It’s important to share this hopeful and inspiring message about a powerful realization that followed a successful detox from video gaming. Sometimes it is in leaving behind something we believe is vital, for a period of time, that we recognize just how insignificant it has become. I am grateful to Amr Fahmy for allowing me to share his story.

“I was off gaming completely for four years. I was always a big believer in gaming in moderation though but I never applied that concept on myself. In my opinion gaming in moderation is not limiting your self to once a month or a couple hours a day, gaming in moderation is knowing when is the right time to play video-games and when to stop a gaming session after it begins. The idea is to play video games only when you finished all your duties and other objectives and to know when to get up once you start playing. if one perfects that understanding, one can game in moderation. I always had things to do or learn after I quit gaming until COVID-19 showed up. COVID-19What kept me locked at home, no workout which I used to do daily, no college, no hanging out with friends, no courses and nothing from all that was replaceable to its online alternative even online courses are not the same as actual courses. After four years of no gaming I decided I would take my own advice and game in moderation. I opened my steam account which was offline for years now and to my surprise nothing has changed. The same people I knew are still there playing the same games as if I never went offline four years ago. In those years I learned a lot of new skills and gained a lot of experience. I made new social connections and become physically and mentally a lot stronger. Meanwhile they are playing the same games as they were 4 years ago. I still decided to try gaming in moderation since I do have the time for it. The thing is I opened one of the games I used to love playing and to my surprise I did not enjoy myself, I logged out of a popular online game that I used to LOVE and is very popular in my country fifteen minutes after the beginning of the first match. Somehow the game is changed it is not the same. I am neither killing the boredom nor am I enjoying myself. I realized that my interest in gaming is gone after all that I accumulated in those four years away from gaming. So, if you are in a place where you think you can’t quit because nothing will replace gaming for you I am here to say that it is possible that the experiences that you will face after you quit can completely ‘overwrite’ your gaming experiences. Give it a try, after all these years gaming, what more can you lose?”

This message really showcases how important it is to find new interests and activities, as well as a more fitting community to enhance one’s liveliness after detoxing or reducing gaming hours. One never knows how much more potential their life can hold unless the addiction is set aside and a new baseline of desire is created. Although COVID-19 lockdown presented challenges for Amr to continue participating in activities outside of gaming, it also provided a space to learn that the older, unhealthy compulsion no longer served him in his new direction and growth.