Internet addiction is fuelling my AA

[Spyce D]

It seems to me that this addiction of mine is making me hell lot of nervous in general .

Like , i can't focus on any productive thing for long , restlessness , getting afraid of even small confrontation , getting punch in a gut feeling while approaching , having too much headache and whatnot.

Fuck this shit . I don't want to waste my life over this b.s.

I am going on a detox now and maybe i will give updates regarding my improvements wrt timeline .

Today : 13 Feb

I will give my update on 13 March.

See ya .

 

[Karea Ricardus D.]

Good stuff man. I'm very much in favor of this initiative... I think everyone should do it. I used to be completely addicted to all that crap, too... about 10 years ago I started using this software and it helped a lot:

www.focusme.com

Over the past 12 months or so I've actually weened almost all digital crap. I'm off all social media, I don't use any chat apps like WhatsApp, I check email once a week, forums only on Sundays, no news, no twitter, no vidya, the list goes on.

It's amazing how much time and energy gets freed up. I'll say though that I didn't go cold turkey. For some people I'm sure this can work, for me I weened it all gradually.

For example I started checking telegram only once a week, then every two weeks, then every month... and by that point when I finally logged in there were SO MANY messages that it turned into a huge chore that I hated. So then I deleted my account.

Gradually did the same with every single digital addiction I had. Btw, a great way to figure out what those addictions are (some of them are bound to be unconscious) is using this tool:

www.rescuetime.com

Hope that helps someone.

-Karea.

P.S.: Smart phones should be banned.

 

[trashKENNUT]

I am going on a detox now and maybe i will give updates regarding my improvements wrt timeline .

I did.

And it reinforces my personal mission even more.

Also, with all respect to @Chase because he was the one who actually made me document the whole week not going online except checking ads and I was stringent about it. No google searching and YouTube. Only music.

We have 2 things

1)Power of Detaching
And this is which is 2)Reality

For number 2, I'm stuck between Law of Attraction Gurus, Religion gurus, Atheist and 'Work hard' guys.

I'm pretty sure that all of them don't have the answer and I'm pretty sure that I kinda have the answer. I'm saying this with a tongue and cheek tone.

z@c+

 

[Chase]

Digital detox is like the best thing ever.

Get some books to read... I'm reading Beowulf right now, for instance. There is pretty much nothing you can read online that is close to as good as a good old book that has stood the test of time. Also, now I finally know where Skyrim got concepts like thanes and names like High Hrothgar.

It is nice to shut off the Internet and unwind with a book before turning in. Way healthier than getting hypnotized by online stuff.

And this is which is 2)Reality

For number 2, I'm stuck between Law of Attraction Gurus, Religion gurus, Atheist and 'Work hard' guys.

I'm pretty sure that all of them don't have the answer and I'm pretty sure that I kinda have the answer. I'm saying this with a tongue and cheek tone.

z@c+

 

[Spyce D]

Some Observations till now

(So, it's been like more than 8 days since i started doing dopamine detox and i am already seeing some changes in behaviour, even though they are vey minute rn.)
But , there are some things that i felt and experienced that i am sharing below.

Week 1

1.) Weird and darker thoughts
From 'How i have wasted n number of years on internet' to 'i will never be successful in life' to 'everybody is out their to catch me' and what not , from day 0, i started getting very dark thoughts which sometimes wouldnt let me sleep .

2.)Sleep junky
Now , i dont know how to explain this but i had this urge to sleep more , whether it was day or night , i just wanted to stay in my bed and sleep.

3.)Lesser productivity
Due to 2nd observation

4.)More calm
EVEN THOUGH , it is in contradiction with 1st observation but now as i writing this , i can tell you that i am able to feel a bit more calm than the day i started the detox .

But , due to some stressful thoughts yesterday , i ended up binge watching yt (no news though). This is my biggest problem rn , stress that has been built up inside me for years and with phone , i am simply running away from it . So, i am going to start meditation from now onwards and if you guys want to share something about it , that would be great .

Sorry , @Chase ,@Karea Ricardus D. , @ZacAdam for not being able to apply .

Good stuff man. I'm very much in favor of this initiative... I think everyone should do it. I used to be completely addicted to all that crap, too... about 10 years ago I started using this software and it helped a lot:

www.focusme.com

Over the past 12 months or so I've actually weened almost all digital crap. I'm off all social media, I don't use any chat apps like WhatsApp, I check email once a week, forums only on Sundays, no news, no twitter, no vidya, the list goes on.

It's amazing how much time and energy gets freed up. I'll say though that I didn't go cold turkey. For some people I'm sure this can work, for me I weened it all gradually.

For example I started checking telegram only once a week, then every two weeks, then every month... and by that point when I finally logged in there were SO MANY messages that it turned into a huge chore that I hated. So then I deleted my account.

Gradually did the same with every single digital addiction I had. Btw, a great way to figure out what those addictions are (some of them are bound to be unconscious) is using this tool:

www.rescuetime.com

Hope that helps someone.

-Karea.

P.S.: Smart phones should be banned.

Appreciate the help man , but the thing is i am not addicted to laptop only to smartphones and i already have a similar app for this issue (on smartphone) .
well, your stratergy of only using sm is really dope , i will use that as well , now.

I did.

And it reinforces my personal mission even more.

Also, with all respect to @Chase because he was the one who actually made me document the whole week not going online except checking ads and I was stringent about it. No google searching and YouTube. Only music.

We have 2 things

1)Power of Detaching
And this is which is 2)Reality

For number 2, I'm stuck between Law of Attraction Gurus, Religion gurus, Atheist and 'Work hard' guys.

I'm pretty sure that all of them don't have the answer and I'm pretty sure that I kinda have the answer. I'm saying this with a tongue and cheek tone.

z@c+

great man

Digital detox is like the best thing ever.

Get some books to read... I'm reading Beowulf right now, for instance. There is pretty much nothing you can read online that is close to as good as a good old book that has stood the test of time. Also, now I finally know where Skyrim got concepts like thanes and names like High Hrothgar.

It is nice to shut off the Internet and unwind with a book before turning in. Way healthier than getting hypnotized by online stuff.



View attachment 257

Sure man , i will get some books to read , this online facade can really take toll on someone's mental health.

 

[Chase]

There is a known thing that happens in meditation where when people start meditating, once they get through the initial pleasure of how nice and freeing it feels, many of them descend into this dark place, when all these negative thoughts they didn't know were there surface, all these old wounds get dredged up, and finally they are forced to deal with this stuff.

I suspect something like that is happening here. You let the web suck you in and distract you so long it served as a kind of nepenthe from real life, and once that was cut out, once the detox hit, and the withdrawal set in, you started to realize it was mindless distraction, and began regretting all the time lost to it.

The other stuff all sounds like depression. Might be a temporary depression as you come out of it.

Internet addiction is also tied to depression... so you may well have been self-medicating with that addiction, keeping yourself plugged in and jazzed up, and once the drip was cut off it was just you dealing with your own demons again. Could well be that was why you were as addicted to it as you were.

Meditation is helpful. Being aware of your state and learning to clear your mind is helpful. Here's one way to go about using it to de-stress:

How to Do a 10-Minute Meditation that Eliminates Bad Emotions

I've been meditating since I was 18 years old. That's half a lifetime ago for me now. I didn't get into meditation as part of any kind of spiritual belief system. I prayed as a child when I was a Christian. But by the time I started meditating, I was an atheist. I'm more spiritual again now...

www.girlschase.com

Anyway, don't let the setbacks throw you. Everybody has them. Setbacks just help you cement the difference between what it's like when you're on the wagon, and what it's like when you're back off it again.

Chase

 

[Karea Ricardus D.]

What Chase said. The reason we're addicted to mental stimulation is because it drowns out some subconscious pain. When you stop all the digital distractions, that pain is going to surface. Which is why I recommended weening it gradually rather than going cold turkey. Meditation will fix this over time.

 

[Spyce D]

4/3/2022
Observations :

1.) My mind is becoming more relaxed with every week . I am becoming more concerned about things that are under my control rather than the worldly affairs . Youtube doesn't interest me anymore.

2.) So, I am now weening it gradually and not going cold turkey because it is improving my situation without increasing my "pain", so as to speak.

3.) It's better to have colorless (black and white) screens than to have colorless life.

 

[Spyce D]

Another thing , I forgot to mention is that I am becoming present-oriented because if i am not , i will feel sad and i might again relapse. so, If anyone can help me with it then that would be nice.

 

[Karea Ricardus D.]

becoming present-oriented because if i am not , i will feel sad and i might again relapse. so, If anyone can help me with it then that would be nice.

Meditation is going to improve this a little bit each day.

 

[Karea Ricardus D.]

Great vid