Hobbies as a Mental Health Barometer

I remember when I taught, we often told parents to be on the lookout for changes in their children. Did their child lose interest in something they used to care about? The implication was their child might be depressed. But what about when you grow up? I lost interest in classroom teaching, but I wasn’t depressed. I was burned out, overworked, and mismatched in a career that didn’t suit my strengths. I thought I had chosen my career wisely, but I chose it when I was too young to really know myself.

My hobby, on the other hand, I definitely chose my hobby. I fell into it willingly and picked it up when I felt like it, which was all the time. Until suddenly, it was never. I wrote this article for Fort Worth Moms over a year ago, but it was just recently published, and it’s bringing back so many memories now that I’m on the other side of traumatic stress. It feels good to be on the other side, but reading this again reminds me how valuable a hobby really is. Check it out here.