Overcoming My Reddit Addiction

How constantly consuming Reddit content messed up my life & how I got it back in order.

Because of those answers, and my Reddit search for answers, I became a hypochondric, anti-social, lonely and anxious person and I would later find out that those "traits" were shared amongst most of the users who's comments I was religiously reading. I was becoming them.

I've been around computers and the internet for about 25 years, since the age of 2, believe it or not. And I was always the first adopter for new and shiny things. I've had a personal blog at the age of 8, I've navigated through online forums at the age of 9, and created my Facebook profile at the age of 12. Yes, I've had MySpace as well.

Everything was shiny and, back then, living on those platforms wasn't considered an addiction, but being "hip".

One of my childhood friends was hooked on Reddit and always seemed intellectual with his world views, general life tips & tricks and fun facts. It was clear that he was getting most of those from Reddit and I wanted to become like him. I wanted to leapfrog consuming knowledge via traditional methods and head straight to knowing the facts by consuming Reddit content, but I couldn't. Reddit just wouldn't click. Until it did.

Entering the Echo Chamber

The first few months on Reddit were like a dream. I managed to find funny memes, interesting facts and most importantly, stellar buying advice. Reddit, if it was good at one thing back then, it was purchasing advice. Google would give you a bunch of sponsored ads, whereas Reddit would give you first-hand experiences from the products users. Days went by and I've felt more and more happy with using Reddit, it had all the answers I needed.

Enter a virus that took over the world. A time known for isolation, TikTok and anxiety. And a lack of toilet paper rolls 🧻

We are all clueless. Will it kill us? Will it kill our parents? Should I be touching door knobs? Is food delivery safe? The list goes on. And this is where the echo chamber comes in because, luckily, I know just the right place where to get all the answers.

A big disclaimer before I move onto the next paragraph:** a lot of people were hit harder by the virus than I was, they might've lost their loved ones, their jobs, and so on but I will not be focusing on that. I'll be focusing on losing myself.

During peak virus-times, no one had answers to the never-ending stream of questions that I've had, except Reddit. If you've been active on the viruses subreddits back then, you might've realized a common pattern of comments related to virus posts that went along the lines of:

• “DO NOT visit your parents because you might have the virus and YOU COULD HARM THEM"

• “DO NOT be irresponsible and meet friends because they COULD HAVE THE VIRUS"

• “Leave your job if your boss wants you coming into the office!”

• ... and the list goes on.

And, since those were the only answers I could find, I listened to them. Surely they had to be right when so many people agreed with them. Well, yes and no.

Because of those answers, and my Reddit search for answers, I became a hypochondric, anti-social, lonely and anxious person and I would later find out that those "traits" were shared amongst most of the users who's comments I was religiously reading. I was becoming them.

Recognizing the Problem

Now that suffering from Reddit addiction, I started spending more and more time getting answers from different subreddits. It had gotten to the point where I was looking for relationship advice, health advice, even "Is it normal to pee at 3 in the morning"-type of questions to... validate myself. To see if I was "normal". It was like being a puppet, and the puppeteers were random Reddit users.

Everyone started noticing that I wasn't the person I used to be; my friends, family, girlfriend and even myself. It became obvious that things are going south. The cherry on top? I become agoraphobic, another trait shared by the users whose comments I was reading.

Solving the Problem

I'll make the solution short and concise. I've tried deleting the Reddit app and adding browser restrictions on my phone, I tried switching to a "dumbphone", I tried adding Reddit to the hosts file on my laptop to prevent my browser from opening it but nothing helped.

Two things did help though and those were therapy and, in my case, more importantly, this exercise:

Anytime you find yourself reading someone's comment, whether it's because you are looking to learn something or you are looking for advice, do some research on the person behind the comment. Open their profile, try to analyze them and try to create a mental image of them in your head. Now try and imagine that person sitting next to you in a cafe, or on your own couch. Would you still be listening to their advice?

When I did that exercise, in 99% of the cases I was blown away by my findings. It even got to a point where I was taking weight-loss advice from a 15 year old diabetic, obese and gaming-addicted kid.

And keep in mind, the exercise is not just applicable for Reddit, you can use it with Instagram and other social networks as well.

Final Words

I hope that my thoughts poured on paper were of help to you. This is the first article out of many more to come where I’ll do my best to document how I overcame 21st century problems that destroyed me in a very short span of time, with the ultimate goal of helping 1 million souls.

Till next time! ✌️

P.S. If you want to send me a message, you can reach out at digitopia.blog@proton.me