How do your diseases/disabilities affect your hobby/work?

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Horma
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How do your diseases/disabilities affect your hobby/work?

#1 Post by Horma »

This is a thread for the suffering artists or something like that.

So, I am autistic. I consider it a good thing when it comes to creativity. However, I can't really enjoy practicing writing and creating assets due to my depression and anxiety. Sometimes I spend most of my days sleeping. I already have medication and I've been through therapy. My instability and apathy don't seem to go away for longer than two to five days in a month. I've been told by doctors to postpone intensive creative projects until I feel better, but what if that day never comes?

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Re: How do your diseases/disabilities affect your hobby/work

#2 Post by Aviala »

I have hypermobile joints in my wrists, which affects my work a lot... The wrist tissue is weaker than normally so I get wrist pains. Not being able to work or participate in my hobbies makes me sad, I even feel depressed sometimes...

I also probably have ADD, no diagnosis yet but my doctor thinks it might be the case since I'm so nervous and restless all the time. It makes it hard concentrating on work sometimes,and drains all my energy so there's sometimes no energy left for work (making games).

OP, I guess you just need to believe you can get better someday? Creative projects are fun but they're also hard work - I've had to learn it the hard way myself. Maybe you can do something smaller and lighter while you're trying to get better, and start a bigger project when you have the strength to work on it?

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Re: How do your diseases/disabilities affect your hobby/work

#3 Post by Cirrocumulus-Cloud »

Ever since I broke my right wrist as a child I have had small problems using my hand for a long time without breaks in between. Six hour exams back in school were hell on earth for me and left me with a lasting pain in my wrist for the next two hours. So if I'm doing long work (be it writing, drawing or doing crafts) I will use my wrist rail. It's made of soft material, so I can still bend my wrist, but it gives it the stability that I need. It's something small in comparison to what other people suffer from, but it is significant enough that it could be considered a problem.

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Re: How do your diseases/disabilities affect your hobby/work

#4 Post by Mammon »

I've seen someone with a similarish story in the 'Get that thing off your chest... Now...' thread a page or two ago. Autistic and depressed, that sounds tough, a terrible combination.

I myself have syndrome of Aspergers, which I consider to be a plus. Increased intelligence, creativity and focus, I've been granted natural gifts that increase my ability to actually finish a project. So what if my instinctive knowledge of social skills is less? I'm pretty happy with my special trait, because I don't consider the autism that I have as a handicap. It's quite likely that I would've never gotten as far in my studies nor two finished projects if it weren't for those different brain folds of mine. ;D

I can't say anything about the depression, and it does sound pretty bad in combination with autism, but the autism: Never consider it a bad thing (unless you've got classic Aspergers). Consider yourself gifted by birth, but with greater challenges to overcome to achieve your aspirations. Every vice of Aspergers can be overcome. Anime and visual novels lend themselves very well for learning the facial expressions that we don't know naturally. The uncomfortability that we have can be overcome with sheer willpower just as much as shy people can do it. The social ques that we don't know, we can learn them like others learn language. You CAN learn human. Overcome those things, and you'll be ahead of the class.
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Re: How do your diseases/disabilities affect your hobby/work

#5 Post by Rarykos »

Well I feel a bit better after reading your experiences. I can empathize with these challenges. I always avoided going to the doctor, mostly because I was afraid of what she'd say. But then I learned my GP is really apathetic and diagnosed me with depression and anxiety only after I tried to off myself and explained that maybe it's not normal that I obsessively bite fingers and pull hair.

I don't know what mental problems I really have and I don't really care. For me my biggest problem is my obsessive mind, it's difficult to keep it under control. When I'm working on a story and one character doesn't make sense I will just sit and think until I come up with a solution or the dawn comes. I will feel super bad if I walk away and my mind will wander back to that problem until I solve it.
I hate this. It's like a switch. Either I don't care about the project/work and can just go at it OR I will spend 5 hours putting objects perfectly in their place pixel by pixel.

I admire Mammon's attitude, it's definitely the way to go!

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Re: How do your diseases/disabilities affect your hobby/work

#6 Post by Imperf3kt »

I wouldn't say it's affected my work yet, as every single time I've had an episode it's been a Saturday or Sunday, but I occasionally get chronic acute vertigo.
I don't know how else to describe it, it has no medical name.

Essentially, I'll wake up one day in immense pain and everything will be spinning rapidly. If I lay on one side and keep absolutely still, normally I can lessen the intense dizziness, but not usually. Its effects include extreme nausea, debilitating spinal pain and pretty much making me feel like shit.
If you've ever had a fever, the effects are similar but far more extreme.
It generally lasts 24-40 hours.

Again, for an unknown reason, it always strikes on Saturdays or Sundays.
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Re: How do your diseases/disabilities affect your hobby/work

#7 Post by YonYonYon »

I suffer from depression and anxiety. These suckers drain all my energy and I'm always sooo tired, it doesn't help that I have a demanding job. I stopped being on medication after I moved out from the bigger city where my therapist lived, and there are no therapists where I live now.

I also suspect I have an ADHD, but, again, no therapists to be sure.
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Re: How do your diseases/disabilities affect your hobby/work

#8 Post by Ghost of Crux »

Am not entirely sure because no official diagnosis, but I'm fairly sure I have ADHD (there were many glaring signs in my childhood) and anxiety, with a usually lowkey depression. It very heavily affected my school work, but usually only affects my hobby (VN in particular) when it's really bad and I'm unable to do anything anyway. I tried going to the one therapist I would trust (a family therapist for over 10 years), but she refuses to give any diagnosis because I think she sees them as damning lmao... I try to manage things myself. It doesn't always work. I almost skipped multiple final exams and I kept almost leaving exams prematurely just because I don't have any mental or physical energy to write one more line.

I work alongside my ADHD, usually. It's not really bad, at least not in ways anxiety and depression are-- I picked up a personalized version of bullet journaling to handle it, and so far it's been working pretty good, considering previous attempts to instill some structure to my life. I actually consider it a good thing, barring the lack of structure and how sometimes it can screw me over by sheer inability to focus-- some people say that I do things really fast, and when I'm on hyperfocus I do a LOT of things really fast. It works really well with VN making-- there are just enough different types of tasks (writing, drawing, coding) that I can keep on going by switching tasks when I start to get bored. And even if I get bored by one task or the other, there are still a lot of things within one activity. When I'm stuck in a conversation menu I just go to a scene I left unfinished and work at that. So... yeah!

OP: It's your call, definitely, but if a creative project or two is what makes you feel better maybe it won't be such a bad thing to have at least some of it in your life? My sister has depression and anxiety for as long as I've remembered (and maybe even BPD; her diagnosis changes a lot), and having work to do in things she liked is the only thing that lessened the intensity of her depressive periods. It's not much, but it's at least something. Up to you, of course; experiences are very different. I hope you can find something that works for you!

Also, Imperf3kt, that sounds absolutely TERRIBLE. is there nothing anyone could prescribe/do to at least lessen the episodes/symptoms? DD:
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Re: How do your diseases/disabilities affect your hobby/work

#9 Post by sasquatchii »

It's both inspiring and heartening to see how other creators here here deal with their diseases, disabilities, and health problems. The discussions on these forums usually tend to be very upbeat, positive, and encouraging, but I'm really glad this thread is here to talk about these issues as well. It's definitely eye-opening for me - I had no idea how many other people here were in the same boat.

I struggle with depression and anxiety. Fortunately, I have an easy job which gives me a great deal of autonomy and flexibility in my schedule, so that helps a lot.

What helps me deal with it the best is exercise, eating well, and getting away from the computer (which is even more important if your work and hobbies are computer intensive like mine are). I go on long walks every day and it gives me a chance to get out of my head and relax a little.
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Re: How do your diseases/disabilities affect your hobby/work

#10 Post by ThisIsNoName »

Imperf3kt wrote: Essentially, I'll wake up one day in immense pain and everything will be spinning rapidly. If I lay on one side and keep absolutely still, normally I can lessen the intense dizziness, but not usually. Its effects include extreme nausea, debilitating spinal pain and pretty much making me feel like shit.
If you've ever had a fever, the effects are similar but far more extreme.
It generally lasts 24-40 hours.

Again, for an unknown reason, it always strikes on Saturdays or Sundays.
I'll be honest, that seems almost exactly like the after effects of a seizure, especially the vertigo and nausea. Have you considered talking to a doctor about it? If you have, you might want to specifically bring up testing for seizures if they haven't brought it up already.

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Re: How do your diseases/disabilities affect your hobby/work

#11 Post by Imperf3kt »

ThisIsNoName wrote:
Imperf3kt wrote: Essentially, I'll wake up one day in immense pain and everything will be spinning rapidly. If I lay on one side and keep absolutely still, normally I can lessen the intense dizziness, but not usually. Its effects include extreme nausea, debilitating spinal pain and pretty much making me feel like shit.
If you've ever had a fever, the effects are similar but far more extreme.
It generally lasts 24-40 hours.

Again, for an unknown reason, it always strikes on Saturdays or Sundays.
I'll be honest, that seems almost exactly like the after effects of a seizure, especially the vertigo and nausea. Have you considered talking to a doctor about it? If you have, you might want to specifically bring up testing for seizures if they haven't brought it up already.
I've been to several doctors. After Cat scans, blood tests and some other general checkups, the best diagnosis I got was an inner ear imbalance causing vertigo.
Medical treatment includes: deal with it.


I can also induce a similar feeling (though minus the pain) if I look up, around or stand up faster than a snail.
I once took my car to an abandoned place to give it some gas, and had to stop after the first powerslide because the Gs made me nauseous.
The thing I really hate about this health issue though, is I cannot fly on planes.
The last/first time I did, I had to be taken out of the airport via wheelchair and was pretty much incapable of doing anything for the next day and a half. Some medicine helped, but I don't like taking it because its so strong it has some pretty severe side effects. Also tastes like bicarbonate and salt. Almost makes me hurl.
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Re: How do your diseases/disabilities affect your hobby/work

#12 Post by BáiYù »

Like many of the other users above me, I have major depression and general anxiety along with PTSD and a lot of crippling self-doubt. It's hard for me to motivate myself to do simple things, and even more so to do something so personal as writing despite clinging to the idea that it's the only thing I have going for me. Hell, even clicking the submit button now is making me anxious.

Just know that you're not alone in this struggle.
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Re: How do your diseases/disabilities affect your hobby/work

#13 Post by ThisIsNoName »

Imperf3kt wrote: I've been to several doctors. After Cat scans, blood tests and some other general checkups, the best diagnosis I got was an inner ear imbalance causing vertigo.
Medical treatment includes: deal with it.
Man, that sucks to hear. At least it sounds like your doctors have some idea of what's going on, even if they can't treat it.

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Re: How do your diseases/disabilities affect your hobby/work

#14 Post by 磯七ラスミ »

Very original stuff, not a good bridge between me and the user.

Not sure if I really have a mental special condition or is only the path I took while weaving my thoughts at free will. It makes me unsure of share my work and tend to think it's no use to actually bring it to real world. Inside my head everything makes sense but to localize it in real world is kinda uninspiring. There's too much to say. When I allow myself to speak I'm very wordy, almost boring. Does it worth to read and see that much, that huge manual, for enjoying this single person's mind? What's your warranty?

So I feel more comfy when my creation is mine alone, my own pond, because I haven't meet people with I have strong bond for the team to improve the creation instead of pulling it off.

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