The Patience Path to Beating Addiction
Dopamine is your enemy-friend.
My allergy attacks are like an unpredictable symphony of sneezes, each adding to the cacophony.
Not even the strongest antihistamines — cetirizine, levocetirizine, fexofenadine, or montelukast — could halt the tidal wave of my sneezes.
There was only one thing that could stop it: indulging in something that releases the highest level of dopamine.
For me, that was playing CALL OF DUTY.
My iPad began downloading, and I got lost in the game, like entering a different realm.
I stayed in that realm for the next three days.
Playing Call of Duty blurs the lines between fantasy and reality, making the people around me seem like targets in the game.
I have clocked over 25 hours of playing that game in the last 72 hours. That is more than 50% of my awake time.
This is addiction.
Dopamine
For those who don’t know what dopamine is:
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays key roles in reward, motivation, pleasure, motor control, and regulating mood and cognitive functions in the brain.
What many don’t realize is that maintaining the right level of dopamine in the body is crucial.
A lack of dopamine can lead to Parkinson’s disease or depression. Too much can lead to schizophrenia.
In simple terms, dopamine is beneficial until it starts negatively affecting one or more of these aspects of your life:
- Work
- Health
- Relationships
Playing Call of Duty for 8+ hours a day impacts all of these aspects negatively.
Patience
What should be done? The answer is simple and trending:
DOPAMINE DETOX.
There are many ways to do this, some of which include:
- Identifying triggers
- Setting boundaries
- Creating a schedule
And none of these work.
All this advice is like a leaky umbrella in a storm — it promises shelter but leaves you drenched and unprotected.
I know this because I have successfully quit smoking, and none of these worked for me.
What worked?
Patience.
I tried multiple times before finally quitting smoking in 2023.
Patience tells your subconscious mind to be ready for it, and when the mind is prepared, you can finally quit.
We often feel that we stopped the addiction in one day due to our strong minds and determination. The reality is that you showed patience before finally quitting. You prepared yourself with patience, hence the result.
So, if you cannot quit something right now, don’t force yourself. Just train your mind patiently.
Keep trying.
“Our patience will achieve more than our force.” ~ Edmund Burke
I strongly believe in this quote and have experienced its truth firsthand.
Everywhere I look online, there’s advice about pushing and making things happen, but hardly anyone speaks about the power of patience and waiting.
Not everyone can have a strong mindset like David Goggins.
I’m prepared to enjoy my game without pressuring myself to quit. Instead, I’ll stay mindful of its negative impacts on my life, and one day soon, I’ll choose to delete it for good.
🎮
