Pokémon Go has become this year's game. It is a very absorbing game, which makes you be aware at all times. You can get to mix game and reality, separated by the fine line of virtual reality. If you think you have a problem with this popular game, leading to addiction, you can get rid of it by following these steps:
Steps
Method 1 of 5: Assess if you have an addiction
Step 1. Assess your symptoms
To find out if you really have an addiction, check yourself for changes in your mood or behavior. If your daily habits have been modified to the point that you do anything to continue playing Pokémon Go, you may be addicted.
Gambling excessively can negatively affect your life. Look for those signs in your day to day, which may be mild or more serious
Step 2. Determine if your symptoms are mild
It is easier to get rid of them if so. That you don't go on dates to go out to catch more pokémon and conquer more gyms is a clear symptom of a beginning of addiction.
- You modify your routine: you neglect daily obligations to continue playing. You neglect your appearance, education, personal hygiene, food, etc. just to continue playing.
- You need more: You are never satisfied with the day's catches, so you prolong your hours of play more and more to maintain that emotion that already causes you a dependency.
- You change your schedules: sleeping at odd hours, going out at night to capture pokémon, often entering dangerous places. This affects your work or school performance, being able to be fired for playing during working hours, as well as absent from your position or from classes for it.
Step 3. Determine if your symptoms are more severe
It will cost you more to get rid of them, as they can lead to more complicated problems. You can therefore isolate yourself from others, causing situations of loneliness, irritability, anxiety or disconnection from reality. Watch out for these symptoms, because you can end up with serious and permanent disorders.
- You neglect family and friends, even going to violence and lies to defend your addiction.
- You feel guilty when you identify some of these symptoms, but you continue with the addiction to this game, going out to play, then feeling bad about it.
- You spend more money than necessary in the course of the game, since with real money you can buy objects that make it easier to catch pokémon.
Method 2 of 5: Find Help
Step 1. Determine if you need it
If you find that the situation is getting out of hand, if you cannot continue on your own in your breakup with Pokémon Go, you may need someone to help.
Acknowledging it is the first step to overcoming it, don't be afraid of not being strong enough. Overcoming a problem is always more difficult alone
Step 2. Seek help from your environment
Lean on your closest family and friends if you notice that your passion for Pokémon Go becomes more of an obsession than a hobby, they will help you change your habits.
Your loved ones will be able to see problems more easily from the outside, and with this, propose solutions that you yourself have not been able to see
Step 3. Seek professional help
If you notice that your case has increasingly serious consequences, in which you cannot by yourself or with the help of your environment stop using the game. You may need help from psychology professionals.
- Currently there are many centers that treat these problems in children, youth and adults.
- It is not a strange problem, that shame or fear does not prevent you from going to these specialized care centers, with experts who will adequately direct your recovery.
Method 3 of 5: Go back to your routine as an adult
Step 1. You must be aware of your age
You cannot allow a beloved game from your childhood to condition your adult life to the point of changing it. This game will bring back memories of your youth and that can give you a false sense of freedom.
- Enjoy the game responsibly and don't neglect your obligations.
- Find out, document yourself. Take posting advice from professionals.
Step 2. Prioritize your daily needs
Sleep the necessary number of hours a day (minimum 8), and spend more time than you currently do in fixing your appearance and your house.
- Always finish all your tasks before you start playing.
- Do not neglect any detail of your home or your work.
- Always finish any outstanding obligations before playing.
Step 3. Cultivate personal relationships
Both your friends and your family members. We are social beings who need the company of others, do not underestimate the power of the support that others can provide you. You're not alone.
- Suggest activities that you can do together: replace an addiction with the love of your loved ones and good memories.
- Take lots of pictures, that will always remind you of those plans and you will want to go out more.
Step 4. Make a list of pros and cons
Evaluate the good and the bad that this game brings you. It is a way to visualize in a simple, fast and very graphic way the positive and negative points of an activity.
- If the cons win, get rid of anything that is disturbing your daily activities.
- Stick with the pros. Restrict its use for example to when you go out to do sports or walk.
Step 5. Keep track of how long you play
Whether it is daily, monthly or weekly, you are investing in this game. Turn the situation around. When you realize how much time you are wasting on Pokémon Go:
- Think that at that time you could be learning a new language, painting or playing an instrument.
- Sign up for an activity that suits your tastes and in which you invest that time in something constructive, until you see that obsession with the game disappear.
Method 4 of 5: Go back to your routine as a youngster or child
Step 1. Stay a kid
If you are in this age group, your mind is still developing. Anything that harms you can condition your future and end with consequences that you do not want for your adult life.
- Think about what kind of life you want when you grow up. Make a long-term plan and the steps you should take to achieve your dreams.
- Read, search the internet and see how other children and young people have overcome it. There are hundreds of publications that address these addictions.
Step 2. Have the help of your parents
The best thing is to limit your playing hours. Play as a reward for finishing your task or fulfilling an assignment.
But not only them: you must control yourself, do not forget that it is a game and not a necessity
Step 3. Stick with the good stuff
Pokémon Go promotes physical activity for the goals it has for kilometers walked. Take it as a way to play sports and hang out with your friends.
- Try to make it a social game, which is one more fun that you share with your friends, but not the only one.
- Join an after-school activity that you like and spend time together without playing Pokémon.
Step 4. Stay encouraged
Do not make your mood and your self-esteem depend on the goals you achieve, always keep in mind that it is a game. Control yourself by talking to the people around you.
- Avoid frustrations and depressions.
- Listen to music that you like to cheer yourself up.
Step 5. Go to bed early
Go to bed at a good time and leave the phone with your parents so you don't relapse. Let them keep your phone safely in their room, so you can't find it easily.
- It is essential that your sleep schedule is appropriate for your age.
- Always 12 hours for school-age children up to 8 years old, 10 hours until 12, and a minimum of 8 hours for young people.
Method 5 of 5: get over it
Step 1. Overcome the addiction
Become aware of your addiction, and after having asked for help (in your own environment or turning to professionals) or following the steps yourself to overcome it according to your age, continue normally with your activities.
- Do the activities appropriate to your age, whether you are a child, youth or adult.
- Gambling addiction is not something that should stop your life, overcoming it is essential if you want to move on and be a balanced person.
Step 2. Seek the support of your loved ones
Committing to your family and friends to recover your normal habits and to include new and better habits for you is important, since with their help it will be much more difficult for you to relapse.
Lean on them, they will help you every day to see your progress. Without you realizing it, to eliminate from yourself that feeling of dependence on hunting pokémon
Step 3. Find new hobbies
These will allow you to replace that anxiety. They should be healthy hobbies that help maintain both your physical and mental health. Continue with them until that dependency disappears:
- Do exercise. Either on your own or with a personal trainer / gym. Exercising the body clears the mind and invests our efforts in results that will make you look and feel better.
- Get cultured. Join courses in which you enhance your skills and creativity, listen to music, audiobooks, read, paint, draw, learn to weave, sculpt in clay, etc.
- Apply to your work or studies. consult tools that make you improve in your area of work or study. Go to after-school classes or sign up for a seminar.
Advice
- Social networks have echoed the problems caused by this game, many twitter accounts (such as emergencies in the Community of Madrid or the National Police itself) issue safety advice to their followers.
- There are many specialized centers for video game addicts, both in Spain and in any country in Latin America. It is not an isolated problem, there are many cases, so you should not be afraid to ask for help.
Warnings
- There have been cases of thieves who put bait modules in poképaradas to rob those who go there and rob them: take into account your own safety and do not go to potentially dangerous places at night.
- Beware of accidents: do not prevent your addiction from looking where you are walking, you can be injured driving your car, falling or being hit as a pedestrian.
- Avoid problems with others (when conquering gyms, getting stung to get more pokémon than your friends, etc).