getting help in world to deal with SL addiction, is it possible?

If SL is not interfering with your life in a very negative way (making you become bankrupt because you can't work anymore or making your spouse divorce you, etc...), then who cares! Live your life online. It's what we'll ALL be doing someday when the machines take over anyway.

I felt like I fell down a rabbit hole the first six months of SL. One night I stayed on ALL NIGHT, and oddly enough, in the morning I only needed a couple of hours sleep and I was fine. It was almost as if the hours I'd spent in SL were eqivalent to REM time. SL is nothing like zoning out in front of the TV, if anything, it seems to use less cognitive juice.

After awhile, being on SL too much, made me feel cranky and miserable. That's when I started to feel SL was a problem. I also experienced strong emotions in SL, which came as a complete surprise, and ultimately started me thinking about what I was missing in RL that was driving me to this fantasy world. I think SL can be theraputic, in a way, if it gets you in touch with fantasies you didn't know you had, unfullfilled dreams, subpersonalities wanting to live, etc.

Now I am pretty bored with SL, but I think I got something out of it I am using to improve my RL. I wonder, sometimes, if the addictive process is the brain's way of saying DO THIS, until you GET WHY. (not recommended for drinking and drug addictions, which really will kill you.)

As long as your second life isn't interfering with your first life, it really doesn't matter how much time you are spending online....at least that's what I tell myself, lol.

Some things that should not suffer in real life...

1) Work
2) Family & Friends
3) Hygiene
4) Bills
5) Miscellaneous Responsibilities

Here is a suggestion...

If you feel that Second Life is taking up too much of your time, make yourself a strict schedule. You could even write or print out some kind of chart of SL allowance time. Limit yourself to only so many hours per day on SL, and add other activities to the chart/schedule. I think you can make a weekly schedule in Microsoft Excel.

Must be a nice feeling to have everything under control. I can see why you are called Robot lol (no offense really) And just telling to hit the X or comparing it with AA in a pub.. well its just comparing others with yourself, you lack empathy. Consider yourselves lucky you can are like that, dont force it upon others. Some people are just not like that. And its a very good way to seek for inworld help, its safe, anonimous and doesnt cost a lot of waisted money. In SL there are a few counselors groups. So if you are looking for a talk, rather then offering yourself to a forum, do a search on (SL) counselors, Nexus Foundation has its own sim. IM me inworld if you want more info.
(Ok, lets have those comments rofl.)

You should try my ISP. I haven't been able to go online for more than two consecutive minutes since Wednesday. THAT is a sure turn off.

thats like saying : Ok jump if you want

here's a word hottentottententententoonstelling.

That would be a bit like getting someone of heroin by making them overdosing and killing themselves. It WOULD stop them taking any more heroin....

Lol I tried the overdose thing when I first played SL on a Wedsnday, I realised how it was going to hit, I arranged Monday & Tuesdays as holidays then played all weekend and then 48 hours straight, Then woke up on Wednsday at 12pm 6 hours late for work. Not sure if it helped or not, but I got in deep hammered it for all I could rather than doing the same and calling in sick for 3 days. And only played all night a couple of nights a week after that, still got to work but was like a Zombie. But then I was having other RL issues at the time and it was the escape I needed till they were sorted out.
Eventually I eased back to a few hours a night now. I still managed to keep family & friends first somehow.
Recognising you have a problem is good, you will probably log in one day look around, then decide to play WoW or CoH instead
It's not physically addictive like a drug, a few bad experiences and and the thrill wears off you'll be fine Just don't loose your job or family in the process, SL whill still be here for at least a couple of weeks after sex gets banned

Could be worse, you could get addicted to the forums

There appears to me to be way too many people on here who believe they are experts from reading self help books.

First - It's not as easy as turning of the computer. That logic, if applied to an alcoholic, would mean simply don't pick up a drink. THAT'S PRETTY DAMN OBVIOUS. If it was really that easy though so many wouldn't drink themselves to death. This is a simplistic response from those who see addiction as a character defect rather than an illness.

Second - Addicts frequently want help. Sure denial is big but many seek help numerous times before actually getting it. If help is readily available then they are that much more likely to seek it. Does that make SL a great location for SL addiction support? Probably. But obviously the eventual goal would be to get them to seek help in RL. Kind of just a starting point as I see it.

Are you Dutch?

Hottentottensoldatenvrachtwagenreservewielventieldopjestentententoonstellingsterreinentoezichthoudersverenigingsgebouwenliftenonderhoudsmonteursgebruikershandleidingindexpaginanummertjes

I knew about that one, it's a kind of word-play you can find in many languages! But thank you anyway!


I'd still like to know what exactly Tigro's reasons are for suspecting a true addiction....that might help in judging the situation better. But if you yourself don't really know, Tigro, maybe there are RL psychologists on SL that WOULD listen to you.

(Actually I know of at least one, but I can't allow myself to recommend him, he was the annoying neighbour with the lighthouse light we had trouble with) But that means there ARE psychologists in SL, you just have to find them.

It may or may not be an addiction for the OP, but if it is troubling the OP then it is at least problematic, even if it is not formally an addiction.

The ways to get past an addiciton or otherwise problematic behavior are well known, but not easy to implement. They generally involve (1) getting away from the addictive substance or activity more or less completely, (2) finding other things to do with the time one spent on the addiction, (3) finding a support group to meet with regularly to compare notes and establish some external accountability. It isn't easy, but it can be done.

What's much harder, however, is to go from problematic use to moderate use. Most folks who are problematic users of a substance or activity don't want to cut down to -zero- ... they want to go to a moderate use level. The trouble is that once your mind has become accustomed to using a substance or activity in a problematic way, it's very, very hard for your to train it back to being able to use in a moderate, non-problematic way ... that's the very nature of addiction, in that your mind craves some substance or activity in an immoderate way that gets in the way, eventually, of everything else in life. That's why most addiction recovery programs require abstinence from the substance/activity as condition number one on the road to recovery -- it's just too hard to train the mind to go from immoderate to moderate use.

If your SL use is troubling to you, what you need to do is not only log out of SL, but also find other things in that time period to do. Hopefully outside the house. Go outside, even to the library, bookstore, what have you. Take yourself to dinner or the movies. Get with friends. Develop a gym routine. All of these things to fill that time that you use in SL with other activities away from your computer. And try to find an addiction counselor for an evaluation and consultation about what groups might be available in your area for this kind of thing. Good luck!

A lot of folks are saying the symptoms are addictive.. ie its an addiction.. i dont believe that.. tigro isnt under addiction without control .. in the captivation of something that tigro has no control over..

tigro still has control.. if tigro was an an addict ...tigro would not seek advice.. since SL is available.. the drug that tigro needed is available.. tigro would not need advice or help.. the drug is all, provides the solution.. tigro would not be here..tigro would not need us, since the solution for an addict is the drug.

I must succeed in everything I do.” “I must be loved.” “I must be in control.” “I feel inadequate.” From our earliest years, teaches Wolinsky, the nervous system creates a false self that can trap us in a specific constellation of fears, frustrations, and psychological patterns. In this trance of the false self, we lose contact with the greater dimensions of who we really are – what the spiritual traditions of the world have called “the One Substance,” “God,” or “the Void of Undifferentiated Consciousness.”

Ive no faith in Wolinsky.. i am just quoting something that every one of feels in some aspect.


it is blase to suggest addiction without identification.. no one who has posted here has identified why, and with what foundation they consider on reasoning, that tigro has addiction.

tigro will unfound those who do..tigro is not addicted. my faith is in the definition of addiction.. and what tigro has posted. tigro gives all the preassumptions a finger in the eye...

I have no idea what that just said...

This is not important, even though I disagree with some of it (addicts do sometimes seek help, for example). Even if someone is not technically "addicted", if their use of a substance or activity is troubling them for some reason, following the same procedures as an addict would follow is prudent to re-establish some balance.

The cure for SL addiction is Lag

If you spend enough time logged in, the lag will get to you, reducing your craving.

Lololol

actually I think lag has the exact oposite effect on me, requiring more time to do somthing good just makes me stay longer to finally get it done, I do belive that if i had an extremelly high performance machine and that SL didn't lagged and crashed so often I would probably not be this much "addicted" right now....dunno... (I put it between quotes since some people here thiunk it might not really fit the description of addiction)

Where did you come up with this gem of information?

Based on this logic, does every person who walks into an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting suddenly become no longer addicted? Many people walk in once or twice or more and yet never come back. Many of those die.

Addicts frequently do seek help, many with their last dying breath.

I'm no expert.
But I do know the success rate for treatment of most addictions is at best 10%
Definetly RL help, with RL experts.

"Where did you come up with this gem of information?"

I read tigros posts.. but that in itself was not the reason for my post.. still no one defines addiction, yet presumes it is.. or prepresumes. That was and is still the point i am highlighting.


ok.. tell me what defines addiction..

give me the evidence.

and then if you are so convinced you can stand by it.. what is " a gem of information"?..

But..hey.. its a debate.. i am willing to see reason..but i cannot yet see an addiction.

even if tigro calls it that.

The problem is that many people who are either addicted or in danger of becoming addicted get involved in this "debate" about how to characterize behavior that they themselves find problematic in some way -- in the end it is a pointless debate. If the behavior is perceived by the person as being problematic, they should address it, rather than spending countless moments trying to figure out the precise textual term for their situation.

If this is the case you need to learn to let Frustration become the better part of Valor.

Instead of soldiering on through the lag, Come back and finish the project when theres less people online.

I am not here to debate, actually. Read Victorria's excellent post below. That's as far as I'll continue with any "debate".



Those numbers I will debate. Not because I disagree but because it's so hard to determine. Sure clinics and recovery houses track their success rate but what about 12 step programs or other programs. It would be next to impossible to track their success rate.

Secondly debatable is the term "success rate". I'd agree it's probably likely that only about 10% of addicts successfully stay sober THE FIRST TIME. But the numbers apparently are similar to those that are "successful" in other types of treatment programs such as taking insulin for diabetes. Like those treatments, addicts frequently will continue to come back and receive additional treatment. This really clouds the numbers.

Anyway, back to discuss the issue with Tigros....

Tigros, the fact that you acknowledge that it is interrupting your life is all that matters and it doesn't really matter whether you want to classify it as an addiction or not. What matters is that you are aware of the problem and therefore can move forward by seeking some type of professional help, if necessary.

Best of luck to you!

i agree, if you are addicted to SL and its stopping you from getting a job, or REAL money

http://www.getafirstlife.com

I'm addicted to this forum. Whenever I'm away from my computer I can't help thinking about what's been posted since I last looked......and when I can get my next fix.