I also live in the past probably to an unhealthy level. I have a pretty massive data hoard of old 90’s/early 2000’s everything, tv shows, movies, old commercials, radio songs, magazines, and a huge collection of old games. I collect as many pictures as I can find of old things I remember, old home videos from the time period of people just like walking around in malls and stores that no longer exist, etc. I draw on that past period of happiness, because I haven’t felt genuinely happy in over 10 years at this point.

I try to fully immerse myself I guess as a form of dissociation/escapism. When I’m dragged back to reality or unable to preoccupy myself my mind goes to dark places. I cope with weed and alcohol. I take naps when I can when my mind is breaking. Sometimes it builds up till I have psychotic breaks, or self harm. I guess that’s an ‘outlet’ but it’s really not good. Therapy can help sometimes, but only insofar as helping me to cope with the outside world, but there’s only so much that can be helped there when the problem is external and almost entirely unavoidable. There’s only so much I can tell myself “this is fine” while the house is burning around me.

I’m a wreck. I do not cope well.

Lemmy users turning every discussion into a data privacy concern. Literally not what the OP is talking about

When they start rounding up trans people and deporting them to concentration camps, I’ll remember that the person shoving me into the train is just trying to keep his head down and weather the storm.