From what I gather in your post, you're talking about the toll stress in these occupations has on women. I don't know about the Gaming industry. But I do know about Stripping, and Porn. I'd add Escorting, because that's about the highest stress of all.

I don't know about a "zone". I did in hockey. It was when the game slowed way down for me, and my body and brain were just perfectly in sync. I've never felt that in sex work. Chefs talk about this during "the rush", as the call it. So I'm guessing you'd find many occupations with a zone-type experience.

Each "job", if you want to call it that, comes with its own stressors, and anxiety inducers. Stripping hasn't been to awful for me. I started when I was 21 back in a small club in Indiana. I made a fortune there, and it wasn't hard on me. In LA, and Vegas the story's different. The clubs are massive, and the competition among girls is stiffer. But what causes the anxiety in stripping, for me anyway, is the attitudes of the guys who judge the girls. The Spearmint Rhino in City of Industry is the worst. The expectation of girls fucking the guys is out of control in both places. In Indiana, the guys paid up but never demanded I put out.

The only anxiety I get in porn is whether or not I'm going to get work. I get nervous before a shoot. But my husband usually calms me down. He grew up in the performing arts, and he has unusual ways of helping me with the butterflies. Onset, I'm fine. I don't care if I'm fucking one guy, or ten. I just go with the flow, and enjoy it. Porn's liberating to me.

Escorting is another story entirely. This nearly made me join a convent. The constant phone calls, the "ratings" and reviews on various websites, and the annoying guys jerking off on the phone while talking to me on the phone got to me after a while. For this, I needed more than Xanax. I needed a stiff Martini.

What I find is that many girls lack the balance needed to remain sane in any of these industries. There's also a fair amount of self-medication with cocaine or, more commonly, Meth. Both drugs are going to amplify anxiety. Xanax can't really help you with that. It also can't help you with any underlying demons. The demons have to come out in therapy. And I've gone through enough therapy to understand what triggers my anxiety. I've never self-medicated, and I don't drink all that much. That helps.

What I do is Yoga every morning, ballet class during the week, and also belly dancing. I do a lot of things that keep my in balance, and remind myself that I'm a whole lot more than a sperm depository. That means reading, playing with my cats, taking classes at UNLV, ice skating, or whatever. I don't need Xanax. A psychiatrist put me on an anti-anxiety med four years ago, but it didn't do a damned thing to exorcise the demons or give me balance. So I just found new ways to deal with those things.

This is rather personal, I know. But it's the only way I know how to respond to this post. I'm lucky to have an anchor at home, someone who cares about me a lot, and someone who makes sure I keep things in perspective. It's easy to lose that perspective in sex work. I think anyone coming into it at any level has to have that perspective, and that balance. The consequences can be harsh. It fucks with your head.

Kara Nox
http://www.karanox.com

PS. The people in the Gaming industry get benefits packages, and are treated fairly. Those benefits reduce quite a lot of the anxiety. They also aren't stigmatized by a puritanical society.