Tanky

the ones I am drinking are not alcoholic. They are from the juice section - unless they are allowed to straight up lie on the labels and sell alcohol to children. It’s got water , apple cider vinegar, tea, ginger - that kind of thing. But thanks for the warning. I will be careful because I know they also make them with alcohol . Also drinking various varieties of mineral water with hints of lime or lemon. Main thing is the brown bottles/or little cans that seem to help me trick my brain into feeling soothed. I even refill bottles with water and it helps. Not the same when I drink from a glass like a normal person, for some reason.

Tanky

Yep, sounds very familiar. Gaming didn’t replace my alcohol addiction. It complimented that one. It replaced my “healthy” addictions. I used to do a lot of daily exercise to control anxiety. I used to play team sport as well. After I became a gamer, I basically gradually stopped it all , probably because the adrenaline rush or Runner’s high was satisfied elsewhere and time exercising was time away from drinking & gaming . I slowly became a total zombie that basically never left a horizontal or sitting position , instead .

What you said has made me reflect a bit more on that switch, tho. Because I have not taken up exercise again after quitting drinking - like many people do. It has been very stop/start which I had attributed to extreme fatigue and other physical symptoms that accompanied my quitting. And a reluctance to accept what I have done to my body, maybe. But may be a bit because the other additions are still lurking. Occupying the brain space.

re the lingerie girl, know that is very much part of gaming world, too. But not mine. I always run a mile every time that element comes into it and shut down anything that even potentially relates to that kind of relationship. Not there for dick pics. 😂

I think female gamers , well the ones who aren’t busy sending the lingerie , get very good at knowing how to shut down these approaches , just like we get used to being called all variety of bitch /***** /rape type insults. Is it weird that part of me will miss my haters? 😂🙈 never again to see someone screaming on world chat “f you, gamename, you stupid b*tch” or making accounts just to name them varieties of insults against me. Or hatching elaborate plots and bringing players into game just to try to get revenge. maybe gaming also made me feel powerful and in control in a way I haven’t been IRL?