by Cody Hodge

Created on: May 12, 2009

You have a video game habit, and you want to break it? For some of us, video games are a hobby, and for some of us they are an obsession. There are still some out there who have taken video game playing to an entire new level. They are addicts, and will spend every minute playing games, and the reasons why they play are unique and diverse. There is only one way to break your addiction is to somehow find a way to realize that there is a big world out there, and you need to go and find it.

Addictions are usually psychological in nature, and so they can be hard to be cured. When it comes to video games, there are several reasons why people get hooked onto them in the first place. For many, the lure of on-line games offers a sense of community, and the time they spend on-line playing games replaces the time that they might have missed playing with friends, or bonding with others.

Sometimes the games are so real that they tend to seem almost life-like. You really feel as if you are playing football, or storming the beaches of Normandy getting ready to take out the forces of Hitler. You can get so caught up in them that you forget what time it is, or how long you have been playing for. With so many objectives, and so much to do, it can be hard to wrestle yourself away from it.

While video games are fun, you have to make sure that you don't become addicted. What do you do if you become too friendly with your Xbox? How do you break that cycle? Well the best way to do that is to make yourself go out and do something else. Do you like football? Well then go get a game together and do that instead of playing football with a controller. I used to play video games all the time for that reason, and once real games broke out I realized that I played video games less and less.

If you like Call of Duty because you are enamored with the World Wars, then maybe you should join a group of historians? If you like the Civl War, there are tons of re-enactments and you can live the war in that way as well. Connect with other people that share your interests, and take your love for the games to the real world, and try to translate that knowledge into something useful.

Even better, try finding a significant other. Most guys I know play video games because it kills time, and there is nothing else to do. However, once they have a girlfriend, they tend to stop playing video games so much, and make time for their girlfriends. Most normal guys will take a girl over a video game anytime, even those addicted to video games.

If you find yourself hooked on video games, just ask yourself why you love them so much. Chances are you will marvel at the realism, or the fact that you have a lot of people to play these games with. Go out and connect with an entirely new community, the one that exists in the world outside of your Xbox, and see what life really is. You will still have time for games, and you will see your life becoming more fulfilling.

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