Yeah this game has definitely helped me cope with some stuff.
What she said. I’ve been avoiding people because I’m considered “high risk” (underlying medical conditions because I recently recovered from cancer) and I work from home. That was fun for about the first 3 or so months and then never seeing my coworkers or most of the outside world started taking a toll. Then in October and November, I lost my brother and mom to cancer.
So yes I do complain about SL here and there but for the most part I’m grateful to have it to keep my mind off of some pretty heavy stuff I’m going through right now.
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When I split with my ex I didn’t have the most supportive family, so had to deal with all the troubles on my own. No one to talk to when things got overwhelming and when depression reared its ugly head it quickly settled in and made itself at home.
Playing WoW helped me meet new friends that, when I opened up to them in time, gave me a person to talk to or vent to. Still good friends with all the people I met when I first started playing back near the tail end of WoD and in fact getting married to one of them here in a few months. We all still play WoW, even if on different factions now.
If it wasn’t for the bonds I forged while playing WoW, I’d have probably did something I regret because I just felt utterly alone and everyone I reached out to at the time that I thought was my friends didn’t want anything to do with me.
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Well I’m extremely introverted (don’t have that many friends, last person I talked to who wasn’t in my family was my aunt-in-law and that was on Messenger), the pandemic isn’t a help either (I plan on going to malls watch a movie or looking some sports stuff and going out and eat in a restaurant by myself but getting sick isn’t worth it). Plus I have a handicapped brother whom I’m taking care of here at home.
WoW had been a huge help getting things off my mind and a great way to entertain myself. Plus you can be social with a lot of people without actually having to meet them. Lately I’m testing some stuff to make WoW more interesting and it didn’t end well for me.
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Yep… it has kept my mind occupied multiple times when I otherwise would have crumbled. I came back to the game after a nasty divorce and break-up, dunno what would have happened if the game hadn’t been here for me.
Reading this honestly makes me wonder if the Ketogenic diet could help with it.
Alas, I am not a doctor.
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Kind of, though in retrospect the obsession with escapism and fake life accomplishments (raiding/achievements/etc) may have ultimately done more harm than good.
I would have been better off prioritizing something else.
Yeah, you could say it did. I was on leave during a deployment in Iraq and my wife told me that she was leaving me, so I had to stay at a friend’s house. He just happened to have a trial copy of vanilla/TBC and I used it to help get me over my relationship issues. When I got out of the Army I was still suffering from PTSD (fortunately, my wife came back), and WoW became a welcome distraction…
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I have no life outside of WoW, so it seems the answer is “yes.”
Life is a rough time, and WoW eases the pain.
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I really thought that Shadowlands was going to help get me through the Global Pandemic. Due to the expansion’s lack of quality, it has not.
Gods yes. I’ve been homeless, living in my car, having to leave my kitty at work because my bosses were kind enough to allow me to put her in the office so I could still do my job. One night of escape playing WoW in a hotel room was a huge escape from terrible reality for me. There have been other times but that was the most important and memorable period in my life for me, personally.
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Looked forwards to SL for so long.
I’ve been ready for the next expansion since the beginning of month 2.
WoW helped me through this weird phase of hope and appreciation by crushing both of those useless emotions out of me.
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Oh my gosh, that sounds terrible!
I hope things have improved for you!
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Oh yes. Through severe depression in the early 2010s. Who knows how it would’ve gone without wow
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Yes. Many times.
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It wasn’t all that bad, as I had a car to sleep in. I did feel suicidal for a while though, and playing this bloody game helped me cope. Things are much better now. Thank you so much for your kind words!
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Caretaking is so hard. I applaud you for your devotion to your brother.
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No. I don’t retreat from reality when things get rough, I face it, but I know that not everyone can face life the way I do. I also know that when the blues hits you bad, sometimes you’ve just gotta roll with it, just let life run it’s course. And if it knocks you down so hard you can’t get up, then sometimes you’ve just gotta lay there and let it kick you around for a while. That’s just the way of the world, and anyone who’s been there knows that, and if WoW is one of the things you lean on to get you through rough times, then good for you.
But one day you’ll wake and find that the blues have wandered off to greener pastures, found some other poor schmuck to kick around, that in fact, you’ve been laying there kicking yourself for Lord only knows how long. That’s when you should realize it’s time to get off your butt, dust yourself off and get on with your life.
I’ve been there a few times myself, so I know how it is. As tough as I am, even I get down where I can’t get right back up, but I always get up. In life, surrender is not an option.
Semper Fi! 
Chuck is that you? 
WoW is my tough time.