I am 100% giga addicted to collection with no doubt in my mind that I need to fix this issue. Every week on Thursday I’m on Goldin, Sunday PWCC, and then while working when I’m bored I am looking at eBay ending soon auctions to see if I can snipe anything that end at odd times (Have gotten a ton of POGGER deals). My addiction isn’t necessarily financially affecting me, but I could have made better financial choices and used my time elsewhere than buying more cards.
How do you all deal with your Pokémon Addictions?
My Action: I have taken advice from E4 Discord Members and will be attending my first therapy session this Sunday with my fiancée to talk about my Pokémon addiction and I am honestly not looking forward to it.
Honesty is the best policy, so good on you for doing the therapy. Will it be pleasant? Probably not, but it will be way better than keeping it in.
Something I have done that has scratched that itch for me is making an excel spreadsheet full of my “dream collection” and “would be” buys, and i track how they are doing market wise. For example, i had a theory rainbows were going to make a comeback once they stopped making them. So, I took note of a few rainbow cards I thought had some potential (Rainbow FA Waifus and the like), tracked their market price as of that day, added a little photo of each, and how much I WOULD have bought if i had all the disposable income in the world. Then, every time i had an itch to buy, I would check their current market price and see how my “investments” were doing and log it in the excel sheet.
What I found was, owning cards is fun, but that is like 10% of the hobby. Once I had it, while I loved and cherished them, they didnt suddenly fill up my time. My time was still being filled by research and speculation and craving for more. By doing this, I could actively engage in my hobby without letting it destroy my pocketbook. Plus, when the time came where I did have some extra cash, I could make smarter choices as opposed to my normal “buy everything right now FOMO” mindset.
I can post a template in future if this is something people would like for themselves
Thanks for the response! Yeah honestly, I enjoy the journey more than the end result tbh. I think it will further my addiction if I made an excel sheet, but appreciate the sentiment!!!
Good for you that you can recognize a potential addiction/habit and want to better yourself. Everyone has a vice, many people with multiple. I see a life therapist once a month for years now. She literally has become a friend as you end up speaking to her about everything in your life on a consistent basis. I vent about my family, friends, job, goals, personal problems, relationships and it’s great to hear a third person professionals perspective on situations or feelings.
I’ve been out of the hobby for a couple years and missed out on a lot of newer sets. My feeling is to buy them quickly before the price goes up but in reality those sets will most likely always be available, just a little more expensive. The more I’m engaged in the hobby and learn about past promos or Pokemon center exclusive boxes etc I want those too. I can’t “catch em all” and honestly it probably wouldn’t be good if I could.
I appreciate you brining this topic up and being open enough to say you’re seeing someone. Seems like you’re on the right track.
The fact that you are doing it, even though you’re not enthusiastic, means that you’re on the road to improving your situation.
If I have something that I think is an addiction, I try to completely cut it off for 2 weeks. Social media, pokemon buying, opening packs, adult addictions (thankfully, I don’t have that problem). If I can’t stop, I will talk about it with someone. And often just talking is the biggest thing, so again, props to you for taking that step. Respect.
Good on you for acknowledging your addiction. It’s going to be a long process, and progress may not be linear (filled with ups and downs, relapses). The important thing is that you have insight (i.e., recognizing that there is a problem) and a willingness to address the problem.
One potential roadblock to keep in mind is the concept of cross-addiction or addiction transfer. Essentially, replacing one addiction with another. As you begin to target compulsive behaviors, you may need to rely on your fiancé and others in your social network to keep you accountable and to reduce the risk of transferring your addiction.
In the U.S., we have a national hotline for mental health and substance use referrals (including addiction of any kind): SAMHSA’s National Helpline | SAMHSA
SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357) (also known as the Treatment Referral Routing Service), or TTY: 1-800-487-4889 is a confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information service, in English and Spanish, for individuals and family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders. This service provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups, and community-based organizations.
Yeah tbh there’s just always something new that I want! If I finish a set there is always something more. It gets addicting very fast. Tbh I am happy that this is a better addiction than a drug or alcohol one but I have started taking the next steps to help me. I don’t want to quit collecting, but I do think it is time for me to tone it down a couple notches. Appreciate your reply and sharing your therapy experience <3
Yeah that’s sick! I have started working out and die tint last January to get me away from playing video games. I am still addicted to League of Legends, but now I play it in moderation and hopefully I will fully quit eventually. I want to do this with Pokémon but I don’t want to quit, just need to focus on better things for the time being!
Yeah I honestly keep telling myself I will stop buying cards temporarily, but I still end up buying something :(. I will try to put more effort into building discipline to not buy anything for a good while. I am trying to find some stuff to get me away from Pokémon, but it’s tough because I can just go on eBay while I’m working. But I will do what I can to see if I can relax for now! Thanks for the advice
I’ve mentioned this before but I had to quit all Pokemon content, interaction and purchase/sales for a few months a year or two back, because it just became too much.
I’ve gone through bouts over the years where I realize that “Hey, I’m spending way to much time scrolling through ebay everyday” or “You have been spending way too much time and money doing _______”.
It’s hard to do but i try to leave my phone in my car when I’m at work. Then when I get home from work I’ll leave my phone in the car until the following morning. Rinse and repeat. Planning a date night with your significant other or family time helps to quickly forget that you are doing that with your phone too.
Maybe just try filling up your time more or picking up an additional hobby. I know myself I’ll get more tempted if I spend a lot of time looking at cards. It’s easy to get swayed into yet another card to add to your collection, and it can become easy to justify spending over and over at times.
The past while I’ve gotten back into another hobby to fill up my time after making some big purchases and don’t think I’ll be buying anything until the summer or later now, and I feel better after taking a few weeks off buying anything so far.
I mean yea, luckily money spent on this can be retrieved to a certain extent if I ever quit. TBH I can’t quit and don’t want to quit, I just need to minimize
Pick up an instrument, go hiking, explore parts of your city you never have before; it can all benefit every single person reading I think above all, putting down the phone or simply limiting the interaction or types of interaction you have with Pokemon would be greatly beneficial. If you find yourself mainly focused on the sales/data/browsing side of Pokemon, try reading articles more or making spreadsheets of wish lists for yourself! Engaging with Pokemon does not have to involve finances, although I know you said that’s not the largest impact right now. I don’t think you have to cut out Pokemon for good, just maybe reframe how you look inward to this hobby we all enjoy. And it should be just that; a hobby.
As someone that’s had similar addictions before, I think the best thing you can do is think about why it’s happening in the first place and then try to fix that. I find that addictions are usually because something else in your life is lacking or stressing you out so it’s kind of an outlet. It might be useful to spend some time thinking about if that applies to you. I got addicted to an online crane game during covid lockdown because well I don’t have to explain lol. Once my situation changed I lost interest. And ages ago I had a bad breakup and got addicted to World of Warcraft.
This might be dark but I find thinking about the bigger picture of your life helps, even if that means thinking about your death. Are you spending so much time collecting that you’re not enjoying other possibly more meaningful aspects of life? Would you be proud of the time you spent collecting if you died next week? Is your addiction interfering with your relationship with your loved ones? Just something to think about. Therapy is definitely the right foot forward, I wish you luck!
Set some ground rules to keep yourself accountable. “I can only purchase up to 3 cards for no more than $100 per month.” This may help you moderate without cutting off a real interest/hobby at the knees.
Another idea is to look into psilocybin. They are making huge breakthroughs in addiction, abuse, anxiety and PTSD by using it in conjunction with therapy to rewire new pathways in the brain. “How to change your mind” by Michael Pollan is a great place to start.
I think above all, putting down the phone or simply limiting the interaction or types of interaction you have with Pokemon would be greatly beneficial. If you find yourself mainly focused on the sales/data/browsing side of Pokemon, try reading articles more or making spreadsheets of wish lists for yourself! Engaging with Pokemon does not have to involve finances, although I know you said that’s not the largest impact right now. I don’t think you have to cut out Pokemon for good, just maybe reframe how you look inward to this hobby we all enjoy. And it should be just that; a hobby.