Depression and special interests

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One of the traits of depression is losing interest in things. Has your depression caused you to lose interest in your special interest?
I feel that I can't hold a special interest for very long anymore because at some point a thought pops into my head saying "It's useless. It's a waste of time." and that changes everything for awhile.

I get depressed periodically, it's almost cyclical. I lose interest in everything and become even more uncommuncative then usual for around two or three days, then I return to normal and resume my special interests.

I was depressed up until a couple weeks ago. I was starting to lose interest in my special interest (I even posted about it here) but my depression seems to be better now and my love for my special interest seems stronger than ever.

In middle school, my special interest was a musician that most people I knew hated and I got teased for loving them, which led to a depression and losing interest in her and her music. Over time, I have stopped caring about what people say and have become a fan again, but I wouldn't say it is a special interest anymore.

electrictype, your avatar is so cute

Depression lost me a special interest that had been a stronghold interest of mine for my entire life. But during the worst of the depression I actually gained a replacement special interest that has now remained the only thing in my life I stay motivated about.

My depression has negatively impacted everything else except that main special interest that took over. It's now the only thing that gives me joy and lifts the depression while I'm occupied by that activity and with any luck for several hours following also. The only peace, calm, happiness and actual joy I ever feels is around this activity. It's better than medication, for me.

At all other times the depression has a hold of me and not much else gets done NOT BECAUSE I spend all my time on the special interest, actually I do not It's twice a week. But when I say not much gets done I mean I'm depressed the rest of the time and my executive functional goes down the toilet.

However just NOW my executive functioning is going down the toilet for have to go to my special interest lately too. So even that is in jeopardy now.

Yes, it does. I can relate to everything you mentioned in your post. My depression usually last for about 3 days and while I am in that cycle I will often times goes into my drum room and just stand there and look at them but I just can't muster up the strength or willingness to sit down and play. (for me this is really tough, because I have been playing the drums for 30 years) Out of all the things I deal with, depression keeping me from wanting to play is the hardest thing.

I've lost interest in England during the depressive episode that I had in January. Nowadays, it seems to be one of the last things on my mind. I think it was time, anyways. I get to enjoy all the real things about me that was hidden underneath that country. I'm proud to be Canadian, my old love for Germany is still alive and well and I'm interested in religion again. I also listen to more modern music than I used to at times.

My special interest is art. When I'm depressed it becomes a distraction. I stop enjoying it and it becomes a way of distracting myself from the depression. It's like climbing a hill but a hill that keeps me from thinking too much,if I stop climbing it, it can get really bad.

My special interest is words, but when I am depressed (like I am right now) I occupy myself by following football and cricket news.

I lose interest in everything when I am in depression. I lose any semblance of an already short attention span.

Im currently in one of the worst depressions of my life and literally cant even do anything to escape it. I just have to keep enduring it.

I have never lost interest in anything when depressed. In fact it seems like for most people they get more engrossed in their interests when they are depressed but lose interest in everything else based on what I have seen. My mom got more into reading and lost interest in her marriage and life so she got on some anti depressants back when she was still going through chemo therapy for her cancer. My brother was playing his video games all day long and lost interested in his friends and hanging out so he also got on some anti anxiety meds a few years back.

But this is just another weird thing about me.

For me it depends. Right now I'm in a depressive period and I'm really throwing myself into ballet; I don't feel much better but I do feel distracted, I've been doing barre work in my room all evening and honestly I can't face much else.

However, I do know that my main special interest, art, is very important for me in terms of processing the world and how I'm feeling. Sometimes when I'm depressed (like now) I find it hard to find that inspiration to draw, and that means I can't access that particular interest, even though I'm sure it would help me deal with how I'm feeling. It's an ugly paradox . In my worst period of depression though I was absolutely prolific, I did nothing but draw and I got so much done!

When I'm depressed I find that my creative juices don't get going until night time, so that I'm tired and a bit fraught by the time I start creating. It has a little edge of self-destruction to it, I can feel my body crying out for sleep, but my brain is electric. The stuff I create when I feel like that, be it essays, artwork, poetry, whatever, is always my favourite- but it does take a lot out of me.

In summary: my brain is weird when it's depressed.