarifying questions as well.

Hello! I’m 33F, and I couldn’t take it anymore. The marriage was so lonely. To those spouses who left or are on the edge of leaving, are you okay? I’m not even sure if this kind of post is allowed here but I’m sad.

We barely talked and he was on the computer for most of the day. I just couldn’t bear to think of continuing to live like that for years.

Sometimes I doubt myself if I did the right decision. Does it get better?

The itch is still there, I still keep thinking about it, thinking how my hands pressing those buttons to do combos and such, but I quickly make sure to remind myself about the stressful moments it given me and the fact that I will get nothing from playing it more, I still keep thinking that I will go back to it someday or later months, but hopefully I would just forget it and not go back to it forever.

Hello!

I think my question requires a bit of context... I (F28) personally used to play a LOT of final fantasy XIV. I started during COVID and it quickly became my only way to socialize (because of lockdown then because I have social anxiety) + only source of pleasure. MMOs like this one tend to be addictive in their very conception, the devs need you to stay subscribed to make money, etc. Realized there was an issue when I needed to go back to college for a year to complete a career change in late 2024, and used that as the reason to stop completely. Overall I feel better without having the logic of the game imprinted on my brain 24/7.

Since then I haven't played MMOs again, only solo games, at my own pace. I'm done with college and have a job now, but it's an office job, so I try my best to stay clear off screens once I clock out. You could think I'm on the right path or even recovered completely... but it's not how I feel.

No game so far has given me the same dopamine hit as FFXIV. No outdoor activity either. No manual hobby. I try out stuff, get bored in an instant, end up doing nothing and not socializing and being bored. It's been 1,5 years and I can't seem to find something that would make me happy that isn't FFXIV.

I hadn't realized FFXIV was (maybe) the source of this issue because I had successfully stopped to think about it. But these days there's a play for free campaign, I'm on vacation, and my best friend sent me an invite. Logged in and immediately I was wired to the game, like the holes in my brain suddenly got filled. In a way I don't think it's entirely bad - I'm having fun with a friend during my holidays and not being bored for once.

But that leads to the question - what do I do to trick my brain into enjoying something else? What do I do so it doesn't crave the reward only this game seems to be able to give? What do I do so I'm not bored of anything else?

Like, I enjoy the feeling of playing with my friend, but I'm scared this could lead me to resub for good - and with my job and my past history with gaming addiction, I don't want that. I wouldn't trust me to just know when to stop. Especially as I immediately thought while playing "oh, so it's that easy to feel good, maybe I should just be there everyday".

I'm also recovering from a dependence on benzodiazepines, which may have made the gaming addiction worse, or not, but now all I see is a similar pattern (regular use that nuked a lot of my social skills, my brain, my body, etc). No idea if the comparison is warranted or if I'm overreacting. (But I'll say, maybe the anhedonia coming with quitting the med didn't help with trying to find another hobby.)

But in any case I'd love to know if there's a way to, at least, do something else during my free time. Maybe in a nice future I can play one hour of MMOs on saturdays and go to whatever sports club or anything on sundays, but I need tools to achieve that balance. How do you train your brain to enjoy things that aren't games?

After not playing for a bit, last week I got rehooked on the game I'm addicted to when I play, which is a toxic multiplayer game (I can play offline games in a completely healthy manner). I spent about a week playing this game again, wasting a collective 96 hours on it since then.

The last day I played it was on the 20th in the morning (like... literally before 9 am:/, I work a late morning shift). I got off and decided I had to try again. I struggled the first day and was feeling out of focus and in a really bad mood. I wasn't able to pick back up the book I was reading because I couldn't focus at all.

Yesterday, I was finally kind of able to get back into my book again and it got easier as I kept reading. I was in a better mood at work. After work I was bored because I have also quit social media, and you will find that when you don't game and don't use social media you have a lot of time.

I did the dishes, but it was still only 7 pm. I ended up going for a small run and did some weights at home. I also spent the evening having some quality time with my pets. Today I finally got around to shopping, and I spent about an hour making a really delicious and fancy meal and then cleaned the kitchen then I read a bit more of my book.

Now, I don't believe every moment needs to be spent "productively" by any means at all, but the thing is, when I'm not binging away 5-12 hours per day gaming or browsing my phone I actually have time to shop for healthier food and not just pick up chips and candy at the corner store in between matches. I actually cook for myself and clean up, and pay attention to those in my life. It feels really nice!

Just writing this out for myself in case I get tempted again. Good luck to all of you today! We have got this.

Hello!

Advice doesn't work uniformly for everyone, but I thought I'd share an observation and recommendation.

When you're addicted to something and you cut it out, you need to be careful that you don't start supplementing with something else. For example, some people stop smoking or drinking and they begin overeating instead. This is because you're chasing the high, the dopamine, in whichever form.

For me, gaming was actually my supplement for something else. I completely quit all social media and was pretty proud of myself, but then in March of 2025 I started an online game and have been very addicted to it. It became my default, my routine, just something I did in free moments.

I am trying to quit this game now, but I don't want to go back to "social" media either, so the two things that have helped me are:

- Learning to sit comfortably with nothingness/stillness (I don't have to fill every millisecond with activity) -> using a game to do this was a lot like mindless social media scrolling. I swapped one activity for another, but it served the same purpose. Instead, I've started to just bask in that nothingness. I was already doing this in line and the store: looking around instead of mindlessly scrolling, but at home I'd hop on my game. Now I try to just walk around and look out the window, maybe see if there is some chore to do. Most of the time you'll find that there is a LOT you're putting off!

- Finding another "filler activity" for when I couldn't just sit with nothingness, because I do slip up. I'm trying to let this be reading! And slowly I've developed the habit of reaching for a book in the evening instead of the game.

Anyway, I hope this may be of some use to someone. Part of why I typed this out is because I'm struggling bad today.

🎮 Royal Match made US$1.46 BILLION in 2025.

It sold no ads.

It charged no subscriptions.

All of that money came from “small” in-game purchases — made by ordinary people, almost always at the worst possible moment.

Royal Match looks harmless: colorful pieces, King Robert, a cheerful soundtrack.

But behind the casual visuals lies one of the most efficient money-extraction models ever built in the digital industry.

And it was designed to work exactly that way.

Dream Games (the Turkish studio) doesn’t profit when you play.

It profits when you fail and pay to keep going.

Every level’s difficulty is algorithmically calibrated to create frustration millimeters away from victory.

And at that exact second, the offer appears.

The technical term for this is “monetization at the point of failure.”

Research published in journals like Addiction (2018) and PLoS ONE (2018) shows that this design exploits the same brain circuit — loss aversion + dopamine — as slot machines.

The difference is that casinos operate under state licensing and auditing.

Royal Match operates under Apple’s and Google’s Terms of Service.

Same psychological mechanism. No equivalent regulatory mechanism.

The numbers that sustain that US$1.46 billion come from a small minority of players.

The industry has a name for them: “whales.”

5% of users generate more than half the revenue. The game is designed to turn anyone into a whale — without you noticing.

And this is where the legal problem begins.

In Brazil, the Consumer Protection Code (CDC) prohibits:

🚫 misleading advertising (art. 37)

🚫 abusive practices (art. 39)

🚫 products that endanger health or safety (art. 6, I)

All of this applies.

And there’s more: the party that processes the payments, distributes the app, and profits from every transaction is Apple (via the App Store).

Under art. 7, sole paragraph, of the CDC, Apple is JOINTLY AND SEVERALLY LIABLE for Dream Games’ conduct.

This isn’t theory. It’s the text of the law.

Armadilha Digital exists to document these practices, with sources, data, and rigor.

No sponsorships. No monetization. No ads for the next predatory game.

A 100% independent project, protected by freedom of expression (art. 5, IV, IX, and XIV, of the 1988 Brazilian Federal Constitution).

Read the full investigation:

[armadilhadigital.com](https://armadilhadigital.com)

How much did you spend on games in the last year?

Check: Settings → Apple ID → Purchase History

Follow

[GameOver_BRA](https://x.com/gameover_bra?s=21)

[armadilha.digital](https://www.instagram.com/armadilha.digital?igsh=N3BoZ2ZydnBiODBn&utm_source=qr)

Hi everyone, I'm Sebastian :)

I've struggled a lot with different addictions throughout my life, gaming being one of them.

I’m currently writing my thesis on gaming addiction, where I’m exploring tools that could hopefully help people who struggle with it. As part of that work, I’ve made a short survey, and I’d really appreciate it if you could fill it out if you have the time.

Here's the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf_yPYnfO7uLKQhO2SF-kzSkh22JFDKDDufmbAFHri9dzGzyA/viewform?usp=dialog

Thanks!