The canary in the coalmine was a warning system early on in which if a bird was going to die (due to lack of oxygen or toxic fumes) then everyone should get out.

So for a few years i've felt fatigue over things i shouldn't. I'm fatigued over WoW, but never played it more than a few hours back in 2005. I'm fatigued over FPS games, call of duty, Farcry, and other games. And then Overwatch which I haven't touched but it feels like i've played it a thousand hours.

Many times it's difficult to play a game for more than 30 minutes before shutting it off, and when i can find a game i can play i'll play it until i beat it or can't stand it anymore. And some games (like Morrowind) i can't start up again

So does anyone else feel like this? Am i just feeling the overwhelming fatigue of everyone else is having, the summed up experiences of the population in general?

Or maybe it's all in my head...

Maybe both.

My suggestion is to ask yourself if only video games are taking a hit, or if other things in your life are, too. It seems strange that one would randomly only be able to play a game for like 30 minutes. I'm guessing something in real life has you a bit stressed.

Stressed would be a word for it. I've been on (and off) meds, had lower physical and emotional energy. Change of diet and location does appear to have helped a bit (i have beaten like 4 games recently).

But i feel like there's something else i should be doing. Antsy/Restless in a way.

I feel like there's a direction things are moving; And having a digital fatigue i wonder if the concentration of mobile phones internet and games are going to take a back burner for a while...

If you feel like you have something important to do, you will definitely abandon all your hobbies. I imagine there really is something. However, we can't rule out the meds. If you don't mind, knowing what they were might be useful. I've seen meds have strange, strange effects on people. Nikolas Cruz was just getting off his ADHD meds when he shot up the school, and I remember when i was getting off ADHD meds i threatened to kill myself and others. Meds can do weird things to you, but goal seeking is not one i've heard of before, but i'm more experienced with people with autism spectrum disorders.

By "fatigue", do you mean a physical fatigue ? Or do you find games just boring and not entertaining ?

it has to do with age.

videogames are more of an attraction to the younger mind as well as the younger brain.

some people are more resilient against this than others. you could try playing a genre that you don't play, but you will have to power through an adjustment period which will see you not engaged by the game for many of the same reasons that are causing you to lose interest as a whole.

you could also try getting in better shape. being in better shape will give you more energy and increase your mood which will suit playing a game.

or you could just do something else.

SSRI's are dangerous, although i'm not sure if the exact medications Cruz was on has been released yet, though hearing from interviews they are the heaviest link for most mass shootings.

I think we can rule out medications, i've been clean for 3-4 years. I was on Buproprion (the only one i can name off the top of my head), which worked for a year or two; When they stopped being effective it took about 2 years to fully get over them going cold turkey (low energy and otherwise life was a blur).

Though commenting on autism, i do have Asperger's (not clinically diagnosed but it's easy enough to figure out). Pretty much emotional fatigue... Good points. But i think it's more than just age.

And i am doing other things, i've picked up fermenting, bushcraft, and soon when i can it will be gardening.

Getting in shape is a good suggestion. The hardest part is just getting started. multiple times for 3+ months i've worked out and gotten to a good spot, then it flounders. A little motivation could keep it going a lot longer.

I was on Ritalin, which is not classified as an SSRI, iirc. Given what you say next, i'm going to go out on a limb and say you were clinically diagnosed with depression. I've found that individuals (and this happens most often with females) who have an undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder in their early childhood end up being diagnosed with depression in their teens. Asperger's is one of many, many autism spectrum disorders, which are hard to diagnose separately. IMO, it's not really important to do so, though. Some of the unofficial symptoms make it a bit clear what goes on. Have you ever had your hormone levels checked?

I must ask you, right now, for safety purposes, what you think of hedonism and nihilism. That's a special challenge all on it's own. 48 hours for cardio to begin atrophy, iirc.

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I think it was 'severe chronic depression' by the doctor, yes. This was back in 2006-ish, and i've been depressed 2/3rds of my life. When my blood is tested at the VA they more or less come out normal. But i'm guessing it would be specialized tests. Now i need to look up what those mean so i can answer...

Hedonism: Much like Socialism and Communism (in that they sound good on paper but when implemented fails), it probably won't work and is ultimately self destructive in the end. In short i'd say it's a pointless direction to push for. Enjoyable in short bursts maybe, but not a lifestyle.

Nihilism: Hard to say. Being autistic i feel few emotions (but those i do feel, ripples are like waves, and waves are like tsunamis), as such i try to take things logically and i go towards the philosophy of going for optimal results and being balanced. While difficult sometimes to find meaning, some things are far more meaningful than others. Holding someone's hand can be deeply intimate, personable and emotional, for example. On the other hand things that seem to have no useful purpose i do reject.

What drives me nuts about mental disorder diagnoses are that they are, out of necessity, unscientific. The domain of mental disorders is defined by the DSM, which is an entirely democratic process, with no empirical evidence to verify any conditions. That's not to say there aren't actual issues, but the moment there is any empirical evidence for an issue, it's reclassified as an issue of definition of the source of empirical evidence (IE: downsyndrome was a mental disorder until they were able to classify it as genetic).

As a result, medications tend to be very, very dangerous, especially as their full effects are often unknown and their usage in treatment is little more than an educated guess. They test for some hormones, but rarely give a full panel. I'm looking for testosterone in particular. How old are you? Testosterone falls to it's lowest around 28 years of age. While testosterone is a primary motivator in males, if you're passed 28, it's also possible that you're particularly worried about your biological clock. I am assuming you're male, so it would seem likely that females around you with biological clock issues (or perhaps family members getting on your case for not being married, yet) could be the primary source. But, that's just a very, very wild guess. I think you misunderstood them. To break it down, hedonism is the constant pursuit of that which makes you happy or entertains you. For males, today, this often manifests as drinking alcohol and/or video games on a very, very regular basis, to the point that it interferes with life.

Nihilism is the belief that very little you do will actually matter in the long run.

The combination is obviously dangerous. Hedonism, especially where lots of sex is involved, often requires adoption of nihilism "to excuse oneself to oneself." For example, if you're religious, you feel very guilty very quickly about your hedonism. This is where religious people incorrectly assume that all atheists are so, because "they don't want to answer to God." This is particularly true of hedonism induced nihilism, but not atheism. The problem is, hedonism without nihilism induces guilt, therefore to avoid guilt, alot of hedonists loose their religion (if they have one), and then adopt nihilism. The challenge of nihilism, though, is that if nothing in life matters, then you adopt a totally hedonist life style. However, what happens when "nothing you do will matter in the future," and "I'm not enjoying life" (basically, you end up with nihilism without hedonism)? Let's just say I've had alot of people tell me that they've had "scary thoughts." I've seen alot of people execute these "scary thoughts," which is why I have to ask for safety.

Testosterone was more or less the right amount when i went over with the doctor, but that was some years ago. As i'm 35, well... Safe to say my levels are probably slowly decreasing.

Going off the basic descriptions in the top 2 paragraphs of each one, i could easily be missing larger aspects of them, yes.

I tend to pursue what interests me in the moment and trying not to be bored... Though that does interfere with life to an extent.

I see...

Gotcha. Well i wouldn't call myself Nihilistic or Hedonistic. I generally do what i have to out of necessity until better options are available.

Not to say i haven't had 'scary thoughts' although most of them when i was in my teens, and a raise in morale/emotional stability dealt with those.

Yeah, so testosterone is probably not the cause. Even my explanations are overly simplified. Looks like we got a ringer. This is likely a major part of the problem. You subconsciously understand that the video games are an escape not just for life's problems, but problems that you know you are running out of time on solving. So you haven't reached the point of nihilism. If games are interfering with your life, you are definitely at least dabbling in hedonism. There are things you're putting off. As usual.

I noticed you didn't address the comment about my wild guess. So, if not that (which i'm still not ruling out), career decisions are probably on the list, too. It really does sound like you're procrastinating about something, and you can't enjoy the games, because your mind knows better and knows that you're running out of time on something. I'm predicting that what you're avoiding is also likely out of fear of some sort of rejection, which would return you to the scary thoughts as your morale fell.

I have to get to bed, but i'll check back for a reply after i'm done working out, which i do shortly after getting up.

Perhaps. I know i'll be playing a game, and then i'll pause and ask 'what the hell am i doing?'. Just feels like i can't get in the zone as well, or maybe as you say, it feels like i should be solving other problems.

I'd be lying if i said i wasn't lazy. And the OCD feeling of trying to be optimal is stimulated in games.

Hmm? glancing back i am not sure what you are referring to.

Career choices would be easier if there were jobs. I've put in applications and gotten no replies. And what i'm good at (programming & computer tech) there aren't a lot of openings, and there's LOTS of extra programmers who are more experienced than me so that doesn't work well (Microsoft a few years back let go 30,000 programmers at once...).

Certainly there's procrastination unfortunately. But getting past the BS is more annoying. When i went to get into a welding class the big intro course they wanted me to take before they'd even let me fill out an application involved a bunch of BS. 51% of the campus were male, 34% were full time, 60% were white... I wanted to yell SHUT THE F*** UP! ALL I WANT IS A WELDING COURSE! but no.... So i didn't end up with welding even though i wanted it.

Certainly there's fear or rejection, but that isn't why my morale falls. I need a companion/lover, and i can't seem to find one. So while looking and never finding, my emotional state hovers just at the line of neutral... which is a f*** all state not allowing me to progress, but just high enough to not consider other permanent solutions to 'temporary' problems.

EDIT: Interesting... 'fuck' for some reason was breaking my post... hmmm...

Almost like this, sometimes i game a lot sometimes i don't,also i like to watch some otomads from anime or other otomads. In gaming FPS i really can't stand the regular games like call of duty or far cry like you mentioned but i can enjoy stalker games much more and what i really enjoyed and beaten was return to castle wolfenstein, Morrowind i never properly played it enough since i always go back to breaks, last time i played it a couple of weeks ago i was only training my character for endurance speed and strenght by choosing the weakest weapons with the weakest attack and weak enemies simply healing myself and the enemy to keep on training got kinda repetitive also i did finish the balmora mage guild.
I am always trying new games, but mostly i seem to activly play rpg maker games since i found them more interesting then most of games i played since some creators made really great games for it and even for free.
Currently i mostly play carmageddon max pack, total overdose (this one with breaks) pro pinball big race usa for when i don't know or feel like playing anything too much comitting.
Zeus and poseidon i need to continue but i have beaten the zeus adventures except one extra adventure which is a bonus for zeus so poseidon needs to be played but currently on break.
Got kinda tired playing rollercoaster tycoon 2 triple thrill pack since i found rct 1 deluxe to be a lot more interesting in scenarios,but i will return and beat the challenging scenarios and then the expert ones and i will be done with this game.
Most of my games are actually strategy, rpg and very few racing games but i am playing flatout 2 until i finish it now i am having trouble beating the last few cups because of RWD it's hard to drive since i mostly played with 4WD and simply put it on a break.Carmageddon max pack though i am playing pretty much and am at rank 44 so i will probably beat this one.