mrfang2

LEGO as a therapeutic hobby?

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hey. my senior exit for highschool is on how lego is a therapeutic hobby, and is more than just a kids toy. i was wondering how many of you view lego as a way to relive stress or frustrations and whatnot, and if you do, if youd be willing to possibly do a brief interview at some point so i can do my paper? thank you for your time, and for your help if you choose to help me out.

-mrfang2

(if this is the wrong forum please move? sorry, i don't post much on here.)

Edited by mrfang2

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I [re]started this hobby this year, and at least for me it fits your description. I am close to 30 and I am a freelance graphic designer exposed to a lot of stress dealing with promotion, deadlines, clients sometimes lack of clients, and a sometimes complicated and demanding personal life etc.

I discovered this hobby / addiction as mentioned this year and it somehow explode, I spend a lot of time reading, watching videos, looking out for sets.

I already gathered a small collection of 10 sets and ~20 minifigures (historic related ones). I find it relieving trying to create something unique, modifying my existing standard sets, and even by having them around me or simply by looking at the ones that I've placed in front of the TV or on my desk in the office makes me more relaxed, or it helps my imagination when needed. I also started to take my favorite minifigure (the Lego Batman) when I am traveling or when I simply hang out in the city and take photos of it. (as you can see here http://instagram.com/alexnocturnal and here http://bit.ly/EBLegoBatman)

Even though it is an expensive hobby I find it relaxing, I find it to be different from the standard day to day life. And I think it helps cheering up my days. :classic:

I really wonder if there are others that feel the same?

This is a very interesting topic, I have actually used LEGO to help me recover from depression.

I have two pages on my blog about this, feel free to check them out:

http://paulstechnic....p/about-me.html

http://paulstechnic....depression.html

I just read your posts and I must say that your story is truly impressive, nothing compared to mine. You are a true source of inspiration, admiration and respect!

Edited by talex

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Being in the mental health field, I've heard of Lego being used as a therapeutic tool to help expand on how a person is thinking and feeling during a therapy session. How or what the person builds and what colors they use or gravitate towards when given a random set of bricks can help determine if a person is happy/sad/etc in a very broad sense. It's kind of like sand tray or other types of interactive therapy models.

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I don't have any real stories to tell and certainly wouldn't have any medical literature on the subject, but I find the CCBS (the building system used for Hero Factory, Super Heroes, and Legends of Chima action figure sets) to be quite therapeutic. The parts snap together satisfyingly, there's no risk of breakage unlike older Bionicle parts, and the building style allows for much more organic and freeform builds than typical Lego.

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Yeah, grum64 is a frequent and inspiring presence on the Technic board.

I find myself enjoying building with LEGO even though I have clinical depression. It's certainly better than wallowing in misery.

Edited by rollermonkey

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I just read your posts and I must say that your story is truly impressive, nothing compared to mine. You are a true source of inspiration, admiration and respect!

Thanks, I am glad you enjoyed reading them :)

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I suffer from PTSD and found building with Lego extremely satisfying. Its good to see others have found a sort of therapy through Lego.

I also remember reading an article about a professional Hockey player that used lego to help regain motor skills in his hands. I also believe David Beckham did something similar.

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LEGO is a great escape from demanding and high pressure jobs. That is my experience, anyway. Working with hands, seeing something very concrete materialize and the sense of personal achievement that can be nicely displayed. Fantastic!

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I suggest you create a survey on surveymonkey and ask about it to get some real data. For me it's a relaxing and therapeutic hobby. To relax I definitely need sets with instructions as I put my creativity into other facets of my life. For others it's probably MOCing that helps them relax.

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I find it hugely relaxing and therapeutic. I'm prone to overthinking quite a lot and find that sitting there building just helps me to reign it all back in again and focus on one single thing, forgetting everything around me. Ive found recently, since building MOC's, even if its just for a few hours every other week or so, has made me overall far more relaxed.

I guess, its the feeling of control for me that helps.

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I have Autism (specifically Asperger Syndrome) and Lego helps me very much. I may obsess over it a bit (60 trains and counting!) but it is very soothing at the same time. I can sit down and build something and my Brother (also autistic) will come over and help with it, which sometimes works out well, other times not.

LEGO also helps me make some friends through Train shows and LUG meetings and I even have friends with other types of disorders who can't really concentrate on the instructions, but love to build. I read the instructions and we plow through it together, one step at a time, one piece here, another there...

LEGO is probably the best therapy tool that was not designed for such usage in the world.

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I came out of my dark age a few months ago at the same time I had some family stuff going on. I found that the first time I sat down after my wife and son had gone to bed to build the Mountain Hut I felt very relaxed. I mentioned it to my wife the next day. I even find sorting PAB cups and other parts to be therapeutic.

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I have been diagnosed with Manic Depressive disorder. While I never had Lego growing up, I came to it when I had my daughter. She inherited a huge lot of Duplo from a family member and she and I would sit together and make "color sculptures" using all of the bricks of one given color. I found that it calmed me greatly to build with her and I found myself doing it alone occasionally. As she got older and started gravitating towards Lego, I fell into the CMF's and modulars. And that is how I became extremely hooked.

I am a writer and I find that sitting down and building or sorting Lego for half an hour before working vastly helps my focus and mood. I absolutely consider Lego to be personally therapeutic for me.

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I think it is one of the few beneficial toys that can help with many things other than just play.

I definitely get stressed from work, so to sit down and build would be relaxing. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of free time in the evenings to build, so I don't get to partake in relaxing too often. But if/when I do get the chance, it helps. Keeps the mind focused, makes me not think about other negative things. But then I tend to get hooked and can't think about anything other than LEGO, so that is problematic.

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Like Murdoch17 I too have the Asperger Syndrome. I was 50 (April 2011) when I found out... My life has changed completely since I know I have it. In October 2011 I bought my first Lego-set so that should be my out-of-the-dark-ages moment.

Learning what Asperger is and how to cope with it in an hectic world with just too many people wanting you to 'be social' has made my life much more easy. And playing with/collecting Lego relieves me from the day-to-day work stress. Man, am I happy being Asperger & AFOL!!

So, is LEGO therapeutic? I'm a living example! :sweet:

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I was an artist, a 3d modeller. I worked in video games. 3 years ago I got an infection that lead to a brain injury. I can't work now. My whole life changed.

I often have headaches and get very tired when I need to think on my feet. On the first Christmas I was recovering I thought I want a Lego X-Wing! Why the heck not? It helped at a very difficult time. It could occupy my mind and be company for when I was alone and afraid. Lego just made me smile again. Those little mini figs just made me laugh. Pure fun with no other agenda. A tonic for the soul and no mistake. Even though people often don't get why an adult is "playing" with Lego I know it's value.

3 years later I have started doing mocs and posting them online. I can build and create again and use the skills cultivated over a life time in a way that makes me feel good about me again. I have realised I still have my talents and for the first time since I was very young I am creating things not for a paycheque or social or intellectual status but for the pure fun of it. A little bit of fun can go a long way in helping people with difficult circumstances cope with the demands of just getting through a day.

If anything does happen to me in future at least a little part of me will live on in some corner of the internet and will hopefully bring a smile to someone's face. The little moments of joy. They make life worth living :)

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I'm primary carer for my wife, who suffers from various auto-immune deficient related problems which restricts her mobility significantly. Also having a full time job makes things difficult during the day when I have to be in the office. Coming home in the evenings can be very stressful, as there's often a lot to do at the end of a busy day.

I find that spending an hour or so at the end of the day, sorting and building, can have a very calming effect on my nerves and blood pressure. So yes, definitely therapeutic!!

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I'm both lucky and blessed to not have to suffer many of the painful medical conditions I've read through on this post, but my nature is generally I'm a very high-strung person who can get easily worked up over the silliest things. I use LEGO a LOT to help calm me down. There's just something so satisfying about fitting little blocks together into all these neat shapes.

In fact, if you want to know something really neat, the Rhino I built (in my profile picture) actually was the result of a really bad day I'd had prior and I vented all that frustration into creative energy. It felt really awesome too when I showed it off to people and I got tons of compliments for it (sorry for the shameless self-promotion) :). I think when you build with LEGO you really have time to sit and think a lot, and that thinking helps you DE-stress as well as allows you to think things through.

Edited by Jared

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Well, I don't have any disabillty or mentally issue or something, I'm pretty 'normal' so far you can call it :classic:

I have some creations on my shelf, for a bout 10-15 years. My sister needed a plate for her bathroom, a set of long time ago (what was the bottom on my truck). She wanted to build for her daugther so ... I said I can buy another plate. Also at the building of the bathroom a few technic-figures appear so I thought maybe it's nice to build it a bit bigger to scale of those figures.

And now I made a design in MLcad and started ordering parts to build it.

It's maybe not really therapeutic as you mean I think but I must say it's great to do. I always liked to draw, designing things and that's also the reason I started a training for interior architect because I like to create stuff.

And with Lego it is the same. You can 'work' with your hands and create things to your own fantasy. That's the great thing about it. You can change it if you want, motorize it, put gears and stuff it.

So I can imagine that Lego will help therapeuticly. Besides ... it's fun to do. Being creative with your hands

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Not necessarily therapeutic, but building with Lego at the end of the day really helps me relax and stretch out the ol' brain muscles. Grab some chocolate milk, put on a record, and sit down with some bricks.

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