# What is your longest self-imposed ban? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 4, 2008, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-longest-self-imposed-ban/455322 "2008-07-04T21:24:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-longest-self-imposed-ban/455322/1 "2008-07-04T21:24:41Z")
Inspired by this [post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9970112&postcount=25) , I realized that I am not the only person who has done this. Last fall I was going through a tough time and posting here was not helping any, so I gave myself a 30 day ban. It was a challenge, but I actually went about 40 days between posts. So, anybody else do a self-imposed suspension? How long? SSG Schwartz ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-longest-self-imposed-ban/455322/2 "2008-07-04T21:44:36Z")
Um, six years, I think? ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-longest-self-imposed-ban/455322/3 "2008-07-04T21:49:40Z")
I stopped reading and posting for… um, I want to say about a year, maybe a few months more than that, after an argument with **manhattan**. I don’t even remember what it was about (looking back, I’d probably find that I was in the wrong, so I’m not looking!), but I remember that this place was making me angry enough that it wasn’t worth it. Prior to that, and since I came back from it, I haven’t had that experience, so I keep on stickin’ around. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-longest-self-imposed-ban/455322/4 "2008-07-04T21:50:49Z")
I’ve been ignoring 99% of what goes on these days. I haven’t felt the need to ban myself, but I do avoid the “new posts” link more, as that’s likely to bring a “is Obama/Hillary/McCain the devil?” thread to my attention and occasionally I can’t keep my mouth shut when obvious, trolling, flagrant ignorance is flapping around like a seagull stuck in a duct tape factory. Plus, I’m in school so the Dope is like video games. Gotta unplug 'em if they’re wasting your time. Aren’t you a recruiter now? I’d think that would keep you busy with real life stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-longest-self-imposed-ban/455322/5 "2008-07-04T21:58:26Z")
A couple of months, I think. Mainly when I was heavily involved with a blog I help run. (I’m still heavily involved, I’ve just decided to balance priorities out a bit more and not spend every waking moment on the blog to the exclusion of all else.) ---
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-longest-self-imposed-ban/455322/6 "2008-07-04T22:03:16Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] … Aren’t you a recruiter now? I’d think that would keep you busy with real life stuff. [/QUOTE] It does, which cuts down on my time for the Dope, but it is a good way to unwind at the end of the day. SSG Schwartz ---
**Author:** ![Contrary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/db5fbb/32.png) [@Contrary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrary)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-longest-self-imposed-ban/455322/7 "2008-07-04T22:08:03Z")
I stayed away from mid-2003 until last August. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-longest-self-imposed-ban/455322/8 "2008-07-04T22:19:21Z")
I think it was close to 6 months, but I cannot remember. After being a member for only a few months, I was going through a hard time and was using a hard-core internet addiction as my coping mechanism. I knew I needed a break. I banned myself from the internet for 1-2 months and then allowed myself a set amount of time every day and not between certain hours. This allowed me to become more involved in my actual life, doing volunteer work and research and graduating college. Then I got very busy and was in Mexico/Europe, I imagine this break was somewhere between December 2006 and August 2007, but I really don’t remember exactly when I stopped/started up again. It was a wonderful idea and when I came back I really did look at the boards differently, so I think I would recommend it for those addictive personalities who need a little perspective. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-longest-self-imposed-ban/455322/9 "2008-07-04T22:22:38Z")
I think I managed 3 days once. ---
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-longest-self-imposed-ban/455322/10 "2008-07-04T22:31:59Z")
About 4 years. I changed jobs, moved house, had a lot of personal stuff going on. I was offline for some time. Its funny how times slips away. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-longest-self-imposed-ban/455322/11 "2008-07-04T22:43:31Z")
I stayed away for two months, and finally reupped I think last week. I had about 400 pages of reading a week to do for my last quarter of school and I really wanted to make my last term a good one. Between that and other stuff going on in my life, it was in my best interest to minimize distractions. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-longest-self-imposed-ban/455322/12 "2008-07-04T23:07:46Z")
A few weeks, though it’s not a “ban” so much as a reaction to the Board’s periodic waves of hostility, name-calling, and behavior that I think of as destructive of community. Other than online, I don’t spend time with people who act that way, and when it gets bad enough to bum me out, I have to question why I’d subject myself to it here. I almost didn’t renew, but decided to see what the general feel was after we switch to free posting. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-longest-self-imposed-ban/455322/13 "2008-07-05T01:05:18Z")
About 3 years, probably, but it wasn’t intentional. Things got weird after college, and I missed most of the late 90s and early 2000s. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-longest-self-imposed-ban/455322/14 "2008-07-05T04:06:17Z")
I was away from the board for 5 days once. (Does it count if you’re in the hospital with no computer access?) ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-longest-self-imposed-ban/455322/15 "2008-07-05T07:36:22Z")
About four months, I think. I’d been getting frustrated and annoyed with a lot of things around here, and when the time came that I wanted to get some heavy emotional baggage off my chest, I realized that this wasn’t the place I wanted to turn to. By coincidence, subscriptions were just about to run out (this was after the first year of pay-to-post), so I simple didn’t renew. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-longest-self-imposed-ban/455322/16 "2008-07-05T14:09:02Z")
Five days. I was in the hospital ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-longest-self-imposed-ban/455322/17 "2008-07-05T18:56:22Z")
Wait… Are **Annie** and I the same person? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-longest-self-imposed-ban/455322/18 "2008-07-05T19:03:29Z")
Not a ban, exactly… I’ve been playing Deus Ex for about two weeks, in between my two jobs and meager social life, and my Board attendence has been sparse. Occasionally I’ll avoid the Board for part of a day if I post something I’m embarrassed about, like the time I got drunk and… oh, never mind. :eek: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-longest-self-imposed-ban/455322/19 "2008-07-05T19:48:48Z")
Nice Google ads here, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-longest-self-imposed-ban/455322/20 "2008-07-05T20:39:19Z")
[QUOTE=brujaja] Not a ban, exactly… I’ve been playing Deus Ex for about two weeks, in between my two jobs and meager social life, and my Board attendence has been sparse. [/QUOTE] Sorry, slight hijack… that brought back memories! A quality game, and not just because it taught the player that smoking is a _bad_ thing :smack: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-longest-self-imposed-ban/455322.md?page=2)