[ SECRET POST #2750 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2750 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 058 secrets from Secret Submission Post #393.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 2 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

03. http://i.imgur.com/JoH0ZEW.png

[lunabee34]

I hear ya, OP. The time in my ten years of online fandom that I was the most active was also when I was the most depressed. I can always gauge when I'm starting to get anxious, stressed, or depressed because my tendency to bury myself in a fic archive and just passively read dramatically increases.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm just the opposite. When I'm depressed I check out of fandom almost completely. :-/

[(Anonymous)]

Me too. I have certain fandoms that I binge on when I'm unhappy and don't pay attention to at all when I'm not. It also goes the other way around; when I'm unhappy there are fandoms I can't look at because they're fandoms I got in when I was happy IRL and looking at them when I'm unhappy makes me feel worse.

[elaminator]

Been there, done that. :/ There are worse things to cling to (and be involved in) than fandom, so I suppose that's something, but not terribly helpful. Sorry, OP. I hope you don't 'need' it all that much in the future.

[ibbity]

That's pretty common. I was horribly depressed for years when I was younger, for a variety of fairly compelling reasons, and that was when I really started to dig in to fandom. my diaries from the time are full of feels about various things I was fangirling about because that was the only part of my life that brought positive feelings to me.

[cloud_riven]

Yeah, measured escapism is better than ending up completely avoiding to deal with your problems :( I hope you find a decent balance, even when you're not depressed, that the association there can shift a bit.

I'm on a mixed end where the times where I was incredibly down and digging my own grave, I avoided community spaces (since that would involve some level of checking in with friends) or immersed in myself in them as a dedicated weirdo lurker. Eurgh.

[(Anonymous)]

I turn to fandom when I procrastinate. But that's also a cool reason, OP. I think the term is escapism, as with any other hobby. When I'm unhappy I'm untisocial, otherwise I'd do the same.

[(Anonymous)]

I think that's true for a lot of people in fandom. There's nothing wrong with that--everyone needs their escape--but I wish more people would acknowledge it as a fandom thing rather than a person specific thing. When people outside of fandom think there's something wrong with us for making fanfic/fanart, they're probably absolutely right, just not for the reasons they think.

[(Anonymous)]

Fandom itself gets a bad stigma attached to it. I'm more into gaming than fandom, but to a lot of people see them negatively in the same way. I honestly don't see any difference between someone who creates fanfic/fanart or plays video games or builds cars or cooks. They're all hobbies to me.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't consider things that are passively consumed not to be hobby, but an interest. Hobbies are things you're actively involved in. Video are an odd beast because you're more involved than say watching tv, but it doesn't actually improve a worthwhile skill.

[(Anonymous)]

So I guess improving your reflexes isn't a worthwhile skill? Okay then.

[(Anonymous)]

Sports work better and don't kill your eyesight.

[(Anonymous)]

Stop sitting so close to the tv. Besides, video games are brain training.

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT I see them as anything that you're passionate about or have a really big interest in. You can be involved in something and not really care too much about it. Like, most people cook for themselves, but it becomes a hobby if it's something you really like to do and get really into the communities and intricacies of it.

And hobbies aren't about improving a skill... You do it because you like it.

[(Anonymous)]

I've been guilty of that too, OP. Hell, some of my most productive days in the fandom are smack dab in the middle of shitty real life drama. Fandom just isn't an occasional escape for me, it's an outlet, and has been a way of sorting out my feelings (particularly in fanfiction).

I'm not sure to what degree you say you're avoiding real life issues, but I don't think there's anything wrong with a temporary distraction. Now, if you seriously never bother to resolve any kind of personal issue, especially one that could greatly impact you in real life, then yeah, you might want to step back a bit.

[(Anonymous)]

It might depend on your level of involvement in fandom (like if you create content), but I think a lot of people view fandom as a hobby. When I'm stressed or feeling down I tend to get really involved in my hobbies because it does perk me up and allow me to escape from my problems for a bit. I suppose it's only unhealthy if you never face your problems at all. But if it's just to get away from real life for a bit, I don't see any issues.

[(Anonymous)]

Anon, you are not alone. I'm trying to break the habit, but it's tough.

[(Anonymous)]

It's a similar thing for me; the times whe I was the most into fandom were also the times when I had the least going for me IRL. I was spinning my wheels and getting nowhere, and thus had a ton of time to pour into my fandom. Then things picked up IRL and I completely dropped out of fandom due to lack of time/energy/interest, since I was spending all of those things elsewhere, and now I'm feeling nostalgic and wondering how to get back into fandom a bit now that everyone seems to have moved on.