What happens if you can't pursue your special interest?

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If for whatever reason you were no longer able to pursue your special interest, perhaps because of physical impairment, lifestyle changes, work etc etc, how would that affect you? How would you react to that?

The reason I ask is because I've been unable to pursue my special interest of playing guitar due to an injury, and have had depression for the last few years that I just haven't been able to rid shake. I'm now thinking that perhaps the root of the depression is not being able to pursue the thing which stimulates me most.

Does that sound likely? What do you guys and girls think?

As I read the thread titled the answer in my head was 'depression.'

When I can't work on my writing, particularly for my novel, I get super depressed and just lacking any direction. I read awhile ago about high creative types needing to create art or just spend time on practising their skills and when they didn't they would be so low of mood. But when they spent time on it and it was working for them they'd be on such a high. That happens to me too.

I do feel kind of worthless that I can't even think about certain chapters of my novel. I've been working on it for two whole years and now I can't even think about it. I feel like a failure.

Come January I'm going to try and get back into it. Read through past chapters. Get back into the flow again. Or I'm nothing. What else can I do? I'm a good artist but I need to do it for a practical means.

It would make me crazy and very unhappy.

I go into a mad state of rage when I cannot pursue my special interest. Self injury is common when I am like this, in particular scratching wildly, banging my head against a wall (literally) and head slapping. Depression is the longer term side-effect.

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I have HFA, ADHD, OCD & Tourette syndrome. I love animals, especially my bunnies and hamster. I skate in a roller derby team (but I'll try not to bite )

I get very sad and demotivated, and I can't do anything properly.

Special interests prevent brain implosion.

Or brain explosion.

I would be forced to find another interest (or, rather, wait for another interest to find me) or spend more time on another current interest.

I guess the occult is my special interest because being unable to pursue it was the main reason I tried to kill myself in September this year.

It's impossible to pursue. It's not like I'm psychic or anything. It's definitely a bad special interest to have and the only way I won't be depressed is if I can find a new special interest which isn't likely. I'm never going to be able to experience the occult the way I want to so I'm either going to be depressed for life or find a new interest.

I would get grumpy for awhile, then sad, finally depressed if I were unable to pursue at least one of my special interests. Throughout my life there's always been more than only one at a time so I can switch. However, when I'm forced to switch it also makes me feel frustrated and grumpy.

I feel depressed and bored.

The world practically ends when I lose my obsession. I am kind of losing my obsession now, and I don't want to lose it. Being obsessed with a bus company is the worst obsession to have, because there is so much compitition nowadays that things get changed all the time. My favourite bus service has already moved from one company to another, and for the last 5 or 6 years I've heard different drivers and passengers say that the service will no longer be running (but hasn't happened yet, so I take it as a pointless rumour that just gets passed around and strongly believed). Also different drivers have come and gone. They've just changed all their contracts around again so my favourite ones are put on my bus at awkward times where I don't get to see them, and they've got all the grumpy boring nondescript ones on it instead.

Not good. If there was some exciting weather phenomena around the corner and suddenly, I was cut off from television and the internet, I would go absolutely insane. Depression might follow after a while but I think anger would be the first and most long lasting result.

I've be very depressed and resentful. I'd also avoid the person who took away my special interests.