For the past few days, I have not been feeling like myself and I am not prioritizing my happiness. Every day, I usually do online gaming with other players and it is becoming even more toxic. I've heard different players say racist and hurtful stuff about other players. Also, there are some nice people I encounter while playing online with other players. Some players have been rude to me for no reason while I am playing different games for fun. When I do online gaming, it is fun at times but lately it has been affecting my mental health.When someone hates on me, I handle it well and I do stand up for myself but some days when it becomes too much it starts affecting me mentally.
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Dear Friend,
Thank you for reaching out to Asking Jude. I’m sorry that people from the online gaming community have treated you unkindly. It’s unfortunate that a space for you to unwind and have fun has turned toxic for you. I’m going to share some tips on how to take care of your mental health, and then I’m going to talk about dealing with toxicity in the online gaming world.
I’m glad that you acknowledge the rudeness of these interactions and reject that kind of behavior. To start focusing on your mental health, I suggest taking breaks from others where you focus on yourself and the person you want to be. We need to take time to befriend ourselves so that we are stronger when others try to hurt us. To maintain good mental health, we need to care for ourselves the same way we would care for something precious or important in our lives. If you feel passionate about your wellbeing, it will be more enjoyable to take steps towards improving it and keeping it intact. Due to your gaming fatigue, I suggest you make it a goal to detox yourself from negativity. Take a small step back by trying to exercise 2-3 times a week, engage in other enjoyable activities, hang out with friends, get enough sleep, and eat nutritious foods. Once you’ve built confidence and friendship with yourself, it will be easier to handle and ignore negative people.
Here are some videos about taking care of your mental health:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOlzak1hT-E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAestsXAWsw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0iVTQS8ftg
Here are some links on how to stay positive around negative people:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/focus-forgiveness/201405/how-stay-happy-around-negative-people
https://hackspirit.com/protect-absorbing-peoples-negative-energy/
https://greatist.com/live/how-to-stay-positive-around-negative-people#2
Wherever you go there will always be negative people, especially online since people feel less bound to consequences. When you are in a space with rude people remember that no one is entitled to your emotions and after that game, you will probably never see them again. If someone is rude to you, you should mute them immediately, and if they are harassing you, report them and ask for help. Games that arent player vs player tend to have nicer communities, so if you find yourself tired of competitive games, try other genres as you recover. You could also search for nice people to play with. Join servers that are heavily moderated so rude people will be banned from the space. From there you may be able to meet some kind friends that when you play games will help you outweigh the negative people.
Here are some links on how to handle toxic gaming communities:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQwEOtwCB9c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnsaa6fT7n0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxXP58tJMU0
If you need to contact someone immediately or are in crisis text or call these numbers.
Text Hotline:
Suicide Hotline by Texting HOME to 741741(US)
Suicide Hotline by Text Shout to 85258 (UK)
Suicide Hotline by Text CONNECT to 686868 (Canada)
Call Hotlines:
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Toll-Free: 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255)
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Toll-Free (español): 1-888-628-9454
Hope this helps! Have fun gaming.
Hugs,
Max
Hi there, love! This is Jude. I relayed your submission to one of our interns, so it should be answered within the next day or so! Thank you for supporting our community.