In the last post, I talked about hobbies.

In this post, I’d like to open the discussion up to anything that helps to distract you or make you feel good.

There are a myriad of things that might fit that bill.

In addition to blogging, if some of you have pets, I know that they can be of great benefit.

I personally am not able to have pets, because taking care of them is quite difficult for me.

What types of entertainment do you engage in, that you can do again and again?

Do you have any hobbies? If not, can you get a hobby?

If you have some hobbies, are you able to work on any of them?

The only thing I am able to do with any consistency is blog.

I can’t even engage in good personal hygiene.

But, blogging I can do.

To the outsider looking in, they don’t understand it.

Hell, I am not sure I always understand it.

Yet, this is my reality. And, hobbies seem to help with it.

Is blogging a good hobby for you? Do you have any other hobbies that you enjoy?

For me, there is a possibility of becoming overstimulated.

And, that seems to be fairly common for a lot of mental illnesses.

What I’ve also noticed with my schizoaffective disorder, is that I can read into things and become delusional or have hallucinations.

I oftentimes try and connect the dots, and when that happens, I’m really in a bad way.

So, what is your diagnosis, and how does entertainment affect you?

I use entertainment for distraction from my symptoms, and to try and enjoy myself whenever possible.

In addition to watching movies and TV Shows, I also write electronic music.

It has been awhile since I’ve had any motivation to do that.

I keep saying I will create some music, but I am symptomatic enough that I have no desire to do so.

I want to, but again, it’s not happening…

What type of entertainment do you participate in?

Watching movies in the theater is costly, and it doesn’t usually work very well for me.

You have the cost factor, and then there is my attention span, which is quite unpredictable.

So, why waste money on something that is so hit or miss?

I usually don’t, unless it’s a super big hit, or something like Star Wars.

Then, I do my best to stay awake and enjoy things.

Have you personally noticed any non-helpful forms of entertainment?

I don’t play video games. And, it took a lot of time and a lot of persistence for me to be able to watch movies and TV Shows.

And, I still can’t just sit in front of the television for a movie or a show on command.

Invariably, I will do something on my laptop while the media plays in the background.

And, while I can pay better attention today, things didn’t begin to change for me until I met my wife nearly two years ago.

She has slowly gotten me to watch some things, but again, I spend a decent amount of time on my laptop.

How do you enjoy a movie or TV Show? Do you get distracted by them?

Every Monday for six weeks.

Begins April 27, 2020!

The components of this series are:

April 27, 2020: Helpful Forms Of Entertainment
May 4, 2020: Non-Helpful Forms Of Entertainment
May 11, 2020: How You Can Use Entertainment
May 18, 2020: How Entertainment Affects People With Mental Illness
May 25, 2020: How To Create Your Own Entertainment
June 1, 2020: How Entertainment Can Fit Into Your Day To Day