I don't have any major advice for you, just -- I've been there. I personally would set a lot of goals at the beginning.

Walk on the treadmill for 2 hours, listen to 2 books this week, etc.. I never enjoyed it, but it gave me the drive to keep going, so I was never bored.

I find crochet to be really engaging. I'm also trying to find a good Rubik's cube and get more exercise and learn braille. Sculpture is fun too, as is cooking. I'm not blind but am losing my vision (lost it a few times and crochet got me through the boredom and hopelessness).

I also highly recommend a therapist. Lots of them are doing virtual appointments right now and can work on a sliding scale if money is an issue. I'm wondering if a lot of social work can be done virtually as well, so you might not need to give up on your dream.

If you have friends or family, you can maybe arrange a regular meetup either at your place or virtually. I have a regular meet with my friends via Zoom once a week, sort of like a coffee shop where they can show up or not and it's nice to pop in and talk to people. Depending on pandemic, you could invite friends or family over for a barbecue or potluck once or twice a month. Having something to look forward to can help break up the monotony.

Also look into online gaming groups, something like Dungeons and Dragons. You can also host at your place if people are willing to drive and you feel safe doing so.

Stanford has free lectures on YouTube if you want to learn something new. Languages might be another interesting thing to learn.

I can relate to that very well. I bought six new games on Steam during the Thanksgiving sale/Christmas sale before I went legally blind. None of them are blind-friendly and two are multiplayer only. Because I had surgeries coming up within the month, I didn't refund them and lost the chance to afterwards.
I also used to watch anime, mostly HorribleSubs fansubbed stuff. Dubbed animes just aren't the same and the voices are really off-putting. Some old stuff like Dragonball Z is great dubbed, but newer anime just sounds weird. Like Overlord and Youjo Senki are great in Japanese, but I can't imagine them dubbed.
Have you tried blind-friendly games that aren't purely audio-based? World of Warcraft, for instance, has mods for the blind. Someone else posted that Hades has a blind-friendly mod. I'd imagine something like Skyrim or other single player Bethesda games would have the ability to play blind through modding.
What motivated you about social work? Why is being blind stopping you from it? It's a field I want to go into still, once I get funding for school again. Plus, my own social worker does everything over the phone now or through video calls.
Even my JAWS training is supposed to be through Youtube videos and video calls; which entirely confuses me. I think my mobility training is supposed to be a video call too, with me walking around the house holding my phone up...
Rambling comment just to say, you're not alone and there's people willing to talk if you need to reach someone who can relate and resonate with your situation.

OK, here's the truth as I see it. The reason you feel this way is probably because you feel like you can't do anything and it's boring, and you are understandably concerned that this will never change. You probably won't believe me right now, but I will tell you the way out of this is that you have to figure out a whole bunch of techniques and procedures that let you do stuff in a fairly normal manner and once you can do that it becomes a lot easier to deal with. It is a process, it's basically like doing a course on something, and it's not something anyone wants to do. It's also very hard to find motivation to do it when you're in the depths of all this.

The part you have to do is to find that motivation, somewhere somehow.

Doing this stuff will involve interacting with lots of organisations and people to deal with travel, mobility, cane stuff if you need it, widgets that can help out, whatever. Google is your friend. Figure out something you want to do and can't, and figure out a way to do it, and organise it. It is something you can and should deal with and be in control of, you make the calls, you organise stuff, you run it. It's your life. But you will need to do that.

It probably feels like it's too soon to start doing that, but that's the fact that you're all down and pissed off talking. The reality is that it will never feel like the right time, and you just have to do it and eventually it just becomes a normal part of life, which is sort of what you're aiming for.

If you're like me you'll never love it, it's a total headache, it'll never be something you adore about life, but you can get by. That's what I think anyway, and I hope that makes sense to you and everyone else.

I highly recommend Superblindman, a Twitch streamer and Youtuber who works in the industry who happens to be blind. It's actually a great time to be a blind gamer now, especially with the increased interest in devs implementing accessibility.
Other than that, stay strong. The state agencies seem to have priority over who they help the most, and newly blind/losing vision is their top priority.

Let yourself grieve, first and foremost. I was 18 when I went blind while making plans to go to art school, so at least you have a potential career that you can still do. 🙃 Once you're ready, you can start learning more things. I always recommend people start playing with their existing devices using their built in screen readers. I taught myself how to use my mac and iPhone just by not being afraid of them.

You can still go to school bro. I mean, you can still be a social worker. Your life hasn't ended, it's just changed.

Also, make note that you're not going to get used to this new life overnight. Not super helpful, I know, but it's the truth man.

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Hades, Slay the Spire, Hearthstone, Skullgirls, Sequence Storm, TLOU: part 2 if you own a ps4 or ps5, Code 7 are all adapted to work with screenreaders.

As for anime, you don't need to watch them dubbed. You can use Podplayer and enable the options for echoing subtitles to the screenreader. Does require you to have the files locally though and by that I mean both videos and srt/ass files. Online subtitle retrieval is an option but isn't always very reliable.

A way I tend to do it is to use youtube-dl to rip stuff off CrunchyRoll.

AnimePlanet's videos in particular work well with the LION NVDA addon to read subtitles as well, so that is another option. I realize this won't bring the art back, but it at least you'll be able to watch original anime.

Also, Netflix and friends have audiodescription, definitely make use of that as it might help. It might still be something that puts you to sleep, but again, it's an option.

My wife is going through the same thing. She's going on about 1 month with the loss of all her vision in one eye and about 75% in the other. I am so grateful that she was able to retain what she has. What she has left only allows her to move around the house and care for herself but she can't do any of the things she enjoys in life. She's handling it much better than I would but I fear that she may also become bored, hopeless also. I am doing my best to make life easier and more enjoyable for her.

I don't have an answer for you except I understand what you are going through.

Hey. I hope you are doing as OK as you can today. So, you say this is hitting you after a month? Do you have any idea how much time that isn’t in the span of things? You could basically see for 28 years before this. This is new, and you need time to grieve. If you’ve lost the ability to appreciate things in the way that you always have for your entire life, that is going to take a lot longer than a month to work through. And that’s OK. I know it sounds weird, but it really is OK to not be OK at this point in your life.

You also do not have to quit that masters. Not even close. I almost went through for a Masters of social work myself, and I have been blind since birth. You may not be able to go into it right now. There’s probably a lot that you will need to relearn, and a lot of mental work that you will have to do before going there. But universities all have accessibility offices, where they can accommodate pretty much any disability you can think of. you can probably get mentors and tutors and other kinds of people who will be able to help you as well. Your school will be able to put your materials in a format that best suits your needs.

As for losing your vision in terms of how it affects your appreciation of anime and manga, I am deeply sorry that has happened to you. I am very grateful that I was born without sight, because losing it that much later in life would be devastating. again, allow yourself to grieve that loss for a while. It’s a big one. Maybe someday you will get into audiobooks, but it’s way too early yet. Maybe someday you will be able to watch anime again, hopefully was description or something useful like that. And eventually, perhaps you will be able to develop a different kind of appreciation. But you are right. You lost that ability, and that hurts a lot. There are no quick and easy answers here. You have to allow yourself that time. In time, you begin to learn what you are capable of doing. It’s a lot more than you can see right now, but that’s OK. Someone mentioned finding a therapist, and they are absolutely correct. If you can afford one, I definitely recommend it. I know there are a few blind ones actually that have their masters in social work and have got their own private counselling practice. If you’d like, I can find her info again and send you a private message with it. Maybe you could talk to the one I know about what you were going through, because she went through the exact same thing, and she is doing brilliantly now.

You are not broken or lost. You are just learning your way again. Good luck, and reach out if you need support.

.it sounds like you are still in the comparison phase. you still remember visual life so clearly, and have no idea how to do things blind as it is completely new to you. so it seems impossible. it is kind of like you are still thinking with a sighted brain, if that makes any sense to you. it is understandable that you would be bored when you do not have the knowledge on how to do anything blind. i would be bored at a lecture on astrophysics. the boredom serves a needed purpose, it is your brain motivating you to learn new things, stop looking back.

learn piano, try woodcarving, painting, photography, skateboarding, football/soccer, screaming along to karaoke. these are all hobbies either me or my blind friends do. you just need to learn how to do them.

it may sound a bit harsh, but you kind of need to get to the point where you accept your sight is not coming back, there is nothing you can do about it, and you have a life ahead of you, so there is no point just waiting around at home for things to change. this usually comes after a great depression.

walking is better for you anyway and you will meet new people.

as i understand it america is not very walking-friendly, but i am sure there are some places that are more accessible than others, maybe think about moving to one of those areas once you have the groundings for orientation and mobility.

games can be modded, anime subs can be read aloud, new hobbies can be found. it is not the end of the world.

let yourself wallow in grief for a while. it will be cleansing.

then come back to this sub and begin asking questions on how we adapt things for us, then use the answers to develop your own techniques.

i'm sorry this couldn't be more helpful but to be honest, you are not ready yet. it may take a few months yet. just remember not to feel bad for feeling this way, it is normal.

and remember we are here to help when you need support. :)

By MA do you mean Mass? I'm not American sorry, Perkins school for the blind is in MA, next town to Medford if thats any use to you, they could be a good resource, for mobility training, advice, support, anything really I'm sure they can certainly point you in the right direction if they aren't the right place for you

Obviously time is the biggest factor. I know it's not what you want to hear but it's the truth. You need time to adjust to your new lifestyle.
But maybe listening to some D&D podcasts or something like that will bring you a little bit of entertainment.
There's much more to the world then what you can see. You just have to explore your new world to find what you like. You may find that you like something that you didn't before. You're experiencing the world differently so maybe your tastes adjusted to it too.

Hey. I'm sorry to hear that. That really sucks.

Have you considered picking up an instrument? I play the guitar and only know 5 chords. I just improvise most of the time and I can safely say, I'm a pretty sick guitarist. It takes a while, but can be done.

Have you been receiving any psychological help from a professional to guide you through this period?

Have you heard of audio description? It's a form of voice over that tells you what's happening on screen while you watch a show. Most of the anime on Netflix has it as an option. Obviously it's not the same as seeing the art you love, but it might help you find more enjoyment in television. Take care.

I live in MA as well and just got done with my bachelors degree and thinking about a masters. I been dealing with my eye sight my whole life PM if you ever wanna talk.

You could try audiovault.net for free audio described movies and shows, if you’re into that kind of stuff.

Besides the Mass commission for the Blind, I’d suggest getting in touch with the Mass Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, (MABVI). They offer support groups which may be useful to you.