LadyDay

Phew @The Blackangel you've got quite a host of things to deal with! Thank you for sharing it with us. I know it comes with a fear of being judged. I was wondering, do you think gaming helps you cope with the mental illnesses? Like it helps @StaceyPowers and me calm anxiety, and you have quite a few more issues to deal with.

Thank you for the advice. I've written it down. I'll let you know once I've finished the Dawnguard story arch (so far I like it) and when I start Fallout (and I'll tell you how I'm doing).

Sure, I can chime in. I've suffered from major depression, anxiety and panic attacks since I was a child (I''m 32 now, so my brain has dones a lot of developing while having this illness). The result of both the disease itself and the medicine I'm getting is that I have very slow reaction speed, generally have to do things at a slow pace, struggle to multitask, struggle to keep overview over a situation, have bad memory and so on. As a gamer I don't have lots of experience to draw on yet, but it's clear that compared to others my abilities in combat is effected. Slow reaction speed obviously means that I'm slow to react to attacks (who would have thought? 😄 ) and lack of overview and memory means I struggle to jump back and forth between different weapons, different spells and so on (I don't remember what I have without looking in my inventory and I forget to use it). I think gaming is a good way of training the abilities I struggle with. It forces me to use them, and in a fun way. I hope and think I will see these challenges improve over all from this. And seeing my skills at gaming rise will be good for my self esteem. I also, as Stacey, find that it's good for breaking spiraling anxiety. A good thing about games (at least at Skyrim, the game I've played the most, besides the Sims) is that you can enjoy them without being able to work at super-speed and with a lot of different actions at once. You can use a lower difficulty setting. And at least in Skyrim you can choose heavy armor, so it might be slower, like me, but it can also take more damage. So the play style can be adapted to my strengths and weaknesses. Maybe I can't brag about how good I am compared to others, but who cares?! I do stay away from multiplayer games with people I don't know well. I don't want to have to constantly explain why I can't keep up with the other players. I do worry that I might simply not be able to play some of the games that are harder, even on a low difficulty setting. I would really like to play The Witcher 3 and Assassins Creed: Odyssey someday (after a GPU and CPU upgrade), but I fear I'd just get defeated by the games. Do any of you have experiences with these games? Even if these games wouldn't be for me, I still have a lot of other games I'd like to play. My next game will definitely be Fallout New Vegas, as per recommendation of @StaceyPowers.

No, I haven't found anybody who gives you practice arrows, but I've picked up an endless supply from enemies I've killed. I've just started the Dawnguard DLC, so I'm trying my hand with a crossbow now. I think I like it. I just need practice. I worked hard on leveling up smithing too, made A LOT of gold rings! Haha. Now I just need the last bit to be able to make dragon armor, then I've maxed out the tree for heavy armor. I'm definitely trying Fallout next (New Vegas probably. Going by your recommendations.). It's funny that you have totally different play styles in two very similar games. We'll see how I end up playing it 🙂

I'm also playing Skyrim S.E. On PC. It's heaps of fun! However I think I'll have a break for some Sims 4. Also on PC. It's good for relaxing (nobody's trying to kill you).

All the pets in The Sims 3 and 4. 🙂

I'm like you (as usual 😄 ). My only experience so far is Skyrim so far, but I do focus on fewer abilities. I easily lose overview if I try to do a bunch of magic on top of the melee weapons (I've just focused on getting really good at two handed weapons), archery and shouts. Even here I use the sword more than the other things. So my character is really very specialized, as a result of my inability to multitask. It should be said too that my (current) character, who's by far the one I've played the longest, is only level 30. I have no doubt my focus will shift eventually, especially since I've filled the skill trees for two-handed weapons and heavy armor.

I'm a tank! I use heavy armor and two handed weapons. I activate the Steed Stone so the armor doesn't weigh anything. And then I just run into fights head first like a brute. I need to practice more with bows. Currently my character is decked out in Daedric armor, with a Daedric greatsword. I feel so cool! I've just started having a mage follower (J'Zargo. He's awesome!), which is a perfect combo with myself. Before I had a dude (Vilkas from the Companions) who was also in heavy armor and two handed sword, that worked too, but not as effectively, we were too similar.

I did play it quite a bit. Suddenly you get the hang of it.

Yes. Everything is straight forward. I haven't been here long enough to notice that. Dunno. Yes. It's approachable and simple. Yes, it was easy and I didn't experience any errors. Yes, very. Especially @StaceyPowers has been wonderful. She's a big asset.

Minesweeper 😄 Does that count?

That's awesome, I'll have to get that! Steam also have 50% on Oblivion today, so I'm ending up with a nice little Elder Scrolls collection!

Thank you. You've given me such a warm welcome! I'll make sure to play some more games 🙂

I don't know too much about them, but I've read a bit when I encountered them. I've actually been having some positive thoughts about them, like you (again. 😄 ) They are kind of crushed in the land they belong to. On the other hand they attack so aggressively, I have to kill them before they kill me. I do understand why they'd be aggressive towards anybody who try to lay claim to their land. So I'm not quite decided, but leaning towards wanting to support them. They do go about things in a very aggressive way though! Also, they have a nice fashion sense! 😄

Is (S/)he also heavy into destruction magic? 😄

I'm sure no one is judging you 🙂 And if they are they're idiots.

Either way, a funny kitty must be a good follower. 😄

Sister from another mister 😄 Agreed. And surely the goal of prison should be to minimize crime too, not to increase it! Minimizing it is done by treating people as people and helping them back on track. Focusing solely on punishment, with no eye to the future of the individual, just creates more trouble and more broken people who can't function in normal society. So they keep yoyo'ing in and out of prison. Maximizing freedom should definitely be the philosophy. And working all day (not just 8 hours. All day.) for 35 cents per hour is borderline slavery. They need a gaming-break! 🙂

Guess prisons are different. Big country and all. Assuming you're in the US? It's been different for the two I know. I'm glad you and the others with you had lots of stuff to do. I can't even imagine what it's like to be stuck in a tiny cell for extended periods! I'd go mental! Either way, glad you're out. 🙂

Sorry to post three times in a row, I can't figure out how to edit a post. It depends a lot, both on the prison and the prisoner. Nowhere near all prisoners have jobs, there aren't enough to go around, and in maximum security prisons they have very little time outside the cell. They don't get to roam around. They do get to take classes if they want to, so they do have some occupied time. In the SHU (cruel and unusual punishment in my humble opinion) in the prison my friend is in they get ten minutes to shower three times per week and one hour of "yard time" in a cage three times per week. In the normal population they get a bit more, but still very little. In other words, they spend a lot of daytime in the cell. Alright, I'll stop posting now. Sorry for rambling on.

Good question. Do you think violent games in general make people more violent than they already are to begin with? I don't think so, since it doesn't seem that gamers in general, like everybody here, are a more violent population than people who don't play video games. I really do not want to be disrespectful, but people who are born again Christians are no better than everybody else and it's silly that they already get preferred treatment in prisons. Also, it's easy to pretend to be Christian to get those perks. Sincerely, your friendly forum secular humanist, who is just as good and law abiding a person as your average born again Christian.(I used to be a born again Christian by the way. I didn't get any worse when I left religion behind) 🙂

You keep reminding me of myself!!! I could have written exactly the same! One of my closests friends, who I talk to every day, is actually in prison, in the U.S., maximum security, so I actually know what it's like being in there. One thing I know for certain is that there's a very good reason America has the highest prison population (in percent of the total population) in the world! Sheer hard punishment doesn't work, it has the opposite effect! The harder you punish, the worse it gets. Breaking people, rather than rehabilitating and building them up, just creates more crime. It's a vicious circle! Taking the freedom away from criminals is punishment in itself, and it should be used as a tool for helping people get back on track with life, it shouldn't be used for turning them into even more hardened criminals! You would also lower the amount of trouble you have with gang activity in prison if you took that approach! In conclusion, of course prisoners should be allowed gaming. It would challenge their energy in a constructive way and lower the incredible boredom that leads to less constructive behavior. @StaceyPowers for President!

I'll try those first 🙂

Do you know if he's a skilled mage, f.ex. compared to above mentioned Aranea?

@StaceyPowers Have you played Fallout 4? Sounds like the VATS system doesn't stop time, only slows it down. But otherwise it looks like such a cool game.