As the title says, has Transformers ever been something that helped you cope when you're struggling with your mental health?

 

Truth be told, my collecting Transformers was the first sign I had Aspergers.

The Marvel UK comics used to give me something to look forward to every week when I was in school.

Having a hobby or interest in general can help with it. Though immersing yourself too much whereby you're using it to ignore your problems isn't good.

Socialising and exercise are good too. It's good to be around friends and family when you have depression.

Jogging and other exercises are good for your mental well being.

 

My entire collection began because I bought a few childhood Armada figures while I was going through a divorce.

 

Yes because I've been verbally oppressed/harrassed at two of my jobs and Transformers helps keep my sanity intact.

 

Yes, actually. I was in a really rough spot around 2013 and didn't really get out of it until 2017. But I remember getting T30 Springer when he first came out. Even then I knew it was a really great figure that was gonna hold up with time, and it was so much fun to mess around with. It was a little thing I could focus on that made me happy, even if temporarily.

 

I got into it when my parents separated as a teenager, and now as an adult who is definitely dealing with depression, the franchise if one of my few true joys

 

I don't have depression, but I do have other mental health issues. To answer your question, this franchise has absolutely helped me stay sane.
(And penniless  )

 

Nope, I got past my depression when I found out I had food sensitivities and changed my diet accordingly.

 

Absolutely!

It like what Billy Crystal said the secret to life is in City Slickers: one thing. One thing that you can channel your positive energies into when everything else is going wrong.

 

Transformers has helped with my depression, though I'm not sure in a positive way. I love buying the newest toys and playing around with them, but at a point the thrill fails and I'm back where I began. I've accumulated a sizable collection this way, and I know it is not a very healthy way to cope, but I'm not sure if there is any other way for me to cope. It actually bothers me how much I have accumulated. I've been trying to sell of some of my collection this way, but every piece seems to have a bit of sentimental value with me.

It's becoming easier and easier for me to let go. I've sold some things at TFCON at below Ebay value (mostly because I just want to get rid of so much of what I have) and I've been very happy with the reactions of some of my customers. One that stuck out with me was a TRU Masterpiece Rodimus that I just kept in storage for god knows how long. The person who bought it from me at TFCON loved the figure to the point that they hugged the figure in the box! That moment really stuck with me as something positive. Whoever you are, I hope Rodimus brought you joy. Just your reaction was more than worth what I sold the figure to you for.

 

That’s a very positive and uplifting way to enjoy the act of letting some of this stuff go! I often think of myself as a steward of sorts for the things I accumulate. It’s definitely junk to some people...but it’s a future treasure trove to others. Someday these things will be passed on to others to enjoy as much as...or maybe even more than...I have.

 

Same here!   Except I used to watch Beast Wars and RID2001 around that time.  I was actually four or five when I saw Beast Wars for the first time. Been obsessed ever since. 

I also have accepted changes easier because well...what is the brand about? Change of course! If Tf didn't change, it would have died out. People need to adapt to change just as the TFs change to blend in wherever they go, so...

 

I like to think that some of the stuff I've sold has found a better home... Otherwise they were just sitting in a dark closet. It's a little thought that brings a little light back into my life.

 

Not TFs, just robots in general as I was already into collecting robots years before TFs.

My family was absolute garbage aside my parents, my siblings were/are screwed up beyond explanation, all my relatives were asses or clueless, just didn't care or actually hated on us, especially me as I was the "weird" one. I grew up watching translated anime even before it was called as such, with Grendizer, Captain Harlock, Captain Future being my main ones, and they were my basis for value, inspiration and such, while the world around me was always on my shoulders.

I could write a book and been told so many times that I should, and many that I tell just some details tend to not believe it as it's like I'm compiling a whole series of things, compared to the usual "one" big thing that most people complain about the terrible life they had. (Seriously, I can relate to just about everyone because between myself and my wife, we have lived through almost every possibilities. Anyone that doesn't believe it, can feel free to put me to the test)

So yeah, I was set aside, treated like garbage all the time, never managed to get true friends through all of my childhood/teen years (heck, if even any at all), so I spend my time reading, learning, exploring the world as far as my bicycle could take me, and robots where I lived out my world.

I always collected where I could afford it, and many times I do thing that without my toys as a safety net to escape, I probably would have been in much darker places during the low moments.

So looking back, yes, my toys have been a support system to me, and when one breaks, it's like I lose a part of me... I've been contemplating selling some that just have been sitting in boxes for several years as I can't display even a quarter of what I have and that sucks... but I just can't find the strength to do it, same with my motocycle that has sat outside for years now since it became too expensive to use when they increased the yearly plating fees and that I barely could use it thanks to all the rain we had in the last year I used it ( I rode it maybe a dozen times, so that's like over a hundred dollars per ride), but I still dream that I might fix her up and take her out again, but since my cancer, I don't even feel the same thing, even with all the Siege figures I now have... I love them and once upon a time I would have been like a giant kid and would have had so much more fun with them, while instead they sit there and only at times will I manage to take one out to fiddle with.

I so wish I could get a redo in life knowing what I do now.

So for the question, I'd have to say yes, maybe not over clinical depression or such, but over being depressed about everything that I was screwed over with, time and time again... the toys were the only constant throughout my life aside music that kept me going, dreaming and gave my hope that even if the world is gone to hell with very few truly good people, I can at least dream one up with my toys.

Heck, yesterday we just lost one of of our cats, the most loving of them, and it's been a terrible week as we tried to save her, but she ended up dying in our arms.. and my TFs, the Earth war game and this board have been my only respite from that absolute agony of losing her... we've cried more for her that for the several "family" that died in the last few years.

 

Well, I'm married to a passive aggressive covert narcissist who makes my life miserable, so I definitely have spurts of depression. Transformers is a distraction for me. I don't like alcohol so I drown my sorrows with Transformers and other 80's toys and cartoons.

Right now, I'm editing my own set of the English Omni dub of Headmasters, Masterforce, and Victory. I'm censoring out the swear words, cutting anything the Autobots said or did that feels unheroic, and I'm giving the episodes new Sunbow style opening/ending and commercial bumpers. Basically, I'm trying to get it to match the tone of the Sunbow cartoon as much as possible. I've been at it for about 3 years and I only have 18 episodes left and I'll be finished. Not sure what I'll have to distract myself after I'm done.

 

All fiction helped me cope with being sad, as it can make us laugh, smile, sad, and even cry.

 

It's good and bad. My collecting makes me happy, and being autistic, the tactile feel of moving parts on a transformer is great for stiming. But on the other hand, there's time's where trying to have a "complete" collection, or a collection that's exactly the way I want it can be so expensive it really stresses me out, and I spend more than I can afford. I've gotten so much better at that over the last year or so though, ever since I realized what a problem it had become. I've got a much better handle on my spending

 

Um... there are other mental health issues besides just depression...

Going by the topic title I would say no because that specifically mentions depression.

It does however help me cope with other mental health issues. That's kind of why I've taken such a quick liking to Animated Blitzwing and why I was so disappointed when Titans Return Blitzwing didn't have any extra Titan Masters to represent his other personalities. I don't care that G1 Blitzwing never had that feature. He was also never a Headmaster and the Headmaster gimmick makes it really easy to include his other faces.

Anyway... the Animated portrayal of Blitzwing is a character with Dissociative Identity Disorder and being a system with the same disorder in real life made it really easy to identify with the character. Though it's not entirely accurate as the show's creators referred to Blitzwing as having Multiple Personality Disorder. Technically they're the same disorder but it's been reclassified.

It kinda helps to feel less like a freak when the condition is portrayed as somewhat normal... Even though he's a villain... would really like to see an Autobot like this... but still no one ever treated Blitzwing any differently than any singular personality character on the show. He was kind of an oddity being the only one who did that but they treated it like it was just a normal thing for him.

 

I am not a sociable person and suffer from depression. Much of my time is controlled by other people so i needed an interest i could do with just a few minutes every day.
Transformers and other 80s cartoons take me back to a time when i was much happier. Collecting gives me things to focus on and look forward to.

 

The great thing about collecting Transformers is that you can usually sell it, even out of the package, for more than you bought it for.

So in that regard, the collection is also an investment. Not only that, buying keeps Transformers alive. So it's a win-win-win.