Due to my disability I rarely get out of the house. It’s not unusual for me to go two or three months without going out. In the beginning it was truly difficult to be so isolated all the time and I did in fact suffer with depression. But it’s been 13 years now and, in that time, I’ve become creative at figuring out ways to deal with it. Given everything that is going on now I thought I would share some of my tips with anyone who might be interested.

Getting social

Luckily, we’re in a digital age so there are many options for getting social these days that don’t actually require leaving the house. Aside from the usual Facebook, twitter, & reddit. There is also Gaming. Over the years I have made many friends through gaming, especially MMORPG’s, since most Guilds, clans etc. utilize some sort of voice chat system. In my early years It was TeamSpeak and Ventrilo, these days most people just use Discord. It’s easy to hop on to an MMO and meet people. Over the years I’ve played World of Warcraft, Guild Wars & Guild Wars 2, Lord of the Rings Online, Rift, Neverwinter Online and quite a few others. I have made some very good friends through these games, people who are there for me, who I can talk to when I’m down and who are always up for a good laugh. So if you’re looking for a way to get social and hang out with folks, get some of your other isolated friends together on a Discord channel and try out a few games, or just hop into a game and meet people on your own. Aside from the ability to be social with people it also gives you something to do when/if you’re bored. You can also check out the MMORPG subreddit and see what games people over there are chatting about.

Expand your mind

Reading

Reading is a great pastime you can escape to many different locations through the pages of a book (or the screen on your reading device). You can also pick up new skills or information. For some free eBooks check out the Free eBooks Subreddit.

Audio books

These are also a pretty nice way to help keep your mind of things and you can get some decent recommendations over at the Audiobooks Subreddit. Podcasts are also a nice way to distract yourself.

Documentaries

I love a good documentary, there are so many good ones. I prefer Animal and Historical documentaries, but I’ve also watched a lot of other good ones. The Documentaries subreddit is always linking to good ones and there’s plenty of discussion to be had about them.

Learn a new skill:

With websites like Udemy and Coursera it’s pretty easy to take a class from the comfort of your own home and learn something new. Over the years thanks to these various services I’ve learned to build websites and picked up some coding skills. Also, the Cincinnati Library offers many E-library services to members so if you have a card you might want to check them out. Over the years thanks to all these various services I’ve learned to build websites and picked up some coding skills.

Hobbies

Pick up a new hobby or resume an old one:

Personally, I really enjoy crocheting and doing so while listening to a good podcast or audio book is a really nice way to pass the time.

Coloring:

Yes, you read that correctly, coloring, if you have access to some crayons or colored pencils, can be quite calming and fun.

Meditate:

YouTube is full of guided meditation videos as well Mediation mood music and I find that it really helps sooth anxieties and worries.

Yoga:

This is a great low-key way to keep yourself in shape without having access to a gym for myself I normally do some chair yoga as I can’t stand for long periods of time. There are plenty of yoga videos on YouTube for every level from beginner to expert.

Cooking:

Try a new recipe out, the internet is chock full of recipes find one and give it a try, you never know you might surprise yourself. Personally, I hang out in the Cooking subreddit for tips and recipes.

Random other activities I’ve recently discovered

The Cincinnati zoo is doing home safaris since they are currently closed. You can watch them on either their Facebook page or YouTube channel. So far, I’ve watched both the Hippo and Porcupine ones. They aren’t very long, but they’re pretty neat.

These are just some of the ways I’ve prevented myself from going stir crazy over the years. I hope this list will help some of you to get through this stressful time.