does anyone else play mind games with themselves to get through difficult periods?

i saw some post- maybe on a different unrelated sub, maybe a different site altogether- about someone who plays something like ‘hide from the monsters’ where the monsters are their impulses (binge eating, self-harm, etc). i thought this was a cool idea and have been trying to make it a habit instead of letting myself get drowned in the bad ideas. 

i have one i’ve played forever, i just pretend to be different people to get through stuff- i have a bunch of characters, each one serves a vague purpose and i even have playlists and clothing accessories i associate with them.