I live vicariously through my gaming... so yes.
Not just Skyrim, obviously... as that would make for a rather narrow experience... but generally... yes.
And no wonder really... reality has pretty much run out of replay value.

Heh, I nice turn of phrase. Unfortunately, reality seems to continue to replay the same crap over and over, like it or not. Long live great video games.

Exactly !!
hahahahha you made my night , Lol.

There are times in your life or in your career where you mind just chews and chews on something, sometimes for days and weeks non-stop. This was happening to me when Skyrim came out.

But every time I played, I felt refreshed and renewed and lighter somehow.... letting the mind rest is essential to mental health, and if a video game provides an outlet then it is a good thing.

You should always let your inner child play - I've said that for years.

We're going to have to put my 15 year old cat down soon. I suspect I'll be playing a lot of mindless Skyrim.

My cats are about 14 and 15 themselves so you just made me feel bad.

Sometimes. I'm currently in a place that is very cold, everywhere is snow, so I go into Skyrim and wander in the nice, green forests and along the lakes and waterfalls. Feels good that way. Also you can be whoever you want but yourself in real life!

My cat is perfectly healthy (which made finding out so much worse) with one exception: she has a benign growth pressing into her esophagus. At the rate the tumor is growing, she won't be able to eat anything within a month or so. An operation was deemed too risky because the growth is resting under the coratid artery. I'd take your kitties in for a check-up just in case, but don't worry about things that may not happen. If you aren't noticing any changes in behavior or eating habits your pets are probably fine.

OT: As long as an escape doesn't become a replacement for dealing with your issues, there is nothing wrong with venturing out to slay some dragons when the mood strikes.

Everything is escapism. You only have two duties in live, stay alive and reproduce. Then you die. I know its a cold hard truth, but you, me, and everyone here will die. Anything we do to take our mind off of that is escapism in the greatest form. I believe there was once a quote that said a mind left to wander is a dangerous thing. Because if we don't have something to occupy our time, we will start thinking about how much life really svcks. So in reality, everything you do from tv, or games to reading or working at your job is escapism from the daunting reality of life.

Yes I do play games to escape reality. As one John Cougar Mellencamp once sang, "Oh yea, life goes on, long after the thrill of livin' is gone." I find thrills in real life too by cycling and playing drums, and I have a family, but there's a thrill to gaming that takes me away to wonderful exciting places I would never see otherwise. It reminds me of the feeling I used to have as a child in the early 70's watching reruns of Star Trek. It was pure escapism to me then. I wanted to be on that ship with them exploring the galaxy. Now through gaming I can do just that and more. Skyrim is a fantastic game world to escape into.

Some people watch movies, some people read books, some people jump off buildings with parachutes on their backs. Everyone has the thing that excites them and makes life worth living. I don't see how gaming is any different than those things. It makes life thrilling for me. I don't care if someone else doesn't "get it".

Erh ...

1) I live in Europe, so the American government and FDA don't really apply to me. Besides that, I always look up more information on the internet for my studies (you're right about apricot seeds being non-lethal of course, I just wanted to say they're not entirely healthy), and I don't mean Wikipedia. More like actual published stuff in different science magazines. And yes unfortunately, even these things can't always be trusted. They're all human ideas after all, and humans aren't, and never will be, perfect.
2) attacking cancer cells won't really help you if it's already too widespread in your body. Don't forget they're your own body cells, with a very abnormal reproduction rate. Cancer cells are no viruses or bacteria. It's not an easy feat to "cure" cancer, as it's your own body you have to stop going all crazy on you. You can't simply destroy them and expect your body to regenerate the loss: way too dangerous. Not all cells can be regenerated either; in fact, most can't.
3) "this guy". What guy? What's his name? Again, sources please. Aside from that, "this guy" definitely doesn't know what scientific research means if I may believe you, as he (a.) only tried it out on himself. Because something works on one guy, doesn't mean it automatically will work on the next, and indeed even the whole human populace. (b.) didn't reproduce the experiment to check if it wasn't a fluke (or maybe even if some doctor (accidentally) injected him with a medicine in the hospital where he slept during his coma, and which just so happens to work against cancer). Reproducibility and reliableness, two very important words when doing research.
4) I'm open to a lot, but keep in mind people with cancer are desperate, and will try anything -even the most ridicule stuff- to get cured from it (no I'm not referencing to your seeds. I'm neutral about that anyway, since I have never seen someone put such seeds and cancer together in scientific research). In other words: they can be pretty naive, and get manipulated pretty easily. Make sure you don't abuse that, even if by accident.

Anyway, point 4 was actually what I was kinda trying to bring over. Be careful with what you say. You can't claim something is a fact when you can't prove it. Or vice versa. Wrong information is the worst kindyou can provide, as it's also the kind which isn't so easy to erase again.

*ahem* Over to Skyrim again.

All I'm gonna say is a Great amount of people had ate these seeds and manage to cure their cancer because of this. I already gave you the science behind it and side effects of it. When it comes to things like this, I do complete research. I don't just look at one page, I look at many and look up many things about it. Do not underestimate me when it comes to any type of Computer work, this includes Computer Research Projects.

If you wish for sources then go Google it. Just try not to believe what the American Government and FDA had put up. They are well corrupted.

If you are facing death regardless, then yes people would be willing to try risky things to help cure themselves. My mother has a saying "People always want more money, a new car, a home, a better job, better toys, a lover and so much more. All people with cancer want is to get better." So the seeds might not be healthy, but if you are going to die from cancer, I don't think you really care at that point.

I was talking to myself in my head.... then I read your comment... and my mentalising was instantly reduced to blubbering tears... for nothing in the world is sadder than a dying kittymao. ;;_;;



Technically... the thing with the seeds amounts to taking cyanide and hoping it only kills the cancer cells.
In the right doses... it sometimes will.
And then again, sometimes it will do more... or less...

Personally, I'd love to cyanide myself to death. One of the quickest poisons there is.

The seeds have very small dose of Cyanide in them. You will have to eat a lot of them to kill yourself. Also, eating around 4-5 seeds a day is good enough to make you highly resistance, or immune, to Cancer; and without harming yourself. I think you need to eat like 10 a day to kill yourself.

After watching my mom suffer, unable to walk, unable to eat, her bile building up to dangerous levels as she turns yellow from jaundice. Her hair falling out, reduced to skin and bones. Her constant moaning because every time she moves her body is in so much pain.

I think I would rather choose cyanide myself over that. It's like having the option to be burned alive or shot in the head...

Two full mugs in VERY quick succession, and without diluting... from what I've heard.
Tends to be impossible in practice.
Bitter Almonds are the more logical choice... Also illegal, however.

That said... I will not accept responsibility for turning this into a Suicide FAQ thread (as you might have noticed, I'm still alive, so I'm hardly qualified)... For reasons unknown to me, that topic seems to encourage the mods to get ban-happy faster than many others... Not something I'm really wanting to invoke.


While I entirely agree... I really hope you aren't looking for any more on the subject from me.

It happens.

I don't think it has been turned into a suicide thread. The concern was raised that the seeds might have ill effects. The debate was raised that if you are looking at death from cancer anyways, isn't the risk worth the reward? A nice easy death, vs a painful one, with the chance that you might actually be cured and live. I don't see anyone encouraging suicide what so ever.

It is a line I'd rather not play too close to, because I'm here for the sake of discussing Skyrim.
If I was here on one of my missions to convince everyone that life = suffering, it'd be a different matter.

Yes, but no.

I do play to escape, but not exactly because RL svcks.

I can understand, I too don't want to bring mods down on me. But I think it just goes to show why a game can be used for escapism, which was the topic of the thread. For some people life totally svcks big time, for others, they are happy so they don't see the game as anything more then just a game. Either way I think life is to precious to just throw away, but I am glad I have something that can help me forget about how much life also svcks.

Yes I Do

Sometimes it's the best part of my day : ) it's always an enjoyable part on my day too...

And naturally, those for whom life doesn't svck generally have no problem belittling the concerns and methods of those for whom it does... thus widening the gap. It is a horribly messy topic on the whole, and that is without even bringing large-scale matters of taboo or the law into it.

In any case, anyone who would mock those of us who live vicariously through our games can just go rot in their own corners for all I care.

My life is pretty decent right now, and I still use Skyrim as an escapism. Video games in general are among the many things.