Serious: D&D Addiction

[Emerikol]

If you are neglecting family time, or you are spending your rent money or grocery money to buy D&D stuff, then yeah you got a problem. Being enthusiastic about something though is not an addiction. Addicts throw away everything else in pursuit of the next hit. If you are cancelling dates with your girlfriend or breaking promises to your child, then it's a problem. Hopefully my examples will help you decide if you are just a really enthusiastic hobbiest or a true addict.

 

[GnomeWorks]

What an awkward necro.

If someone had been born the day I first posted in this thread, they would now be older than I was when I made that post.

TTRPGs are an engaging hobby because they engage a lot of different ways of thinking and being creative at once, and I'm be hard pressed to name another activity that has a similar mix. While there are certainly dangers associated with engaging with fantasy too much or in lieu of other activities, there are certainly worse hobbies and vices to delve into. It would take much more extreme behavior for me to think that someone has gone too far with elfgames than, say, gambling.

To this day I spend a significant amount of my free time dealing with TTRPGs. From prepping for sessions, to worldbuilding, to actually running the game. But I have a full time job, maintain a (admittedly minimal) social network, and engage in other hobbies. It doesn't consume my life and I can easily talk and relate to people who don't game, which I think is an indicator of a healthy relationship with the hobby.

 

[MNblockhead]

Glad to hear from you and that your still engaged with the hobby in a healthy way. My way to balance things out back in the day was to ditch the hobby for a couple decades. Not so much because I felt the hobby was becoming a problem but more because other interests and demands took over my attention and I found myself in different social groups outside of the gaming community. Glad I found my way back.

 

[Deset Gled]

If you are neglecting family time, or you are spending your rent money or grocery money to buy D&D stuff, then yeah you got a problem. Being enthusiastic about something though is not an addiction. Addicts throw away everything else in pursuit of the next hit. If you are cancelling dates with your girlfriend or breaking promises to your child, then it's a problem. Hopefully my examples will help you decide if you are just a really enthusiastic hobbiest or a true addict.

I think it's worth mentioning that COVID quarantine could make the situation harder to identify. This time last year, I would have said that if more of your social interaction are through Roll20 than actually talking to people, you may have a problem. Today, if your social groups use D&D as a method of keeping in touch, the same number of Roll20 hours may be healthier (mentally) than the alternative of being extremely reclusive. Also, many people are dealing with the problem of how to separate themselves from the people they live with while staying at home (i.e. getting "me time" when you can't get out). This is a situation where using D&D to hide from your family would have been seen as unhealthy in The Before Time, but is now part of a mental health strategy.

I guess what I'm saying here is that context is everything, and COVID sucks.

 

[jayoungr]

How long have you been playing? I think most of us go through a phase in any newish hobby where it takes over and completely dominates our thoughts for a while. It usually ebbs and flows after that.

 

[aramis erak]

It's only a problem if it's interfering with work, school, church, and/or family obligations and/or performance.