Hey guys, so odd topic I know but today I worked out with one of my oldest friends at the gym and he’s battling depression and it got me thinking how really collecting, adding new cards to collection, and grading and just being more involved in the hobby has made my mental health better. I work two jobs and have a fiancé and outside of adult life my two things that make me happy are the gym and collecting Pokémon cards and video games. I think it’s a great way to meet people and just get to be a kid again for a little while. As we get older we have more responsibilities and life can bring you down. This hobby gets your mind off it and find cool gems and a goal to add another piece to the collection. What your guys thoughts and how has the hobby been for you guys?
Anything that helps mental health is a great hobby. This can definitely be that, but for some people who really want some grail cards that they won’t ever be able to afford, I can see it being a negative thing for them if they’re really into it. So like all things, in healthy doses, I agree it’s great, especially if you get involved in the community.
its definitely made the last several years a lot better for me
Gym, tan, Pokeman
I have an addictive personality, so it’s a hate and love relationship.
As with most things in life, I would say that collecting has its ups and downs. Generally, I find that collecting and engaging in my hobbies improve my mental health. But I would be lying if I didn’t say that, at times, it has caused unnecessary stress and worry.
no, other way around for me
Though I like the little dopamine hits on boosterpacks and psa returns and hitting Buy it now
Knowing I have mail coming keeps me alive.
Financial security is one of the most important factors in peoples mental health.
Collecting Pokemon cards has by no stretch of the imagine made me rich, as I still have to work and will continue to have to do so.
But having some security to fall back on if things get tough, or as it currently stands being able to effectively afford to save up for luxuries like travel has been incredible for my mental health.
Im in the love hate camp. Im very obsessed and dedicated to getting whatever im looking for and have had a fair amount of recent stress as i keep targeting bigger and rarer things.
Previously was more enjoyable for the past few years but as I scale up very little excites me anymore.
As someone who has been collecting for over ten years now, I feel the opposite sometimes because of the current climate. Before the pandemic, I felt the hobby was more relaxed and easier to enjoy. I enjoyed watching pack openings and seeing the pure excitement of having a cool pulled instead of dollar signs for everyone common. I felt that if I spent enough time and accumulated enough resources, I could achieve my goals in due time and be happy. I was younger and didn’t share this with friends due to fear of the social stigma but now it’s different. The pandemic changed everything. I now fear the value of my collection. My collection was never supposed to be worth this much. It was just what I enjoyed and I cant be alone in thinking that the stress related to the new values of our collections has done the opposite to our mental health here and there.
I think having a hobby is good in general. This just happens to be one of my hobbies amd I really enjoy it and it’s fun,
POKEr, MANscape…Pokeman
Of course! It has impact on my mental happiness! Whenever I get 10s back from PSA grading, I got uphoria! When I sees my cards rise in market price, I got uphoria too!
I feel that I am generally unaware of some of the mental health challenges, not due to ignorance since I have quite a few of my colleagues that have suffered massive burnout at workplace, but some deep rooted cultural aspects on how I have seen people in Asian cultures deal with mental health. I do practice my own mindfulness to make sure my sanity is in check, considering how stressful life is.
What this hobby has done, atleast for the last 2-2.5 years is made me a lot more disciplined. Sticking to my collections goals, never extending past my budget means is something I have cultivated due to this hobby. This helps me extend these learnings to other facets in life.
Also the same reason I love and enjoy E4, the people on it and also other Pokemon related social media. Just being able to interact with more people in the hobby and consume media related to the hobby helps me fill in the gaps where I am actively not collecting or not doing anything related to searching and buying cards. I would also like to reduce liking some of the more drama / click-baity Pokemon topics, but its a work in progress 
Cheers!
It’s definitely helped me along the way at times. They kept the shutdowns going for pretty long where I live, so it really has kept me busy the past couple years as I work from home instead of being consumed by all the negativity that was happening at times.
Personally, I have not had a major depressive/mental downfall in over 10 years as I’ve learned how to avoid falling into it again, but I can say that I’ve really enjoyed my time spent with Pokemon collecting & joining in on these discussions with this community over the past while. It definitely hasn’t been a negative to be involved with the hobby.
On the financial side of things, I think if I kept more of my money into some other assets compared to Pokemon/collectibles I’d actually be in a worse spot now than the past year or so. I’ve really been happy with how it’s held up the storm, and I see a lot of other people upset with other markets and assets compared to Pokemon. So I could see how this could also play into your mental state, for better or worse at times. So overall, Pokemon has really been nothing but positives for me, mentally and financially speaking.
It’s always been there for me to fall back on, during hard times. It’s a great addition to my life when things are going well, too.
Very well said, I couldn’t agree more!