Gaming and depression

I love to game. I’m definitely not a good player. I struggle more than many I know. I can’t play too challenging games as my hands won’t allow me. But there are games that I really loved to play. And some I needed a little help to finish them, something made possible with “share play” on Playstation 4.

I suffer with depression. Chronic depression. It comes and goes but always stays to lurk in the darkness, waiting to strike again when my defences are low. When I’ve had some good times, often my guard goes down as I’m enjoying myself and then… Bam! It hits me again and I struggle once more.

New year goals

…still on track…

As many of you may remember, I had set myself some new year goals. Small ones, goals that I *thought* I’d be able to achieve. I have burned myself by setting goals too big, too much change needed and/or too dependent on others in the past. So now, I rather have smaller goals that I can adjust/change when I reached them, than not being able to get there at all and feeling very bad about that.

With the gym being open again since January 15th, it already helps me again by getting in better shape. Sure I have my rower and hometrainer at home, but some exercises I just can’t do at home. Plus at home I am more easily distracted, making me work less hard than I would do at th gym (like getting less reps, less rpm, lower HR).

Gaming – LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean (PS3/PSnow)

I’ve had the game for about 8,5 years now. Bought it in September 2013 for my PlayStation 3 (PS3). I started it, played it a while with my ex. Then I split up with one of my exes, moved in with my then GF and gaming got on the back burner for a bit, as my work, love life and health took precedence…

Then, my HD needed replacement and I didn’t have a backup of my save files so… Together with digital bought content, I also lost my save games…. Which meant having to start all over again… 😔

Start screen of the game on PSnow, captured with my video card in my old PC.

Gaming – Lego City Undercover

It’s been a while since I wrote about this game here, the “old post” can be found here: Gaming – Trying out games: Lego City Undercover.

So I have shared this idea that I have for helping my mental health stay good in 2022. Or at least, stay as good as it can… With this whole pandemic still happening and our country being in lockdown for many months at a time, closing the gym 😔… If you have missed this post about my new “Ko-fi gaming goal”, here’s a quick link for you:

Gaming in 2021

I love to game. Unfortunately, my hands won’t always allow me to play. Also, my state of mind isn’t always up to it.

In 2021 I’ve been working on my health, preparing for the upcoming surgery. Thanks to Miss Rona I had about 9 months to prepare as it took ages to get all the tests done and then to be put on the waiting list. In the end, I had to call them to get a surgery date, as I had been waiting a while for them so call me, as they had promised.

Gaming? Ow yeah…

Some periods of time I’m glued to my PlayStation and I’m playing as much as my hands will allow me. But other times, I barely touch the thing… It’s not that I don’t enjoy gaming, it’s that I’ve made different priorities. Ever since I got on that waiting list for my THR operation, I’ve been working hard to keep in shape/get more in shape and maybe lose some more weight (or at least not gain any).

I can ride the bike and write a blog. I can ride the bike and watch TV. But for some reason I cannot play games while riding the bike. And yes, I did try 😂 I get too focused on my game that I forget to keep spinning at a right rpm.

Gaming – Enjoying coop

It’s been a while since I wrote about gaming on my blog. Lately, I haven’t been playing too much. I would want to play more, but it seems I’m mostly interested in playing some Lego coop with friends. I had been playing two games previously, but I got stuck with them and I have no idea how to continue them. And I tried guides and YouTube videos and I am doing all they said I should and it’s just not working for me. So that bummed me out, to say the least…

I often think “I should play some more Lego games as I want to 100% them”. But when I start it up and play alone, I just can’t seem to enjoy it as much as I do when playing with a friend. I guess it also tells a bit about my mental state of mind at the moment. As last year in January, I played a whole lot and finished (for me) a sh*tload of games then (with some kind help!).

Gaming – Playstation Vita

Just before I got slammed with a divorce, one of my last gaming things bought was a second hand Playstation Vita. I owned a PSP, Playstation Portable, and I had alway wanted a Vita. So since I had money for it and found one in a very good condition, I bought it.

I already struggled with my hands at the time, having had two surgeries on my left hand, so I knew I would not be able to have long gaming sessions with my Vita, as I also couldn’t game too lon with my PSP. But still, I could game and I bought my first game for it, a Lego game, Batman 2 DC Super Heroes.

Gaming – Day of the Tentacle Review

A few days ago I shared with you some basic information on the game “Maniac Mansion II: Day of the Tentacle”. I played the Playstation 4 Remastered edition. The original came out in 1993, the remastered version for PS4 came out in 2016. I played it through the game stream service of Playstation, PSnow.

More information on PSnow can be found here: Gaming – Playstation Now. More information about trophies can be found here: Gaming – Trophies. Since writing the bit about the trophy system, Playstation has made some changes due to the coming out of their latest console, the Playstation 5.

Gaming – Point-and-click

As some of you might now, I struggle with my hands. Had several surgeries on my left hand/thumb and I deal with both Raynauds and fibro, which aren’t too kind on the hands either, especially in colder times.

I have a subscription on Playstation Now and I want to use it as much as I can, so lately I have been looking for nice point-and-click games to play, as they’re easy on the hands, most of the time.