Aquariums: I Did Not Realize How Much Keeping A Fish Tank Impacted My Mental Health/Mood

I only recently started keeping a tank, but I never realized how much keeping a fish tank helped my mental health.

I have a handful of intense mental illnesses and it is paired with a intense fear of doctors which has left me, of course due to my own fault, being unmedicated, but fish keeping has helped me regulate my emotions. It has also helped to distract me from my more irrational issues. I tend to spend all of my time in my head and at least when I look at the tank all I think about is the contents of it.

I didn’t know the extent of which it helped me until my girlfriend told me “I am so glad you have gotten into this hobby, you seemed so sad and lonely before” and it really made me aware of how people close to me see me and worry about me.

I struggle most with anxiety, PTSD, OCD, and depression and this hobby has me getting out and visiting local fish shops almost twice a week per shop because I love looking at the fish there (albeit I dislike that I have become a recognizable regular, but my gf made a good point that I am combating my antisocial nature!) I am overall glad to have been able to become a quiet but noticeable member of my local community, even if I am terrified of it!

This hobby gets me out of bed because I love feeding my betta and watching/monitoring my shrimp, snails, and water parameters and I would rather do that than worry about the way I look when I walk.

This hobby has helped me so much, even if I feel like a nerd when talking about it, but I can tell that people I have known for years are excited to hear about things I am passionate about. More so it has allowed me to let people who I have kept at an arms length away to connect with me in a way that I feel isn’t too intense.

Photos are of my 5.5 gallon tank: around 10 neo shrimp, four nerite snails, handful of hitchhiking snails, and a very tame female betta

Towel is there to combat glare for photos.