As the title says, I’m looking for some advice about hobbies.

I struggle with depression off and on and recently it’s been quite tough to be motivated, but I tried indoor rock climbing and I’ve been going twice a week for around a month and I love it. I like the problem solving aspect and it being mixed in with physical activity, as I have a sedentary job as a software developer so it’s good to be more active.

This is where the issue is though, I have terrible hands. I have something called Dupytren’s Contracture, which essentially is extra collagen forms around the tendons and severely limits range of movement in the hands (I’ll post pictures of my hands in the comments).

So my question is would you continue this hobby even though it’s wrecking my hands and look at having another fasciotomy to get them less painful.

Or can you suggest any other physical hobbies that would also be engaging mentally to complete.

Perhaps I should have been wiser before getting hooked on this, but I’m devastated that I might not be able to do it long term.

  • Sundial@lemm.eeاَلْعَرَبِيَّةُ
    5·
    3 months ago

    First off, just looking at those pictures…Ouch. I hope they don’t hurt you OP.

    Some suggestions I can think of:

    1. Hiking if there are any places near you and you can get to them.
    2. Woodworking? Not sure if you can do it because of your hands.
    3. Gardening/Landscaping. I gardened this summer and while the effort was minimal since I didn’t plant much it was kind of rewarding. I’ve done a bit of landscaping (laying interlock) and it was also rewarding.
    4. Running and/or swimming. Not exactly mentally stimulating I know but don’t discount the endorphin boost.

    If you want you can try also asking this question at the !fitness@lemmy.world community.

    • dependencyinjectionOP
      2·
      3 months ago

      Thanks for the kind words.

      The pain isn’t crazy, it’s more just very tender for a few days until I go again.

      Thanks for the suggestions. Hiking is something I have been keen to do more, but that’s something I need to travel a ways to do and maybe go camping to do it.

      Woodworking is something I’d love to get into but space is a not conducive for this. Same for gardening really, sadly.

      Running is something I already do, as a former addict I need those endorphins to be happy, but I am taking it slowly getting back into it.

      I will check out the fitness instance though.

      Thanks again.

      • Sundial@lemm.ee
        1·
        3 months ago

        How about home improvement? If your living situation or someone close to you, like family, allows for it why don’t you look into that? You can do things like changing lights, old doors, paunting, etc. Depending on how comfortable you are you can look into some more complex projects. They can be pretty physically demanding and you’ll be active for a long time.

        Best of luck in everything, hope you find something that works for you.