i had a concussion in january of this year and have been battling pcs for 7 months now. i got my concussion from a motocross accident. before my accident that was my life and all i ever did.

now i realize i cant do that anymore. i am in need of a hobby because i get really bored alot of times. i just started online college this week and am doing 6 hrs this semester. its alot of reading and i need something to do for enjoyment.

i used to love physical activity stuff but now if i get on my exercise bike for just 5 minutes ill be dizzy for days. any suggestions on hobbies that i could do??

thanks in advance

Are you near areas where you can go fishing? The manual stimulation of fishing can be very therapeutic. I spend lots of time working on broken cars and just about anything that is broken. I don't have time constraints so I can spend many hours on repair jobs that are not worth the time to most people.

I hope to spend much of this next year building a house. I built a small mountain cabin a few years ago. Again, the time I spent on the project was much more that would be expected. I learned lots during the year long project. I did the plumbing, electrical, heating and air conditioning and everything except the roof. I don't trust my brain to keep me safe on a roof.

Repairing/restoring cars can be done on a much smaller budget.

If you are near any fly fishing opportunities, you could learn to tie flies. It can be a low cost hobby.

My best to you.

Google: list of hobbies

Doc

I agree with Mark, If you have any access to a place you can fish, then try it. I'm lucky to live on a lake and can fish often...Actually being around a body of water is just relaxing whether you fish or not.

I cross-trained and did aerobics four days a week before my accident and I just can't do it now. But there are still a lot of things to get involved with and give a test run. I paint with both real brushes and paint and with a Bamboo art pad (lots of enjoyment), sculpt, fish, am trying to learn the guitar, tropical fish and aqua-plants, yoga, shoot pool/billards, flea markets, museums, small venue concerts, art festivals, farmer's markets, orchards, even 500 piece jig-saw puzzles (a lost art in itself~not up to those 1,000 piece yet).

I don't go where it's loud or overly crowded and I do pace myself comfortably, once in a while even out do my hubby. Most of the things I do are lighter physical activities but still keep me from being sedentary and bored.

Start trying lots of things, even something you might not have been great at before, you may be now. Explore as much as you can and I'm sure you will find some things you will enjoy.

I like letterboxing. http://www.letterboxing.org I used to do it but didn't have time (until after my concussion). It's a nice light outdoor activity, and if you like to carve your own rubber stamps, you can also be a bit creative.

thanks everyone. i definately want to get into fishing more often. only thing that kinda messes with me still is my vision and dizzyness which prevent me from doing alotta things but hopefully thatll get better and i can be somewhat active once again

are you having trouble reading and watching tv?

I know men hate yoga (I wouldn't consider it prior to PCS, I'm a spin class type of girl....aka type A personality) But would you consider a yoga class?? I'm looking into this myself

I am always looking for something to do ...can't sit still...and that's the problem. I overstimulate myself.

I'm hoping more people put some ideas out here of how they entertain the day

No interest in cleaning closets etc.!!

For those of you who think a jigsaw puzzle may be an option, I do them systematically. It helps me brain not get over stimulated. I need a large surface to do my system.

I start by sorting the pieces by color groups. As I do this, I collect all of the edge pieces.

Then I sort each color group by shape. There are 3 leaf clovers (3 outies, 1 innie), 4 leaf clovers, H's (alternating outie, innie, outie, innie), 1 outie with 3 innies, 4 innies and so on. This allows me to make each group smaller and limit my search to colors and shapes that are probables.

This system goes slow at first but the tempo of finding the right piece picks up quickly.

Plus, for us PCS'ers, I think the pre-sorting is good brain therapy. One of my other therapies was sorting out about 20 pounds of mixed screws, nuts, and bolts that I had collected over the years. I spent hours doing this in the early days. Clear plastic containers work best so you can see what is in each jar/container before you add another piece to it.

Sorting is a first step as a therapy. You pick up one random piece and decide which pile/container it goes in. Finding jig saw puzzle pieces is much more intense.

Anytime you have down time, find something to sort. Buttons, toy parts (my grandson's Strux parts) etc. You kill time and have a finished project at the end.

I play video games, watch animation, read forums, go for walks, watch a DVD, etc.,

- but mostly work on indie projects years in the making in the hope our company will get funding.

And pray.

i have some difficulty reading. i have to read 2 chapters a week from college textbooks which is pretty challenging due to concentration problems and the material being very boring.

tv has been fine for the most part. i watch alot of it to keep me busy. only problem ill have is when the camera moves around too fast my vision goes out of focus which can get frustrating

i would try yoga if i got the opportunity but i tried stretching a few days ago and couldnt do much cuz i cant move my head around too much or i get dizzy real fast

i might try some puzzles thats a good idea to keep me busy. i do some wordsearch's once in a while to try to help my brain

i play some video games once in a while but get bored quickly of them. i also pray like you mentioned

thanks everyone lots of good ideas here