I can only share my experience and hope that you'd be able to generate ideas that you can use for your particular situation.

Before I was gunned down and left completely blind at 23 years old — I was really into RPGs on PC and PS2 (that was a long time ago, LOL!) and hanging out at new, unfamiliar places with my friends.

So my mind and body whent to lockdown for almost a year after I became blind — I just stayed inside my room. Slept a lot. Rarely went out (about once or twice every other month).

EDIT: And when I went out, I didn't bring along a cane. Didn't wear sunglasses. Didn't want others to know that I was blind. Didn't want them calling me blind, neither.

Though what probably saved me from a complete breakdown during that period are conversations with my wife, play-time with my 4-month old baby, a good old AM radio, and a large collection of audio book cassettes!

This was dial-up Internet. Before smartphones. Before Youtube. Before Facebook. Before Twitter.

But what completely shoved me out of my depressed state, aside from the things I mentioned above, included stuff like JAWS For Windows, reading Stephen Hawking's work, playing audio games designed for the blind, a distance learning option at the university where I went to before I became blind, and participating in activities with my fellow blind and visually impaired peers at a local social organization and a computer school for the blind where I volunteered as a Web developer.

EDIT: So from that point, I started to not care if people know I'm blind. In fact, I want them to know most of the time, for my safety and theirs, though in certain instances like when I'm in a rough neighborhood, I of course try to not look and act like easy prey. And I started to not care where and when to use my cane — I just do it when I want to. I started to not care when and where to wear my sunglasses – I just do when I want to. And I started to not care if strangers call me blind — I am, in fact, blind. And that's a big part of who I am today.

And what made me fully accept my blindness was when I started building my own digital marketing business, learning software programming languages, developing open source DIY assistive tools and hardware electronics through computer vision / machine learning / deep learning / Raspberry Pi / embedded electronic boards, and collaborating with other business owners, company leaders, corporate executives, disability advocates, entrepreneurs, and independent devs.

So I guess I for one just needed to keep myself busy with new things, and to keep on collaborating with new people all around the world on projects that interest me.

But of course, I don't know if this works for anybody else.

Though I do hope it does for you. :)

Have you started using audio books?
It is totally your option when you keep your can't out, when you put it away, and when you just have it out as a signal to fully sighted folks.

For the cane, get a folding one. You will be able to keep the cane with you at your seat, but it won't be in other people's way.

I generally use my cane when in a public bathroom, but I am totally blind.

O&M instructor here.

In bathrooms, when using stalls, lean your can in the corner, or hang it by the coat hook.

In classrooms, it’s best to take your cane to your seat. This way, it’s close to you at all times in case of an emergency.

I don’t have much advice for video games, except a larger screen may help. Low pressure games tend to be less stressful too.

For reading, try digital books and a reading device where you can zoom in. Or, you can try a CCTV or handheld magnifier device.

Feel free to shoot me any questions. I’m happy to problem solve with you.

My daughter is 18 and went through the same things you are. It’s normal to mourn the loss of your sight and the things you enjoy. It’s also normal to feel awkward about the cane in the beginning. My advice is to try to find other blind students your age to talk through things with. The National Association of Blind Students is a good start. It might also be a good idea to find an older blind mentor who can help you work through some of your feelings and help you to see what things will be like when you’re older. I promise it gets better.

Ok as to canes in bathrooms what I do is I find my way to the stall, lean my cane against the stall door where I know where it is and then go out of the bathroom. I might have to knock on stall doors but usually they are left open, and I can tell that, but then I have more experience with a cane than you do.

If I was waiting in line to enter a class I would be holding my cane out in front of me but not fully extended, and would wait until I was seated to fold it up. , I would also see if I could find a friend to help me to a desk.

As to looking for books either subscribe to audio book services with your local library or better yet look up this Bookshare website where you can find books in electronic files. I love reading Braille, but I assume you have not started learning that yet?

I don't know much about gaming but there's a few websites I go to for card games like RS Games by zanosoft, and QC Salon aka the Quentin C playroom.