Should I put videogames?? It's one of my favorite hobbies And it used to keep me from obsessing and from overthinking But I had an ocd flare 3 weeks ago and idk, my life just hasn't been the same, I feel panic, anxiety, things just doesn't feel the same, I haven't been able to play video games since I feel they could make me more anxious Is it ok to quit them??? Or should I try keep playing??
Videos games are OK if they are a form of escapism. Without moderation it can become avoidance which is a compulsion. Also, as fun as they are they can be stressful, and stress is a trigger for ocd. I quit playing competitive stuff as good as I was and it didn't even matter if I won, I got stressed and ocd sets in.
We all have hobbies and passions but OCD, Anxiety, Depression can take that way. I had other hobbies along with video games and when I had my flare up last year I isolated myself from my passions and just got stuck on the endless mind loop in my brain. I know it’s hard but you shouldn’t let OCD or anxiety get you away from your hobbies. I say either play a game that you know won’t trigger you or start out small. I started just playing 10 minutes a day and I was able to progress more and more. Hobbies are important in our life and we cut them down we give ocd a bigger door to ruminate
I hid from the world in them basically for 8 years, 12+ hours a day. It was comforting finding people online and like a little community I was comfortable with but I slowly started to notice the hole I was building in my life and future. I ignored it for a while, made it to #9 in North America in a game called Overwatch and tried convincing myself I could make a profession out of it but had a rough reality check. I decided to quit when I was 18 and was probably the best choice I made. Im still dealing with a lot of the things I missed out on and didn’t experience that other people my age did. It was very hard for myself to quit, it’s a weird addiction. If you can stop and find something else that helps you and involves being outside and around people physically, I’d recommend it but everyone’s different. Hope this helps at all
I made top 500 a few times on tank. Overwatch is a curse 😂
@Wolfram Some of the best memories I had as far as community, never been tighter with a group of people that was ironically 8 states away. I was a genji/Hanzo 😂
@BBlakeney99 Yeh. I had some good groups on it. I was a rein main. 😂
Hi there I have struggled with a very similar issue over the last few months. I love video games and have for 30 years (my whole life) but I have been dealing with contamination issues that have made me unable to pick up a controller since mid December. I feel if I was able to play games my OCD wouldn't be nearly as terrible as it is. I do understand your concern but it's important to try to discern whether video games help you, or hinder you. It's a tricky thing to figure out because the anxiety might be because you enjoy them but your OCD doesn't want you to do anything that would starve it. That's at least how it is for me
Maybe try to play video games after doing an exposure to like, ignore the feelings that come and refocus. For me I love Skyrim. It’s really fun to get into a different world after obsessing
Ok so just now I got a really bad intrusive thought it was “what if I’m actually gay” but I’m trying to handle it as good as I can. I’m always nervous that I don’t actually have ocd and I’m just denying that I’m gay. I almost did a compulsion, it was to look at pictures of girls (not naked just normal pictures) to see if I was attracted to them in a way that I would be considered a lesbian, but I stopped myself. I’m going to allow these thoughts to sit and make me upset. I’m not anxious but I think that’s just because I’m getting over the thoughts. I’m not going to look through this app and try to find reassurance I’m going to make sure I don’t make myself feel better. I’m home alone right now so my thoughts are wondering, I’m thinking a lot. I’m going to play games to kind of separate my thoughts, and make myself feel calm. Games have always been a big part of my life, I love games so that will bring me joy. I wanted to post this just so I could show myself that I can get through hard times, and hopefully this will help someone else!
Hobbies! It's important to have things in our lives other than OCD, which bring us joy, calm us down and can provide a good way to redirect our attention away from obsessions and compulsions. I'm curious about your hobbies and interests! I enjoy painting and learning languages- I reached B2 in Swedish and am starting on Korean. I love to follow artists on YouTube who show their methods step by step and try them out. I also decided to learn more Python (programming language) and brush up my C++ in order to work in software development and eventually data science, so I am making a plan to write some code every day. I find that redirecting my attention to these hobbies when I'm anxious makes my OCD symptoms reduce and ensures that life isn't entirely passing me by even though I struggle to be social.
hi! simple question, has anyone stopped doing things they liked due to their ocd? for example, i used to run a fan account for one of my fav groups but due to hocd, i went on hiatus and now i’m kinda anxious to go back even though most of my internet friends will be there to support me! like, part of me wants go back but i’m also anxious ?
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