Discussion What is your form of Escapism?

[Darkover]

music and weed almost everyday

 

[AviG]

Ghibli

 

[avoid]

Movies and series ever since my teenage years. I used to have a cinema subscription for years that allowed me to watch unlimited movies at the cinema for only €20 a month. At least once a month, often twice, I would watch 3 or 4 movies alone back-to-back to make the subscription worth it. The cinema had 3 location in my city, 2 of which were a 5-minute walk from each other, each with a slightly different selection of movies. So it was rather easy to make a movie schedule for myself with little to no wait time between movies (unless planned for e.g. lunch).

View attachment Adventure_Time_S04E11_Wizard_Talking.mp4

To escape into a false world through the big screen feels wonderful, and I would crash down to Earth the moment I walk out of the cinema back into my real life. Unfortunately, nowadays new movies worth watching are far and few in between, and I have difficulties finding good movies or series that I have not watched (I am selective). So as of late, I enjoy reading books. I'm a slow reader and have trouble focusing but if I can sink into the story, with the help of TTS, I can binge books and let the story swallow my days whole. For example, I read Mother of Learning* in 5 days, the first few books of Dungeon Crawler Carl* a book a day, and I'm currently in book 2 of The Witcher*. You'll notice the pattern is the genre: fantasy or litrpg—the real world sucks.

So consider getting a cinema subscription or start downloading digital books that interest you. Separate yourself from your environment to allow yourself to escape into another world with ease. Though I can't say that this is healthy, it does create highlights in my life so perhaps in yours too.

Edit:
Oh, and also cycling recreationally. Forests, farms, creeks, trees, the sun and the wind, they all make me happy. If you like the outdoors away from civilization then start hiking or cycling in areas with little to no reminders of your life.

 

[SVEN]

Used to be alcohol, now it's SanSu.

 

[d-tea]

Fast Food, porn; it used to be video games but I feel guilty about sitting down and playing now; can't concentrate on games anymore. Sometimes I drink to be able to enjoy sitting down and playing a game; it makes me feel like I am a teenager again.
Recently I have swapped out self harm with impulsive online shopping... I don't yet know which is actually worse. I think I would rather self harm in a relatively safe and secure way but overspending and impulse buying seems to be more socially acceptable.

More "healthy" coping mechanisms, like long dog walks for example, I try doing often but it just makes me feel miserable and overwhelmed because I'm alone with my thoughts. At least the pup gets something out of it :)

 

[notgonnamakeit]

I've been trying to have some form of escapism in my life. It hasn't really worked though since I go right back into self harm and locking myself away from everyone. Do you have any form of escapism that works for you?

For me, gaming and writing. I like to immerse myself into the highly detailed worlds so I can forget I'm in the real world for a moment. I especially love Bethesda games because of this.

 

[Marbas]

Maladaptive daydreaming. I can spend hours lost in these worlds I've created until I'm forced to come back to reality.

 

[derekWest]

wake induced lucid dreaming

How do you do that ?
.
For me : swimming in the sea, read, walking

 

[GlassMoon]

Maladaptive daydreaming about travelling back through time to meet my younger self and help him get fixed back then. And tell him to buy crypto ASAP :-)

 

[Michelstaedter]

More than escapism, what has marked me as a kind of "instinctive fight" against the desire to die has been porn and fap. I discovered porn as a child and until now it has been that tortuous escapism that really does not serve me, nor does it suit me, it is just like a bad friend.
Video games, anime, sleeping, running, surfing the internet and so on, more than escapism it is entertainment, therefore I do not see it in any other way. And yes, I love sleeping.

 

[Proxycake]

Weed, alcohol, overexertion, starving, masturbating, lurking this forum …

 

[UglyLife82]

Binge eating when I can afford food, doomscrolling and daydreaming a life worth living for hours at a time. Wish I could upgrade to drugs and alcohol but there's a bunch of circumstances preventing me

 

[Fall Leaf]

Single player video games, watching the same tv shows and YouTube videos over and over again, taking sleeping pills to sleep a lot.
I hate to admit that but also p@rn.
I spend most of my time trying to escape from reality.

 

[ilvgore]

maladaptive daydreaming