Addiction is a tragedy

I have depression that started before I started gaming addictively, and I'm on a variety of medications for it. Depression/anxiety (and other mental health diagnoses) can lead to addiction, and addiction can lead to depression and anxiety. It's different for different people. If you think that you need more help than the internet can offer, then I definitely encourage you to see a professional.

Primary care doctors can prescribe psych medications, but it's not what they specialize in. I'd recommend seeing a psychiatrist with some knowledge about addiction. They will ask you questions about your symptoms and your history, and good ones will recommend a combination of some sort of therapy and/or medications. Unfortunately, there's a wide range of quality of psychiatrists. Some will just prescribe medications and not look at the whole picture of what you need for recovery. If you're not already seeing a therapist, they tend to be better at looking at the larger picture (but can't prescribe meds).

I see you have 32 days game free, so you may be experiencing some of what I have. The gaming was numbing all sorts of emotions, and without it all things I was locking away have come to the surface. I keep wishing the depression would just go away, but it actually feels worse without gaming than it was while I was gaming. I just know that I'll never recover from depression if I continue gaming, that I have to find ways to deal with and not just numb the pain. To do that, I have to get help with both the underlying mental health conditions and the addiction. For me, that means I see a psychiatrist and am on medication for depression/anxiety, see a therapist for a variety of underlying issues, and go to CGAA meetings for the addiction.

/r/StopGaming Thread