1y ago

What is a good hobby for a depressed person?

So i still have depression and im constantly bored, i feel like a loser who cant do anything right. I want to let my creativeness out, make something i can share with the world or family, but im probably dreaming too big. I cant stand being depressed and bored, it stinks, everyone tells me to work out but i lack the motivation to do so.

i usually just watch youtube all day while complaining to family members that have no idea what to do about me.

267 comments

Hiking.
I cannot stress this enough.
One of the biggest loops of depression is feeling anhedonic and drained of energy, which keeps you from doing stuff, which keeps you anhedonic and drained of energy.
Go for a hike literally every single day for a whole month. Rate your depression on a scale of 1-10 every day a week before you start, every single day during, and then every day for a week after. You'll see the trend, and hiking will be your new antidepressant.
It's easy. It's walking. It's not competitive, you can go hilariously slowly and still accomplish your goal. You can add hobbies to this hobby, like photography or bird watching. You're probably not getting enough exercise, and being depressed all the time blows.
If you're nerdy and depressed, you may have heard about EMDR, where you sway your eyes back and forth rhythmically while you think about trauma. The doctor who came up with the treatment (that's showing crazy good results) went down the rabbit hole they went down because they noticed walking in the woods helping their depression. They currently think the mechanism has something to do with bilateral stimulation (walking) and constant reframing of your perspective (tree on my right, tree on my left, rock on my right, rock on my left).
Other physical activities are great too, but hiking seems literally taylor made for the depressed.
Do you struggle with anxiety and destructive ruminative thought patterns? Guess what you won't have the energy to do when you're panting for air?
Hiking is a legit way to maintain depression indefinitely. Don't get cozy, though. take a break and your brain will find its way back to it's old antics.
- Walking, or running, is good for your brain in almost every way. My depression was/is coupled with social anxiety so it was hard to get myself to do it but things like walking to the grocery store instead of biking/car helped me change that into 'I'll take a detour'.
  The worst hobbies for me are the ones that are done sitting still, or anything that 'creates' a different 'reality/world'. For me that was anything behind my pc. Woodworking is better for me and allows me not to worry about social stuff but walking is definitely better for my brain.
- Damn I don't even have the energy to get out of bed, how am I supposed to go hiking?
  
  Start with a walk around the block 😊
  Real talk though? Google "no zero days". It's a reddit post from like 10 years ago. That guys post still helping people get away from where you're at. Helped me back in 2012.
  Here
- This was an amazing help last year when my wife was had really bad PTSD symptoms from a medical crisis she had. We walked 3+ miles almost every day last fall through January. She started getting better around then, and we started shortening our walks to 1 mile a day throughout the spring.
  Now it's over 100°F every single day and we are stuck inside for at least another month. Luckily she's doing well these days, but I do miss our walks.
  
  Save up for a hiking trip together 😁
- If you want to throw stuff while hiking, Disc Golf is for you. Honestly I owe playing disc golf much appreciation to getting out of a big slump I was in and losing weight. It’s like hiking, but with a mini game built in.
- Came here to say this. If you have anyone in your life who would be willing to keep you accountable by being your hiking buddy, that helps me a lot. Before my partner and I got together, she was my friend who liked hiking and got tips from a Facebook group on good locations. Every weekend, she had picked a place for us to go. Since I didn't want to let her down, I got my ass out the door. I never regretted a single hike because they were all to great nature spots.
  I realize this is limited by geography. I'm lucky to live in a place with a lot of great trails. I used to live in a place that was flat and uninteresting, so this depends on having access to nice trails.
- I used to hike. Been feeling down lately. This is a great reminder, thank you
- Oh wow, I didn't know the theory behind EMDR, but I've had great success treating my anxiety and depression with both EMDR and hiking. Makes a lot of sense!
- Little things that make solo hikes even more enjoyable:
  Merlin Bird Sound ID app.
  Bringing one piece of hard candy with you
  If you must listen to something, get earphones with a transparency setting where you can still hear birds and leaves crunching under your feet
  A dog
- +1000
- Running too. Almost every activity that makes you sweat can trigger the EMDR effect, and of course has a load of knock-on effects too
  
  The key component of EDMR is bilateral asynchronous stimulation.
  So not anything that makes you sweat can give you the benefits of EMDR. It must engage your left and right hemispheres over and over.
  i.e. bench pressing will make you sweat, is in no way EMDR.
- And if you like to compete with yourself, dish golfing. It's cheap(at least it can be), and it's basically competitive hiking :)

Start playing a musical instrument. Works for me
- i second this and recommend Piano/Keyboard.
  A cheap Keyboard is probably found for 40-50 bucks online and it is a good starting point to also get into the music theory.
  Still the skill ceiling is practically endless.
  
  Keyboard is good. I personally would recommend bass guitar if you like rock music. If you can save up $200-300 and buy a used Squire Precision or Squire Jazz bass, it will literally last you years as long as you change the strings regularly and learn how to do an at-home setup.
  You can pick up the basics and start jamming with people really fast, but the skill ceiling is deceptively high. Bassists are the hardest to find in any band.
  The instrument is fun as hell too.
  
  Same. I'd go crazy without piano / guitar.
- Ukulele is a fun starting instrument, and you can get a serviceable one for ~$50.
  Tons of YouTube tutorials, too.
  
  Ukulele is such an underrated instrument too! It gets ragged on for no reason at all. I've been playing guitar fairly seriously for over two decades and have great guitars, but 90% of the time I find myself with my shitty 10 dollar, plastic-looking (paint) ukulele that has a hole on the back because it was thrown at a wall and writing more songs and still finding new things for playing guitar, just because. My playing transformed once I bought that little thing. I've written my best songs on it.
- Plus it's great to just dump your emotions into as well — especially if you try and learn how to improvise, which is easier than you'd think!
- 100%
  You'll feel great teaching yourself an instrument. Dive right into it. Look up simple things at first, and practice it. Then look up another thing that you don't how to do and practice it. The time goes by fast and before you know it you realize you understand it.
  It's an amazing feeling.

Exercise is the best cure for depression. Get a bicycle and start exploring new places around you. Endurance exercise is most useful for balancing metabolism and hormones. Do it every day, and only for your well being. You may find it is life altering. It only takes around 2 months of pushing yourself when the routine seems difficult. After the initial startup, it becomes harder and harder to stop the routine over time.
A lot of my advanced curiosities and interests all started from needing to fix stuff like my first car, or putting together junk PC parts to get something to play Doom back in the day when Doom was barely on the trailing edge of gaming. Learn to use FOSS tools on a computer. There is a free way to do everything. If you learn these tools well, it will pay off substantially in life. The entire digital underworld runs on open source software.
- I've been severely depressed before. I'm not a physical activity person. I don't like sports overall, and doing some sports makes me feel tired and shitty. I know the idea is to be tired, but that just makes me feel worse. My body hurts and I feel useless because it is so difficult for me to do basic shit. Basically makes depression worse for me.
  
  I'm partially disabled. Like, I am in serious pain right now from spending an hour preparing to cook my one time a week when I make enough to eat all week. This is my whole day. Just cooking. It takes everything I can manage to make it work. I was disabled by a person driving that shouldn't have even had a license because of cognitive limitations. I've been this way since 2014.
  As soon as I got home from the ER I got a cheap laptop and started screwing around with Arduinos to give me something to do.
  I was already a hardcore roadie when I got hit riding to work. In 2009 I was 350lbs. By 2013 I was 190lbs. I had the advantage of being in awesome shape when I got hit, and 2 months after, I was already back on the bike. I never lost my legs, but my thoracic back (between the shoulder blades) never recovered. The pain never stopped. I don't care about the pain. I care about the way I deteriorate when I'm holding posture. If it was just pain, I would manage. But it is like muscles physically failing. If I push through it, I will physically give out and wind up laying on the ground. If I do that I will lose my ability to sleep for weeks. I spend 80% of every day laying in a bed.
  Places like this are my entire social existence at this point. Still, most evenings, I drag myself out on the bike and ride a 25 mile loop. The part of my back that is messed up is neutral on the bike. After riding, I'm completely useless so I have to ride in the evening. It hurts like hell. I can't go much farther or I have neck and back problems. I'm definitely not in race shape any more, but I don't care. Riding keeps me balanced despite being in one of the most depressing possible situations. I get to watch life pass by from the sidelines.
  Other people's life challenges do not change your own. I used to be much less motivated. ADD meds changed that to a large extent. In fact, they are my real pain killers now. I'll trade pain for overwhelming focus any day. I won't claim it is easy to get past the start of a physical routine, but it really isn't as bad as it seems from the other side. There are very few people that lose over 100lbs and manage to keep it off for over a decade. This is how I did it. Everything seems harder for me than other people. It wasn't natural or something I was born with. I can't give you the motivation, but I can say, if you lack motivation in a medically dehabilitating way, see a psychiatrist, tell them about it and suggest that you believe Vyvanse would help. The time release amphetamines are not easy to abuse and are much more likely to get prescribed.
- Thank you, also do you have any foss tool recommendations?
  
  There's are open source communities here! If you search for them, there's several and they are all good. "Opensource" has a megathread somewhere that will give you an idea.
- Get a bicycle and start exploring new places around you.
  Especially during the sun rise. It totally starts your day bit fresh if that could help you a bit.
  
  Yes I hate waking early but a walk or run at sunrise is one of the most encouraging activities of anything I have ever done. Go walk and see the dawning of the day.

Running!
I was clinically depressed from 2002 to 2017. In 2017 I lost coverage and was forced to stop taking my medication.
The medication was wellbutrin. It really helped. I hated that I couldn’t get access to it, but I had to face life without it.
After having ramped down off the stuff, I was okay for a couple of weeks then the darkness started to come in.
In my research I found that exercise does the same thing as my medication (it increases hippocampal volume). So I switched from running about 1 mile per week to about 25 miles per week.
And my depression was gone. The medication managed it, allowed me to live my life. The running destroyed my depression.
IMO depression is caused by brain atrophy, which is caused by lack of moving one’s body. We evolved to be moving so much more, and just like your muscles will atrophy if you’re bedridden, your brain will atrophy if you don’t exert your body. Shrinking brain means life sucks hard.
- I'm glad running has worked for you, but the perspective that depression is a caused by a lack of movement seems dangerous. It implies fit and active people can't be depressed because they are active. That's just not true.
  Activity can help lift someone out of depression, but it's not a cure all barrier between you and the world of mental health.
  
  Okay, fair enough. That’s a good point to bring up. I think that’s one stable path to depression and I think that if a person has never been in good shape that should be their first thing to try after they’re stabilized from any acute danger. (Meaning if the shit’s bad enough just take meds to get out of the hole and be able to operate).
  Maybe their brains are atrophied, maybe those regions are losing processing power, or for some other reason signaling freeze-inducing threat.
  I think the most proximal cause of my depression, at least, is a feeling of overwhelm and hopelessness, that’s so chronic it just suppressed me across the board. And for me, that overwhelm came from normal life, being fed through a hippocampus without enough processing power to plot a path through it all. I couldn’t be sure, so I slowed down across the board, ie became avoidant and unmotivated.
  So what I tell myself is that the growth of the hippocampus allowed me to just handle more complexity before it sent the overwhelm signal to the rest of my brain and caused a shutdown. Instead I got to operate more freely with more confidence that I was on solid ground, because I could see better.
  But the prediction and seeing wasn’t the most proximal cause. Being able to see better made me more confident, lowered my stress response, lowered my physiological alert level.
  But for someone else it could be their hippocampus shrank for some other reason. Or it’s inflammation cause by a food, and that cuts the processing power down. Or unconscious or conscious mental conflict, sapping processing power.
  And it doesn’t even have to be the hippocampus. That’s just one input into the emotional system. Presence of abuse or enemies, presence of hopeless circumstances, straight up cell malfunction with neurotransmitters, all sorts of shit can go wrong.
  I do think hippocampal atrophy is one of many possible paths to developing depression, and I don’t want to give the impression that what I said was a totally complete model.
  It’s my model of how it happened to me, and I think it applies to a large fraction, possibly even half, of the root of people’s depression.
  And I’m basing it on three things:
  How completely and utterly it worked. Better, more complete eradication than the meds had ever accomplished. (though I’m thankful for the years they helped me and the first moments they lifted me from the muck)
  How totally ignorant I, and apparently all my practitioners too, had been of that effect
  How drastically little activity I was doing, as a result of exerting myself in exercise maybe once every couple of weeks. I’d do it as a quick pick me up from time to time, not as an ongoing habit.

You have lots of good answers posted but here is the trick...You have to START.
You don't need to sign up at the gym today and build a schedule to work out. That's way too much commitment. Instead just go outside.
That's it. Just put down the phone and go outside. Spend 5 or 10 mins out there. You didn't run a marathon, but you've done something today. Maybe later today you can go outside again. Tomorrow so the same thing. Put the phone down and go outside for a short time.
You gotta start somewhere, so make it easy and start small. Eventually you'll spend more time outside and less time doing nothing. Maybe you see cool plants and start getting into gardening. Maybe you find that walking isn't so bad and you find a park with a nice trail and work into jogging? Maybe the kid down the street wrecks his minibike in front of your house while you're outside and you stop to help and think the tiny motorcycle is cool and get inspired to start riding.
tldr- Don't just pick someone else's hobby. Put down the phone and go experience life outside your home. The hobby will likely find you when you start paying attention instead of distracting yourself.
- When I felt severe depression, I struggled so much with feeling good about what I did. I thought it had to be significant to be worthy of enjoying.
  It took me a very long time to start celebrating any tiny thing that I did. Sometimes it was doing something frivolous and feeling good about it for its own sake. Sometimes it was doing some productive and feeling good about achievement. They had one thing in common: I gave myself permission to feel satisfied with even tiny steps.

First and foremost I want to second anyone who brought up cooking. Learning to cook a meal perfectly to your tasted is both accomplishing and sharable.
For the geekier stuff, I have taken up Gundam model kits in the last year. You can start off with simply building them straight from the box. There are also a ton of ways to customize them such as repainting, adding decals, create "weathering" effects and "kit bashing" (mixing models together to make your own new model). It has been a very nice outlet whenever I want to be crafty.
- I second Gunpla, it's incredibly mindful to just crank some tunes and clip runners, sand nubs, and slowly watch something come together that seemed impossible from flat plastic. Then you see the articulation and and even more blown away by the engineering of it all.
- I'm going to need you to elaborate on the Gundam model kits. Sounds cool as hell. Any good resources for getting started? Any recommended kits for beginners? Is it an expensive hobby?
  
  There are lots of guides on YouTube but this should suffice.
  Costs are sort of just down to how into it you want to get. Kits range from $10-$300. I usually build ones in the $30-$80 range. You can get lots of fancy tools but really, just get a decent pair of sidecutters and a hobby knife (exacto or other brand) and maybe a sanding stick. I actually started with a nail polishing block that you can get at any store that has nailpolish.
  Kit wise, really just start with a HG (High Grade) or EG (Entry Grade) that looks cool to you. If you find you enjoy the process more than the end product you can get into RG (real grade) or MG (Master Grade). All but MG are a 1/144 scale while MG is 1/100 scale. MG and RG are much more intricate.
  As a last word of caution, the earlier RGs were not designed very well, each kit has a number, currently their are ~40 of them with the last 10 or so just being tiny MGs. The earlier ones can be great but need a bit more love to get right.
  My personal favorite kit I have built is the RG Hi-Nu Gundam

Knitting, crocheting, embroidery, cross stitch, etc. The work is meditative, and you get in a groove waiting to see what the next row or stitches will look like. Producing an object feels productive, and gives a feeling of accomplishment.
Choose bright colors and fun patterns, and it's a lot of fun. There are patterns for all interests, so don't think this is the realm of only little old ladies. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
- There are also a lot of kits that include most of what you'll need (especially for cross stitch). It can be a really convenient way to start and most kits come with really good instructions on how to cross stitch too.

I had a conversation with a coworker recently and we got to the topic of working out, and he told he's working out two times a day. He goes to the gym before and after work.
I asked him why the hell he would go twice, like that's just ridiculous and he said well he was depressed, and started working out. Everyone said it'd help with the depression, but it helped only a bit. So he figured well maybe he has to go even more.
It's absolutely ridiculous imo, but.. whatever helps one I guess
- The endorphins from working out do absolutely help a ton. Though 2x a day is certainly excessive lol.
  
  If one of the two sessions is cardio, then it's not too bad. But yeah, lifting weights twice a day would be extremely difficult to recover from.

Making food, either baking or cooking. They focus you on the here and now and you eat well to boot.
A hobby that has helped me a lot is knitting. It’s simple to learn and it’s another truly mindful thing to do for you.
- I second cooking!
- Yes! I struggle to motivate myself to stick with hobbies. I love photography, making art, writing - but often the motivation is just lacking. But cooking? I'm biologically motivated to cook (most days) so it's easy to keep up with. All I have to do is save recipes and plan ahead just a little

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
I describe it as "playfighting for adults". It's a ground-based, grappling combat sport where your aim is to submit your opponent via joint locks and chokes.
It sounds simple enough, but there is a surprising amount of skill to it. A black belt takes roughly ten years to get, and unlike martial arts where you see 12 year old black belts, all black belts are adults, and you'll almost never see a black belt that doesn't have the skill to back it up.
A lot of people find that it really helps them with depression and socialising. While it's absolutely NOT a replacement for therapy, you hear countless stories of people in a bad place mentally and physically, finding solace and meaning in BJJ.
- I always described BJJ as chess with full contact. Lots of thinking and strategy.

Hiking. It costs nothing and you can create your own meaning from it. You can do the same trail over and over and know the place intimately, or you can make it a goal to do as many as possible and keep track of them all with souvenirs or art or whatever you want. The benchmark for success is what you define. And it's got a bonus of being good for your body.
I'd also suggest traditional music, but maybe keep it simple and cheap... ukulele, didgeridoo, or tin whistle. It's a low bar for entry and it's inherently social, all about jamming and being inclusive. Didgeridoo is more solitary, if that's what you prefer. These instruments have almost no ongoing costs and are great for learning the basics of music.
Instruments arr both humbling and also affirming. You can make noticeable progress and, again, define your own success. All my best friendships came through playing music. It's an endless source of joy for me. I generally tend toward depression but music keeps The Big Sad at bay
- I’ve only known the hike “as many different trails as possible” method but am intrigued by the “make one trail your own” method.
  
  I do both. I do lots normal public trails, but theres also a secret spot that I've found and been back like 40 times over 10 years. I feel like i know every tree, rock, and stump, but each time, I find something new and interesting. Its a 1sq km area of granite, forest, and stream. So peaceful. Its about 1km off an overgrown, uninteresting logging track, nobody ever goes there but me. In fact Im going back again on sunday, hoping to photograph some rock dragons.

For me getting back into LEGO really helped, it's a nice and relaxing activity. Also depending on your interests a hobby like flying FPV quadcopters can be a lot of fun. Forces you to go outside too which is always good :-)
- I just picked up a DJI avata, while not the fastest pov, it is a really fun experience.
- I also got into Legos when I was depressed. In general, working with your hands helps with depression.

Photography.
You can set up a little studio area in your house and start with still life pictures. Search for Danish Still Life Paintings for some ideas - I'm sure there's plenty of YouTube rabbit holes for more ideas. Or, just take up painting!
Photography is also a great excuse to get out of the house and walk around. Whether it's street photography or landscape or close up nature photography, there's always something to take pictures of. Give yourself little assignments - just circles today, just signs, just shadows, etc.
Either way, this is a creative outlet that you can share with others as you progress and get better. Who knows, you might start printing your images and have a gallery showing at a cafe!

Anything where you get to be physically active or mentally creative.
Passively consuming content is extremely unhealthy in large doses: TV, youtube, even reading is not healthy after a certain point. Humans were meant to be physically active creatures above all, not meant to stare at screens for long periods of time like many of us are doing now.
The best de-stressers are things like playing a musical instrument, painting, knitting / crocheting, hiking / going for walks / runs, exercising, meditating. I would go completely bonkers if I didn't have piano and weight-lifting.
Oh also, maintaining a regular cardio / activity regimen with something like PAI, will also help you live a lot longer too. With a cheap smartwatch that supports it, you can kind of game-ify your cardio health.
- I used to have a watch with PAI built in and it was a great way to see how I've been doing over the last week. My current watch doesn't support it and I almost didn't get it because of that.
  
  I honestly don't think I could switch to one without it. I'm weak and these gamification methods work on me.
  Plus its just a simple single number that encompasses your overall cardio health. The trend with a lot of watches now seems to be to throw an overwhelming amount of un-actionable metrics at you.

Frisbee golf. It's cheap, fun but challenging, and outdoors. Worst case scenario, you go on a long walk and bump into some interesting people. If you're in a medium sized city or larger, there is probably a course and league near you.
The culture is generally very polite and fun to be around. Lots of harmless stoners and 30yo bearded people with beers in hand. In the south there is starting to be some influence from megachurches using it as an enticement, so I'm not sure if it's "cleaned up" a little more down there.
- Very solid answer. Just make sure to watch a couple YouTube videos tutorials on how to throw correctly so you can quickly make.progress toward being good enough such that you don't just lose your discs every time you throw them. It's a lot more fun when that annoyance is less frequent.

Model railway...
Build your own buildings...
This one, i made myself. https://japix.schuerz.at/p/jakob/402735537014407232
Did not know before, that i can do this... 😊
Made me really happy and proud.
- The details look great!
  
  Thank you! :)
- Nice job, those look really good.
  
  thanks :)

Go exploring. On whatever mode of transportation you prefer, in whatever area you like. Set small goals for each trip (this is important to keep you from just wandering completely aimlessly). Maybe try to find a new restaurant of a cuisine you've never tried. Maybe find a street or alleyway you've never visited and see what's there. Maybe go find the biggest tree in the park. Basically just go see what's out there.
If you struggle coming up with your own fun goals, try geocaching instead.
- I used to ride my bike a lot when I was young to the point where it became my automatic thing to do whenever I was feeling stressed/anxious/depressed. The adventures I went on, while also being outside in nature and in the sun (or moonlight) would always pick me right back up.
  I only realized this recently as I've had a huge urge to buy a bike again but didn't know exactly why.

Many people have suggested walking and creative outlets. I think painting rocks is a good way to merge the two together. Go on a walk with the intention of finding a rock you like. It can be big, small, smooth, rough, maybe the shape of the rock reminds you of something or maybe it’s just a rock. Then at home just paint it however. It’s low stakes cause it’s just a rock, it has a clear finish point, it can be as high or low effort as you want. Big, small, plain, intricate, concrete, abstract. Just get a rock and put some paint on it and then you can feel accomplished cause you did something good for yourself.
- I really have the urge to paint a rock now.

I was in a similar boat and I really can’t overstate how much working your way into an exercise routine will help. It feels impossible to start at first, but if you just commit to 30 minutes daily of walking/stretching/yoga, you’ll be amazed how quickly it goes from being an awful chore that takes tons of willpower, to a regular part of your routine that feels weird to skip.
Exercise is like a weird super power that genuinely makes you more confident, gives you more energy for mental tasks, and makes the rest of your life better. When I think back on my adult life, my mental health has always tended to go down when I would stop exercising, and it’s only when I would start again that things started getting better
- I'd like to add to that that if you have ADHD the "quickly goes from chore to regular part of your routine" might never happen. That's not your fault, you are not lazy, you are just not able to form routine habits.
  
  Well, fuck.
- 30 minutes was too much for me to even contemplate when I was at my most depressed, so I started at 5 minutes of just doing arm rotations, hip rotations, and ankle rotations.
  Still helped, and I didn’t have the added physical fatigue of a full workout on top of my anhedonia. And eventually, since I was already out of my bed, it also got me thinking about what else I could do in 5 minute intervals.
  I’m not saying it cured my depression, cleared my skin, and did my taxes. But the 5 minutes of dedicated movement of my body every day was my first step in managing my mood and tackling the monster depression had become in my life.

I see a lot of physical activities around here, and I strongly agree. Find something that gets you outside and makes you move around. Hiking, biking, running, team sports, climbing - all great. Find whatever suits you and is within your area.
I recently got into disc golf. It's something i look forward to play, and it makes me go outside often and I meet a lot of new people while playing.

@QuietStorm I find gardening a great help. Watching something grow, taking care of flowers and veggies is rewarding.
- Outdoor gardening is surprisingly easy to get into and it is super cool to see how big plants can get with a little water and care. Also it’s like a pet in that it helps you get out on the bad days since they need tending.

Adding to all of the other comments, I have to add to the music suggestions: You DO NOT even have to learn an instrument. Learn how to make electronic music (you don't have to make techno or other such electronic electronic music. Just lay down a drum track and add a little sound here and another there. YouTube is full of tutorials for full blown DAW's/workstations and the simplest apps. Get Koala Sampler or some other app for your phone or better yet, tablet.
Even simpler, try an app called Keylimba, the default sound is a soothing thumb piano/marimba, and for just a couple euros/bucks you can get a range of instruments, but the marimba is very well enough for a long ass time. With it you can just have the thing loop whatever base you put in and just, pluck a sound here and there. I'm a half-pro musician and I still often find myself just relaxing with it. Making a simple chord structure and just chilljamming away. Music isn't hard and difficult, people/society just approaches it in a really backwards way. Anyone can do music. Sequencers and loopers are such an underrated tool for learning and creativity. You don't have to mind any theory at all, just do what feels good.
I also have to add - meditation. Get a calm album or find one on YouTube that has music you enjoy, or even look up a guided meditation on YouTube, there's tons. Meditation is great if you can find even a moment to focus/unfocus on it.
- Learning how to DJ is another good way to get into the world of music. The first time you get two songs to smoothly blend together feels like magic.
  Then when the time comes to buy turntables, learning to scratch is even more rewarding. But don't go spending any money just yet. Start off with a free copy of Virtual DJ, and learn the basics with a mouse and keyboard. The hardware comes later when you decide that you'd actually like to pursue this hobby. At that point you'll have to decide if you want to go with Seraro, Traktor, or Rekordbox. They all have their niche uses depending on what kind of DJ you want to be. But start off with VDJ first.
- Yep, in my highschool/college depression days, making YouTube videos on music production helped me keep my head up.

Working out. Either biking, walking, lifting weights, doing martial arts, etc. It doesn't matter. In some of my lowest points if my life I started working out and it helped. It didn't fix it but it really helped my mood improve. It also raises your self-esteem. I did a couple of years of BJJ and it really made me feel better about myself. Now I go to the gym and lift weights. Looking better and seeing the weights I can lift become heavier do a lot of me.
Music. Pick up a guitar. Thomann sells really cheap guitars that are great for beginners. Learn some songs you love and play along with them. Just look up tabs online and go from there. Eventually, you'll realize that you can use the instrument as a constructive channel to your emotions.
Both (or even most) suggestions you're going to hear about this topic take discipline. There is a reason for that. These things are rewarding proportional to the effort you put in. Seeing yourself improve at whatever you choose ultimately will only happen when you make the time and put in the effort. Do not be discouraged. The first few weeks are always hard but you can build good habits in a short time.

Depressed people make the best bread.
- Sourdough is great because your starter is like a very low maintenance pet that you can periodically eat parts of. I named mine Phil Colonies
- Oh yeah, this is a great one. People love receiving a loaf of bread as a gift and it's really gratifying to see
  
  I made bread in Lockdown 1. I may have to pick it back up again, just to give my mates some.

Climbing / bouldering
I concur with most other people in this thread. Any exercise will do wonders. This is coming from a guy who's been into nerdy stuff my entire life - getting into a rhythm of actually wanting to do exercise is alfa omega.
I'm throwing bouldering into the pool of options. I've heard people with ADHD often get really into it because it is easy to get into, and does not demand a lot of prep work.
It can be expensive some places, but if the thing makes me work out without me even "knowing it" then it's worth the money for me.
- I don't think I have ADHD but it really was a sport that when I started it just felt right. It's never a chore to do and in most places you get to talk to a lot of different people while doing it.
- Also it's really easy to make friends while bouldering, especially if you find another group of people with the same skill level. Working problems together is great fun, but you still get to try the problem on your own.
  Also fit climber men and women tend to be stupidly hot.

Taking care of pets might help with your mood and help you meet other people as well.

programming. you can do cool stuff on your own

One that you spend time on. They call it "behavioral activation", basically just keep pushing.

factorio
- I am so glad I got that out of my system. For now at least. I play around with and program conveyor as my job, so I got a little burnt out at one point seeing it 24/7.
  Who am I kidding? The factory must grow!
  
  https://youtu.be/maxsZF-rsb4
- No time to be depressed, gotta get this nuc plant online! Fucking kovarax takes an eternity to spin up enough enriched!
- https://youtu.be/maxsZF-rsb4
  
  Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/maxsZF-rsb4
  Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
  I'm open-source, check me out at GitHub.

Going on random long walks.

Not sure if they count as hobbies since they're ones that didn't wholly develop consciously, but photography and cryptography are the two that get me by.

Roller skating or roller blading can be an alternative to hiking, walking, and running that is loads of fun. This option can cost a bit more upfront for skates and protective gear but that can be minimized if you try to buy second hand.
I like this option since it can invoke more of a childlike fun and still get you out of the house. It's also arguably a cool hobby. Skating and blading works well if you live in a place that's more urban/suburban. You're not competing with anyone (except the you of yesterday). It's great to feel the wind and road fly by once you get good enough.
If anyone decides to try it, I recommend finding a flat, smooth spot and wearing a helmet and pads to start. Watch videos to improve your skills. Connect with other skaters online and in person if/when you feel comfortable doing so.

Mountain biking.
- Not op, but really interested in the sport.
  What would one do when there are no mountains around them?
  Sincerely,
  Someone in a >flat< country 🇩🇰
  
  I live 8 hours away from mountains so I understand. I try to drive out when I can a couple times a year but I ride local trails 3-5 times a week. One of the most popular mountain biking destinations in the USA has no mountains (bentonville).
  You can search your area on mtb project and find trails.
  
  It's worthwhile as long as there are trails, even if they are more or less flat
  I'm not a big fan of road biking, due to the behavior of car drivers.

I started doing diamond art. Here is a cheap set with honestly 100+ hours of content. AMAZON LINK
I would put on a TV show and sit at my desk and Diamond art for a few hours before bed. Each picture takes 10-15 hours in my experience. When I was done I would find someone to give the picture to.
So not only have you accomplished something and you can SEE THE PROGRESS, you don't need a big shift in your life of watching youtube, and at the end you get to make some else happy by giving them a gift. And for a hobby it's fairly inexpensive.

Gardening is great and forces you to care for a thing.
- But it's also hard for someone with depression, because you will kill things while you learn, and that can make you feel even more worthless and useless.
  THAT SAID. If you try it and actually discover you have an interest in it, it's a lot easier to get past the, "Fuck, I killed another one!" and slide into, "How do I not fucking kill another one?!"
  Source: me :/
  
  Aww I wish I could give you a hug
- Start with peas I'd recommend. They grow and produce quickly. Super tasty right off the vine too.

Lego are hella fun

Exercise. Not kidding, it will help.
And cooking. Healthy food will also help. Make sure you get liver in there.

Cycling did wonders for my mental health. It's something I can do solo but I also do it socially (I represent a local advocacy club). Being outside, feeling the wind, exploring your surrounding in a new light, etc. For working out, I believe than in the beginning it requires more discipline than motivation. Set yourself a goal, like riding/running/lifting/whatever for x amount of time (say 30min everyday o 2-3x a week) and just. do. it. Do it even if you don't feel like it, make a routine out of it to create anticipation. In time you'll notice that it gets less and less hard to get up and do the activity and then comes the movitation (like wanting to go farther, faster, lift heavier weights, etc).
If you're not feeling like going outside and since you mention wanting to make something, I'd recommend crochet or knitting. With crochet you can make amigurumi (stuffed toys) and with knitting you can make small items to gift (beanies, hats, cowls, scarves, etc). I recently discovered this craft myself and after noticing a positive effect I looked it up and turns out repetitive hand motions actually increase serotonine release. Plus the feeling of achievement after completing an item after some/lots of effort (and cursing) is very rewarding.

Already mentioned. But hiking or uust going for a walk. Even light exercise (such as walking) have been proven to improve mood (and bodily health)
Bring a camera and take some pictures.
Take new random routes
Say hi to random people and/or animals
Me and my wife do a daily little walk. We meet neighbourhood cats etc all the time. Its nice and fun
- Bro it's 116°F outside; I'm not going for a walk, lol
  
  Good point.. :(
  
  47°C! WTF?! Why do people live there?

Some form of exercise, I like weight lifting (bodyweight fitness is also fantastic)
Be disciplined and go even when you don't want to because when you're there you're glad you are. If you progressively overload every workout you aim for a new best, something to strive for. Then at the end you get the happy chemicals. Working out is amazing for improving mental health, and you get good visual and physical health benefits too.

As someone with self-diagnosed mild depression and probably adhd, I've struggled with this.
Lots of people have suggested running or walking, can confirm, that does help. I would also add music to that. Throw on headphones, start your favorite playlist, crank it up good and loud, and go for a walk/jog/run. No one is watching you, no one is judging you. Silently lip sync sing with the songs as expressively awesome as you can (or sing out loud for real if you can, but I know this would be hard for me, for whatever reason I'm much less self conscious about my ridiculous facial gymnastics as long as I'm quiet about it). Like for real, pretend this is your song, and you're performing it live at your band's concert. Entertain the shit out of your imaginary audience. Belt it out like there's no tomorrow. To quote Straylight Run's "Existentialism on Prom Night," sing like you think no one's listening. Combined with the physical activity, you'll feel great when you get back home. For even better effect, find a bunch of songs where the tempo matches your walking speed. Then you can really get into a groove with it.
I also go on walks with my wife most evenings now, no music/headphones, just kinda small talk and enjoying each other's company, and it's helped get some things back on track with our marriage too. Better communication. Not both of us sitting on the couch silently doomscrolling and ignoring each other.
I can also suggest 3d printing as another good hobby, though this one will cost you, so it comes with the caveat that you'll probably want to have at least a bit of discretionary income if you want to pick this one up. There are tons of free, ready-made models on sites like thingiverse.com, thangs.com, or printables.com. Public libraries sometimes have 3d printers available for public use, and any makerspace worth their salt will have some too, if you're in an area that has something like that. So you can piddle around with it a bit before you really start laying out cash, see if it's something you'll like.
Start small, find a dinky little trinket or toy or something that can be printed quickly, and watch that mfer come into existence layer by layer. It's addicting. When the print bed slides out at the end with a physical object that didn't exist an hour ago, it's kind of fantastic.
Once you decide that you like it, you'll want to get a printer of your very own. You can find very hands-on tinkery printers (creality ender 3 series) for $100 and up, if you're good getting your hands dirty and buying more parts to "fix" some of the entry-level shortcomings. Good, ready-made "as good as your gonna get" options from Prusa or Bambu are higher priced initially ($500+) but won't require nearly as much extra money for upgrades and tweaks. Filament usually costs about $20-30/roll depending on how fancy you want. You can do toys. You can do lithophanes (cool 3d printed photographs). You can print replacement parts for random shit in your house that breaks. Guns. Action figures. You can print an entire fucking life sized Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton (Reddit link, warning to anyone who's avoiding the old site). And all the while, you'll need to read and research and tweak and change and do all kinds of little mental tasks to engage yourself and pull out of your funk.
Your thing will fail sometimes. You'll run out of filament. Your settings will be wrong. You'll end up with a big blob of plastic spaghetti. But that gives you incentive to find and fix what went wrong and try again. It'll come out right eventually, and it feels great when it does.
Once you've gotten your feet wet with models from the Internet, you can get into starting to learn modeling yourself, with Blender or FreeCAD or any number of other apps. And if you thought it felt good when your cheesy little boat or octopus from the Internet finished, let me tell you... When your own model, that you created from absolutely nothing, comes off the printer as a real honest-to-god physical object, looking exactly like it did in your head, it's sublime!
Anyway. Good luck to you. Good on you for reaching out and looking for ways to improve yourself. I hope you find something that works for you.

exercise

I was in a similar situation an year ago. I'm still not where I want to be, but I'm getting there.
Ideally, a routine which incorporates enough physical exercise, challenge and rest will get you to a much better state of mind.
There's a reason why many of the comments on this post are about physical activities. It just works.

Singing. It literally bumps up your dopamine level.

It may have been suggested but a friend of mine who suffers with depression really enjoys jigsaws and lego?
- Or do you have anyone you know with a dog you can take for walks, if so maybe do it regularly as having a routine can help also

Could try 3D printing. I recently picked up an Ender 3 printer and have been having a lot of fun. I'm in a pretty good spot with a few figures printed and I'm ready to start doing the clean up and polishing type stuff. After I feel like I have a good process I'll start figuring out the best ways to paint.
It's been a fun hobby with a seemingly endless amount of depth, so there's always something to learn or just improve your current process.
The printer I got, plus the filament was around $195 to get started. Budget permitting I think its a fun creative outlet.

Photography - added benefit is that you will usually go out for this
Music - an instrument is good
Drawing/Painting
Programming (hit or miss, I found learning unity was fun)
Video making - recording video games playthroughs, cooking, and so on.
Finally, one that usually everyone probably also may mention - Therapy - not a hobby but having to be able to talk about it is often good
This is of course not an exhaustive list - but it depends on what your interests are. Hope this is a good pointer to what you're looking for.
- Programming can be really rewarding and creative. It can also be really, really frustrating, because it might take ages to fix a problem just because some tiny detail went wrong. That might be a problem if you're struggling with motivation and confidence.
- i have been wanting to do game making but im not sure because i cant code, so matter hard i try i cant, ive wanted to try ai but that seems to ruin the point kinda, so i guess im up for recommendations for languages or engines but idk, also im major dylexic.
  ive also wanted to make a comic but im not sure where to start or how to come up with a good idea.
  ive wanted to make videos and post them but im not sure who would watch my trash gaming videos and even where to post them at?
  got any more advice because from what you said theses 3 interest me and i have a low end computer too, and also im trying to get into therapy.
  
  You can start small with making comics by downloading a free drawing app and just experimenting. The one I use is called ibis Paint X but there really are tons of them.
  What I do is when I notice I'm just scrolling for no reason, I'll switch apps and try to draw something instead. Sometimes I like what I draw and other times I don't; the important thing is to just spend time doing it.
  
  You could join many of those together with renpy. It's a really easy to understand Visual Novel engine. You'd do a video game that's basically a comic. In the end it doesn't matter if your game ever gets finished, just expressing ideas onto the screen can be super fun as well.
  Even if your Computer is slow, you can do some low end 3d artwork with Daz studio for example to get the visuals. 3Dlight is an admittedly old render engine but it will let you do some characters and such for your novel.
  
  If you want to get into things but are unsure how to get started, I recommend checking out your local community college. Having a class is nice because it provides the starting point and goal so you don’t get overwhelmed with where to start. I find I really benefit from the schedule that taking classes enforces, otherwise I find myself really struggling to make progress when I do learning on my own. Also it comes with its own built in community that you can reach out to if you’re stuck. Classes tend to be really affordable so it’s a way to try things out casually.
  
  Coding is bit hit and miss. Long back I had used unity and c#, (both were new to me). As of recent, I've been trying to learn godot and c# since I've played a few 2d games. Maybe these would be a good starting point. You may find other engines that require less to no coding as others suggested to be better.
  Comics could be funny, informative, or maybe just an "today was interesting" thing, or even introspection. Anything that feels interesting to you.
  Videos are even more open, you can make videos on a lot of topics, anything you find interesting, anything you want to teach, and so on. Gaming videos are also nice, once you've started you can learn a lot and settle on something that you'll like (what you play, how you play, how you communicate with your audience,...). There's two big places - YouTube and Twitch. Both are I'd say good places.
  A low end computer should hopefully not be a dealbreaker for you, it should be a good way to start. If you're worried that is the case, you can look around and confirm if it can be used to start.

Try writing anything. It doesn't matter what. It doesn't matter how much. Just try. Whenever you have the impulse, just write something. Don't worry about what it is, just let it out. Do it for as long as you like: 30 seconds or 30 minutes.
You never have to show any of it to anyone... until you suddenly decide one day that you'd like to. Until then, it's just for you.
Peace.

Pick up whittling. This what I did when I was struggling in early covid. The start up cost is low and u can get as creative as u want. Im not very creative so make spoons and give them to family and friends but also make little figures like gnomes, wizards, rabbits, fish.
If u got wood and a semi decent knife, u can start right now
- Do you suggest something like this for starting wood? Should I just try using a pairing knife to see if I enjoy it or should I buy a kit?
  
  Sorry for not seeing this sooner. I haven’t gotten a hang of the best way to check if anyone replies to comments in Lemmy yet. Your post is the perfect starting wood. Basswood is soft and cheap so you can make cool things and practice pretty easily. I wouldn’t use a pairing knife though. Not to say you can’t but u might wreck that pairingknife. You can get cheap semi decent knives from companies like flexcut or morakniv and then move from there. My first couple knives specifically for wood were a whittlin jack (I think this is by flexcut) and a morakniv 120. Both about 40$ and still hold up great. The first knife I actually used was a Victorinox Swiss Army knife and was just something I had around the house. I think it was 20$. Not built for whittling but will work fine. Honestly use whatever your comfortable with. Once you get into it you will get a better idea of what you want in a knife and n apiece of wood. Happy to help with any advice if u need any. Not an expert but can give you any tips I’ve picked up since I’ve started.

I recently started watching videos of people mowing lawns and it's been making me feel great.
- You may also enjoy driveway repaving and power washing videos.
  
  Omg yes. I have watched powerwashing videos before and love it.

Echoing others, outdoor exercise is definitely the most restorative activity for me.
To add to this though, I also have taken up Photography as a way to add to or enhance my hobbies and activities.
I usually bring a camera with me on hikes, trips, walks, bike rides, nearly anytime I leave the house. It helps me see the world with my creative switch “on” but without the pressure of having to take an amazing photo - something I feel when I only bring out a camera for special occasions.
I also want to stress the importance of taking photos for yourself as the primary goal, and if only sharing photos that you personally like, not photos that you think others will like.

267 comments