How to stop gambling

Stop being mentally ill.

you shouldnt

>10-25 bucks almost every evening
Okay, assuming you're spending $17.50 on average, and maybe only 300 days a year, that's $5,250 dollars you're theoretically spending on a video game. Please user, go spend that money or charity or something worth while.

I know

but imagine if I get a knife the night I decided to stop

Yeah, no, jokes aside. You're all completely correct. But, seeing as it's not a serious issue for me, more an annoying one, I don't think gambling addiction therapy or some shit is really needed, so how can I deal with this effectively by myself? I do have the same addictive tendencies in other areas, for example I drink way too much Coke and can't really enjoy a week off work without weed

I descend from alchoholics, I flat out abstain from anything I consider addictive.
Being aware of your tendencies can be a big help since you can realize youre being manipulated and make a conscious decision.
I'm no psychologist, and the only thing that's worked for me is discipline and force of will.

I've only been doing it daily for about two weeks now. Before that it was only about 30 bucks a month. But something changed, the last two weeks I've spent every minute off work in bed, just opening a couple cases every night, eating something and going to bed right away.

I have this problem with FGO, I've spent around $6000 on it. At this point the only surefire way I've found to stop is to say to myself;
>I'm only going to roll for X characters, so I'll save until they come out
I've been pretty good at sticking to it so far, and the last time I went for a specific character I felt disgusted with myself every time I put money into it. I'm still gambling more than I'd like to, but at least it's semi-controlled now. I have the same habit as you, avoiding buying anything big because it's too expensive then wasting my money on this shit and I started off with just wasting money on a few keys for TF2 back when that was a big thing. Oh and try cut contact with anyone you know that also spends money in crates, you don't want to end up comparing yourself to other people because that'll just drive your competitive instincts and you'll spend more.

>abstain from anything I consider addictive

From knowing my family, I consider everything addictive given the right circumstance. My grandparents are addicted to eating copious amounts of meat, mayo and butter. My dad is addicted to taking unnecessary risks and gets in accidents a lot. My mom is addicted to her victim role and hasn't quit her job even after 15 years of being on the verge of tears every day after work.

So how do I live life knowing that my weak ass bitch brain is desperately trying to use any sort of routine in my life as a crutch to feel comfort? Like, I'd get addicted to eating cashew nuts if I ever got into a situation where I felt bad and cashews cheered me up, I'd be chasing that feeling immediately

well it might help if you start by not looking at a genetic predisposition as a "weakass bitch brain"

One should be aware of their weaknesses, lord knows everyone has some. And now that you know your weaknesses you can guard against them. the cashew nuts thing just feels like a Pavlovian response.
If this is seriously affecting you in that you cannot find ways to spend your leisure times that you enjoy you may have more serious, underlining issues you need to deal with and seeking professional help would be advised.
Personally, I've dedicated myself to living a somewhat stoic life. The standard is the fairly mundane to me but the goal is to maintain consistent standards. Luxury indulges are just that, luxuries and rare exceptions.
There's nothing wrong with routine, the important bit I think you need in your life now is to find something you enjoy doing that doesnt involve gambling. Personally I've started doing HEMA, a full contact sport where improvement is very noticable and enjoyable. Maybe you could consider a form of exercise, art, literature, etc as a way of spending your leisure time? The important part is to find something you enjoy, not that its nessecarily productive. This is your leisure time after all.

simply tweak it so you become addicted to watchfully dodging and forestalling addictive behaviors. get high on that success.

Yeah, you know, right now I'm obviously spending too much, but I think if a person can control themselves, buying a loot box from time to time isn't a problem. I don't buy many other video games, so I don't see the harm in spending a few bucks.
But there's always the guilt that comes with it because there are a million better ways to spend it.
A couple weeks ago I saw an amazing porcelain Meißen mug and I love buying more luxurious items to hold dear rather than buy cheaper expendable ones, but I didn't buy it. Same with the keyboard.

Look at this cup though. lit af

Attached: 011079-15580-1_01.png (536x358, 189K)

I've actually seen 5-6 psychologists but after about 10-15 sessions I quit because they all tell me similar, useless stuff. Out of those 6, 4 started out with the same story about the circus elephant on the tiny chain. Then they all had me do a weekly schedule to fill my spare time more effectively. But what's the point when my problem begins much earlier? I don't need to be told to do a schedule. I know how to fill my time well, I'm not a child. Problem is, I don't do it. Same with the schedule I was told to make. I do it, it looks neat and tidy and then, day after day, I don't do the things that are on it. But to that they never have an answer. They only ever know to tell me to make a schedule, never what to do if I just lie to myself afterwards.

I've been through the same experience myself, actually. Psychologists can be very hit or miss, yeah.
I made my desktop into an image of my schedule, I printed it out and put it on my door. I have sparring classes every friday, the latter in particular really helps ancor me to my schedule because its something I really really enjoy doing and I dont want to miss it because I oversleep or fuck up my responsibilities elsewhere or something like that.
The first step with adapting to a schedule is a willingness to follow it. What helped me was some philosophical reading about the nature of civilized man and stoicism, and having a hobby that I just really enjoy. Like I said before, I think your best course of action is to change your hobby. If gambling in CS:GO is the only vidya you even engage with anymore, you arent a vidya fan, youre a gambling fan. And that isnt much of a hobby.
Try a buncha new things, try meeting up with people, join different clubs or communities and just see if there's stuff out there that you enjoy. I highly recommend looking for a local HEMA club. But that's my personal taste.

I won't be able to do any sports, I'm afraid. I'm a bit of a retard, physically.
Apart from that, the point you make about having something you look forward to and then just spending the rest of the week making sure that one moment happens each week is a pretty good idea. Sadly, I have no idea what that could be for me. I've done everything from WH40K to wood carving and I have about ten square meters filled with books, but none of that can hook me as a real hobby. Again, anything physically demanding isn't possible.

Buy Killer 7 instead.

I'm from a family of alcoholics as well, but I've never been addicted to a video game or microtransactions. I bought a welcome pack for some chinkshit MMO I cant remember the name of and I wanted to die.

I'm not interested in pushing my luck with weedahol anyway.

Being descendent from addicts makes you predisposed to addiction, it isnt a certainty just an increased likelyhood.

To my experience in HEMA nobody starting out was capable of really using their upper and lower body indeppendently, now a few members myself included compete in small level tournaments. We all started out a bit physically retarded, if you mean it in that sense.
Have you considered making your own content? drawing, making videos for youtube, amateur films, music, etc?

>pushing my luck with weedahol

But how are you supposed to know you're pushing your luck when you're a kid? I started drinking and smoking weed almost a decade before I became lucid enough to reflect on why I was feeling so compelled to do it, while everyone else was just treating it as a "fun if it's possible but if we don't have weed we'll still have fun" kinda thing?

And, if you do abstain, how do you cope with being sober all the time? I can easily do a couple weeks when some project at work is happening or something else important is going on, but when it's over and I have a weekend or week off to relax I would go insane if I couldn't take my brain offline for a few days.

You have to be a stupid faggot or a literal child to want to buy a hat in a video game.

Nah man, I mean I'm actually disabled. Doesn't matter, though, I remember hating sports even back when I wasn't. It just means that whatever hobby I do has to be something not physically demanding.

I do have a piano and try to make beats sometimes, but that's another thing I can't do without being drunk or high because otherwise I just don't feel creative in the slightest. I'm basically a robot when I'm sober.

I feel like I'm getting off topic though. I actually have managed to not spend the 25 bucks yet. On the other hand, now that the money is in my Steam wallet, it's completely useless to me and I might as well drain it on keys. Still having a debate with myself.

but spinny wheel go takatakataka and then stop and sometimes, grug get special rock. work like rock, but look like toy rock and not everybody has. grug like kill with special rock

Do the dollar per hour thing. A $60 game should give you 60+ hours of entertainment, or, a $10 battle pass should give you 10+ hours of entertainment. Spending money on lootboxes or skins you don’t really care about in any game is a waste. If you really want something justify the purchase by itself.

Well, I have about 1k hours played on CS:GO, so I guess the one dollar per hour ratio works out fine.
And I do really want some cool skins. Most are ugly and unnecessary but it does feel nice to shit on someone with a shiny orange garbage truck looking M4 with a sticker of the Major that was in my city on it. I have to admit I'm a sucker for that. It tickles the same part of my nutsack that Pacific Rim tickled.

Spend it on a single player game with no microtransactions. Do you ever play other games or is it literally just cs? Hollow Knight was great if you somehow missed that, some of my other favorites are Terraria and xcom (new or old). The walking dead season one was great, skip the rest honestly. Lots of good games out there to play, no reason not to try some since you can just refund before two hours.

Buying lootboxes is a problem because you're getting horrible value for your money. That you'd spend your money on teacups or some other shit goes to show how your spending habits are in a horrible spot

The trick to turning this shit around is presence of mind, and anger.

Stop being mopey about whatever your failing is and get pissy at the actual results. You ARE your own worst enemy.

Next time you think of caving and falling into whatever trap you usually do, have the presence of mind to remember how you felt last time.

I used to be a slob until I finally got real fucking annoyed at the clutter and now whenever I walk away from my desk I remember to grab any garbage or glasses or bottles on it to bring with me.

You've got to make it so that falling into the trap is infinitely more bothersome than forcing yourself to walk around it, then just make sure you remember that plus-minus whenever you find the next one.

Presence of mind is literally the best life skill you can get. I can be black-out fucking drunk and I'll still remember to drink a litter and a half of water before bed. I had AND WILL HAVE a hangover once.

is it really that easy to snap your own neck?

Yeah, careful. Might do it in your sleep. Happens all the time. I band my head in place on my bed to stop this.

This, I had a similar problem with gotcha games. Just quitting them cold turkey and entirely is your best option

I'm not interested in other games anymore. I only play CS because the mechanics are still tight and the gameplay is 100% of the game. I can't be bothered to listen to even a single line of dialogue in a video game anymore, it's all trash to me. Again, with CS, I just get mechanics and gameplay and a bit of competition. The spectacle and gaudy shit I get from loot boxes and then I'm satisfied.

I guess there are some games that are not CS which meet those criteria, like Risk of Rain or Hollow Knight, as you said, but I've also started hating any hint of a bing bing wahoo feel in video games, so I can't stand those either. They're too video gamey. I should just fucking sell my PC and old consoles and get some fucking tablet to watch Netflix on and finally cave in to being a pure robot. Maybe when I'm 50 I'll be wealthy enough to start enjoying something again.

My man that cup is an investment AND it looks good. Did you ever feel real porcelain? Ever see how fucking WHITE and shiny it is? You're a fool if you don't worship porcelain when you come across it. It's man-made gold.

Yeah, that's good advice. That's how I learned to stop calling in sick for work when I was 19. Just kept reminding myself that calling them in the morning, having an awkward talk, waiting at the doctor's office for a sick note, mailing that note to them and then having to make up the work the next day wasn't worth the four hours of free time I got out of it.