Ex-NFL lineman Quinn Pitcock says he was addicted to video games

You think two hours of sleep and roughly 100 ounces of carbonated soda a day might be unhealthy?

Anyway, I didn't mean to sound dismissive. Wasn't my intention. I just ... I'm not that smart. Ask me about Gatsby and I'd tell you it's just a goddamn green light. And it's just a billboard. So translating things from one area to another is not my forte. But I do think there's something to it ... I just honestly don't know what "reward" i get. I never get a high from it. I just get a low from NOT having it.

 

Unplugging when you're someone who fixates on being plugged in is a ridiculously difficult thing to do. I got into a bad place after my separation (divorce final in two weeks, yay) and immersed myself in internet/TV/smartphone/etc. It was bad. I didn't want to break from it because it was easy, killed time and kept my attention off what else was going on in my life.

Eventually, I guess I had a comeuppance. Channeled that energy into working out, getting out of the house often (even if it was just to go to a park/library/bookstore to read) and reinserting myself into society. Now, when I get to feeling that I might be plugging in too much, I'll take a night and just completely unplug. It's nice. I'll sit on my balcony and read. Go for a walk. Meditate. But always go to bed early. Without fail I feel better the next morning.

I know what I did isn't going to work for everyone (or most people, probably). I still probably spend too much time online. But once I found a small way around that vice and realized the good that could come from it, it has become easier and easier.

 

I do that, too, sometimes.

What's crazy is that you frequently open your email/Facebook/SportsJournalists.com after 48 hours or so, and find out that nothing pressing actually happened.

 

Video games can be an escape for people. A chance to be something else than they really are.

Just like message boards.

 

Oh, yeah. Without a doubt. They aren't intrinsically evil or anything. But they CAN BE addictive.

 

And tv and books probably are the same way.

 

I totally empathize with this lifestyle, and that described by IJAG. I have my hands on a keyboard far too much in any given 24-hour period.

 

100 ounces? That's only like 8 cans Pfffft ....kid stuff. I could knock that off in my sleep,

 

I've gone on all-night gaming fits. I think it's incredibly easy to do. Back in college my friends and I had a playstation and a copy of Smackdown. We would play the thing constantly. In a testament to the resilience of the machine, we had it on for weeks at a time. Over spring break we had a half dozen people in an apartment playing for 10 days straight, dozing off if it wasn't your turn, getting nudged awake when it was. We ordered pizza to be delivered so we wouldn't have to leave and got on a first name basis with the delivery guy.
Since then I've had sessions of Civ V where I kept telling myself "one more turn" and ended up playing until 7 am and I've gone through entire seasons of Madden in a day.
It happens.
Also I totally agree that 100 oz of pop in a day is kids stuff. I used to have an 8 hr drive to and from college and on those rare weekends I went home I would buy a 12 pack on my way out of town and wouldn't have any left by the time I got home.

 

Just read your article. Suffice it to say, I am your Grade A subject. The part about bouncing from food to food until your stomach stretches? I felt my stomach stretch as I read it.

 

I was counting the two 20-ouncers I have at work, plus 5 cans before/after work. It's usually more, but there are days it's less.