How far can you go before a hobby turns into an addiction?

Do you think there is a clear difference between a hobby and addiction?

Addiction is a problem that many of us face. Whether it is an alcohol addiction, drug addiction, phone addiction or gaming addiction, it isn’t easy to pull yourself back from it.

@Garrett Morrow / Pexels

I know that I am a little bit addicted to my phone and I constantly need to check it and bring it everywhere I go. Even if I’m just taking a trip to the bathroom, I still take my phone with me because I feel insecure without it. I don’t know why but I feel that I need to look at it all the time, even if there are no new messages and notifications.

Do you feel that way too?

My dad has a hobby in photography and after his retirement, he started investing a lot more into his collection. He buys all sorts of lenses and camera accessories to upgrade his photography gear. He joins his photography friends to go to different parks and wetlands to take pictures of wildlife and scenery. My mom and I both think that this is a good hobby for him to spend time mingling with friends and enjoying nature. The only problem with my dad’s hobby is that he is constantly buying new gear and my mom isn’t convinced that he needs it. Photography gear is very expensive. When I ask my dad if that would be his last camera lens, he would be like yeah, it’s enough for me at this moment. Yes, the keywords are “at this moment”, which simply means, it’s not enough and he will still buy new gear in the future.

@Eren Li / Pexels

I play a mobile game that requires multiple players to work together to complete tasks and activities. In the beginning when I wanted to level up faster, I did use money to buy some of the internal upgrades to the game. But once I realized how much money I’ve spent on the game, I was so shocked that I stopped myself from spending another dollar on it. It was really hard to control at first, but I knew I had to stop buying because I was wasting so much money. I convinced myself that it was a terrible way of wasting money and I really stopped spending money in the game. However, there are some hardcore gamers in the game that spend hundreds of thousands in the game daily and I think that this hobby has become an addiction for them. They don’t see the risk of spending so much money on a mobile game, even if it is starting to have negative effects in their real life.

What are your thoughts about hobbies and addictions?