Gaming killing my relationships? Please help.

[iTz Realiity]

I know how you feel although I've never lost friends over it, I put well over 1000 hours in to Modern Warfare. Have your parents put those time controls on your xbox so you can't play as often. That way you won't know the password so you won't be tempted.

My parents know next to nothing on technology. Even if I showed them, they wouldn't know what it is or what to do...

Why don't you play video games with your friends?

Me and my two buddies hang out about 3 or 4 times a week during the summer, and we just sit around and play Halo.

Also, my ex-girlfriend has a Playstation 3, as do I, so when I would play, I play with her too.

My friends can only play for a few hours a day and then they get bored. None of them can go for the 6-10 hours. And I play through the addiction mostly when they can't hang out.

[Dacads]

Get your girlfriend to play or something, spend more time with her and other friends, enjoy yourself
Also cut down on the hours, tell your parents to hide console if necessary ;)

[iTz Realiity]

Get your girlfriend to play or something, spend more time with her and other friends, enjoy yourself
Also cut down on the hours, tell your parents to hide console if necessary ;)

I appreciate the first part, but my parents hiding my console means they take away all computers in the house too. I need those to do homework. lol

I guess I'm just going to try and quit xbox cold turkey and just use it for Netflix or when people come over... Thanks for the ideas everyone!

[Dacads]

No problem man. Let us know how it goes ;)

[Cam G]

Good luck Realiity, hope you'll be able to quit Xbox. I play the Xbox in moderation now, but I suppose getting off it completely wouldn't hurt either.

[tomynho]

...I must say I feel rather disgusted with myself now. No matter how disgusted I feel with myself, I will always go back to play Halo 3 the very next day when I wake up...

This happens to me after a c2c

... I feel like this is an addiction and I don't want to lose anymore feelings for my girlfriend...

Many people don't admit their addictions to something so this is a big plus for you and you may get over gaming easier if you actually realise that you are addicted. Maybe you should see some specialists. It's hard to help you.
I've played RuneScape 4 years ago and I had the same problem as you. I spent hours (around 6) playing RuneScape. Anywhere I went, I had to have my laptop and internet with me so I could play RuneScape every day. If I didn't play RuneScape for more than 3 days, I felt bad.
Once I went on holiday for a week and I didn't have internet, neither laptop and I was still having fun with my family (swimming, being on the beach, playing football with my uncle etc...) so I realised I don't need RuneScape anymore. When I came back, I played it less frequently and like two years ago I totally stopped. I don't play it at all, just rarely bot. Now I found a better hobby - photographing & storm chasing. I think that you'll stop playing if you'll find a nice hobby.

[Sharkey]

I've wasted so much money and time with video games.

[JDBar]

Don't play any video games for about two weeks. Disconnect the Xbox, put it in a closet somewhere, or under your bed. Go out with you friends and your girlfriend. Within that two week time frame, it is very likely that it'll just come to you that you don't need to play as much as you do.

Not long ago I was addicted to using my computer. I was on it for 16+ hours a day excluding school days. Then, during a particularly stressful time, I ran away from my folks for about a month. I went out with my girlfriend, I hung out with my best friend. I don't know what happened, but during that time I realized that I didn't miss computers or technology at all.

Now, I'm still on the computer a lot, but not because I feel like I have to. I just went out camping for four days, and didn't think much of gaming/computers.

I think if you go "cold turkey" on video games like I did for computers, and go out and do stuff, you'll reach the same point where you feel like you're no longer addicted.

As for anger problems, I believe it is a side effect of intensive technology-use and gaming. I, too, have anger problems, but I haven't resolved this yet.

[Cybr]

It seems you have a problem with prioritizing.

You need to make a sacrifice. Either your girlfriend and friends, or your video games.

[Renegader]

Gaming can be casual. Just be careful when playing a lot.