What is a Genshin Addiction? 7 Signs You Have One

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Get real about a Genshin Impact addiction and find ways to beat it

Co-authored by Asa Don Brown, PhD, DNCCM, FAAETS and Madeleine Flamiano

Last Updated: September 11, 2024 Fact Checked

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Signs You Have an Addiction

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Admitting You Have an Addiction

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Overcoming an Addiction

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Has Genshin Impact really transfixed you and taken over your whole life? Are you losing sleep over how to snag Diluc or running out of money buying loot boxes? Have you turned into a “whale”—an avid gamer who runs up a lot of charges on microtransactions—who’s riding the wave for the next big reward? Well, the TikTok community completely understands where you’re at. Here, we’ll unpack a Genshin Impact addiction and even talk about how to cope with it. Jump right in to find out how to handle your obsession.

Things You Should Know

A Genshin Impact addiction might show up in daily activities. For example, you might run to increase stamina or water flowers to turn on the “Bloom” reaction.
If you’re hooked on Genshin Impact, you might try to play it every chance you get, including while you’re on the bus or when you’re eating.
When you open up about a Genshin Impact addiction, you might be forced to acknowledge how much time and money you’ve spent on it.
To overcome a Genshin Impact addiction, try a 90-day video game detox to wean yourself off of tech and get more involved in the real world.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Signs You Have an Addiction

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You’re walking on a treadmill to increase your stamina. In Genshin, there’s a Stamina System that helps with dashing, charged attacks, climbing, gliding, and swimming. To increase your stamina in-game, make treks to oculi. Once you get used to this pattern, you’ll probably slip into the pattern of thinking about journeying to oculi while you’re exercising or taking a daily walk. Hey—at least you’re staying active, right?!^{[1]
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- Since you can also increase in-game stamina by eating food, you might start snacking throughout the day for bursts of energy.
When you combine “Dendro,” a special plant-based element, with “Hydro,” the water element, you enable “Bloom,” an Elemental Reaction that makes an explosive Dendral bomb. Throughout the day, you might hydrate the plants in your house in an attempt to make some earth-based explosives.^{[2]
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“Mats” is short-hand for “materials,” and there’s definitely a whole medley of mats you can collect in Genshin Impact. For instance, you might collect anything from weapons and talismans to masks and bait. You can gather mats to cook, forge materials, furnish your home, or garden. In your everyday life, you might pick up random objects, like books or a pencil, in an effort to fill up your inventory and make a neat gadget or tool.^{[3]
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If you’re super into Genshin Impact, it’ll probably start seeping into your dreams. 50/50 is a really cool toss-up in Genshin Impact because you can’t really lose when it comes to getting more characters in Genshin Impact—either you’ll get a banner character (like Cyno or Yae Miko) or a standard 5-star character (like Jean or Diluc). Since this is such an enticing prospect, when you go to sleep, you might fantasize about snagging one of these coveted characters.
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You make daily commissions and resins part of your routine. Genshin Impact sure knows how to incentivize you to play every day and farm extra exciting goodies! Daily commissions are doled out if you log in to play 4 times a day—you’ll be rewarded with up to 40 primogems. If you go to your guild, you’ll collect 10 primogems on top of that! As for resins, you’ll scoop up these resources when you defeat bosses or overcome challenges.^{[4]
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- Resins will help you access rewards, like Character Ascension Materials and Talent Materials, so they’re great to gather: you can carry up to 120 Resin at a time.
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You have 10/10 balance playing Genshin on the subway or bus. TikTok’s been joking about people who are so addicted to Genshin Impact that they’ve got to sneak in all the play time they can get. When they’re in the car (as a passenger!) or any form of public transportation, they don’t get dizzy—in fact, they’re rooted in place and calm as can be as they fight monsters and collect loot.^{[5]
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- TikTokers also praise “GeForce Now,” a type of software that boosts the performance and aesthetics of Genshin Impact on a mobile phone: it’s so crisp and smooth that it looks just like what you’d see on a gaming PC.^{[6]
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Sure, we all have to eat, but for a real Genshin addict, mealtime is no excuse for skipping boss raids and quests for artifacts. If you’re determined to feed your obsession over Genshin Impact, then you’ll bring your phone to the table and pour all your focus into it. After all, you only need one hand to shovel food into your face, and leveling up your character is way more important.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Admitting You Have an Addiction

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Admit you have an addiction—it's the first step to recovery. On a lot of TikTok videos, people will act like they’re in a support group for Genshin Impact addicts. They’ll make a brave declaration that they’ve got a problem and they’ve finally come to terms with confessing it.^{[7]
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- If you'd like to share your story to the whole world, film a confessional video and upload it on TikTok—fellow gamers can provide you support and solidarity.
The next step is a bit harder, so brace yourself—tell everyone the astronomical amount of time you’ve spent on the game: maybe it’s upwards of 1,000 hours! Then, share how much cash you’ve dropped on your addiction. For example, maybe you spent some dough on pack bonuses here and there, but it actually added up to $3,000 USD altogether. What’s important is that you’re honest!
Now, it’s time for your origin story about how you got started with Genshin Impact Some TikTokers edit their videos so it fades to gray as they walk down memory lane. They’ll explain how everything started innocently enough: for instance, they randomly scrolled through gaming forums and saw people talk about how great Genshin Impact was. Based on all the praise, they decided to give it a go. This segment foreshadows how a gaming addiction was bound to happen.^{[8]
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Paint a picture about how Genshin Impact got a hold on you. Start slow and discuss the first steps: maybe you were originally in love with your starter team, and you had a lot of fun with your adventures. Then, maybe you wanted a new DPS character to complete your virtual entourage. Before you know it, you’re dropping more time and money to get someone particularly spectacular, like Diluc.
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Be real about where you’re at today. Don’t sugarcoat things. Fess up to the extent of your Genshin Impact addiction. After you’ve talked about how much it’s taken over your life, your time, and your finances, talk about where your head’s at right now. Maybe you feel like you’re struggling to rip yourself away from Genshin Impact and your mind’s on it 24/7. Whether you’re ashamed or just plain obsessed with Genshin Impact, it’s okay to speak your truth.
- Remember, there's a whole community of Genshin Impact addicts who are trying to process their over-the-top passion for the game. You’re not alone!

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Overcoming an Addiction

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Go on a 90-day detox from Genshin Impact. To end a video game addiction, aim for a 90-day detox. To curb your cravings, go cold turkey from all video games, which might give you the urge to leap into the world of Genshin Impact. Right now, take a break from the way gaming hijacks your brain’s reward center and floods it with dopamine, a feel-good hormone. You’ll probably go through a period of withdrawal, but it’ll be worth it to regain control of your life. Plus, it’ll get easier to resist the siren call of video games as time goes on.^{[9]
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- If you can stomach it, delete the game from your computer altogether.
- Unplug your computer; you might even want to hide the power supply so you have no way to power up your gaming machine.
- Uninstall Genshin Impact from your phone so you can’t slip up and leap back into it.
Extra brownie points for you if you can find a hobby without pretending that you’re a character from Genshin Impact! Since gaming is a super sedentary activity, try to get moving and see what the real world has to offer. From shooting hoops to painting, there’s a whole arsenal of pastimes you can choose from.^{[10]
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To use CBT, identify negative thought patterns and challenge them. Once you speak about what is bothering you, positively reframe whatever you bring up. For example, if you say, “I am hopelessly addicted to Genshin Impact,” reexamine that belief and declare, “I am perfectly able to play less Genshin Impact or even give it up altogether. I have a lot of willpower!” Your new attitude might help you feel better right away.^{[11]
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Resolve to never quit if you're just joking about an addiction! Some gamers are really tongue-in-cheek and don’t take it very seriously when they say they’ve got a Genshin Impact addiction. They ham it up and post a fake confessional video, then throw a curveball at the end by announcing they’re not a quitter and will always grind as hard as they can on Genshin Impact.
- Some people will say what’s next on the horizon for them. For example, they might declare, “Genshin Impact taught me one thing … when you want to give up … try again. The next time you go to that domain, you never know. You might get that nice Crit Rate substat that you’ve always wanted…”
- If you have the same unending love of Genshin Impact and it isn’t negatively impacting your life, play it to your heart’s content!

Expert Q&A

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Is video game addiction the same as narcotic addiction?

Asa Don Brown, PhD, DNCCM, FAAETS
Clinical Psychologist
Dr. Asa Don Brown is a Clinical Psychologist with over 25 years of experience. He specializes in working with families, children, and couples, treating a variety of psychological disorders, trauma, and abuse. Dr. Brown has specialized in negotiation and profiling. He is also a prolific author having published three books and numerous articles in magazines, journals, and popular publications. Dr. Brown earned a BS in Theology and Religion with a minor in Marketing and an MS in Counseling with a specialization in Marriage and Family from The University of Great Falls. Furthermore, he received a PhD in Psychology with a specialization in Clinical Psychology from Capella University. He is also a candidate for a Masters of Liberal Arts through Harvard University. Dr. Brown is a Fellow of the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress and a Diplomate for the National Center for Crisis Management and continues to serve a number of psychological and scientific boards.

Asa Don Brown, PhD, DNCCM, FAAETS

Clinical Psychologist

Expert Answer

Although there are some differences in substances used between video game addiction and narcotic addiction, they both have similarities. Both addictions may result in negative life consequences such as personal, social, and professional effects. And in both of these addictions, there is either pleasure or relief and a deep feeling of a dopamine rush.

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