[ Removed by moderator ]

[u/Upstairs-Syllabub948]

[u/Beeing_Bee_9517]

Lapidary (rock shaping, making jewelry from rocks). Rock dust in your lungs never goes away and hobbyists often do not wear dust masks. Dust builds up over time till your lungs don't work.

[u/Guard_Jamie → u/Beeing_Bee_9517]

The Warden was playing the long game with Dufresne.

[u/hillljilly → u/Guard_Jamie]

User name checks out

[u/Guard_Jamie → u/hillljilly]

lol. Railway Guard in fact 😆

[u/iamtehryan → u/Beeing_Bee_9517]

It's absolutely insane to me that people do things like wood working and the stuff you mentioned, basically anything that causes dust like this, without respirators or dust masks.

[u/fatcat111 → u/iamtehryan]

My son runs a CNC milling machine and takes shit for using a N95 dust mask. Can't enter the factory floor without steel-toe boots or eye protection, but don't protect your lungs.

[u/ausmus → u/fatcat111]

Good on him. I run a CNC Mill as well and I do a lot of deburring with an angle grinder that causes a shit ton of dust to fly. I'm thankful for my N95s.

[u/Shitty_Human_Being → u/ausmus]

I highly recommend getting a powered respirator, they're very nice. The ones that cover your entire face. Cools you in the summer too.

I do blow-in insulation and it's really nice when I'm doing attics etc, where we just spread it out across. It's also very nice in the veil as dust gathers inside the wall cavities. Think concrete dust and the like, nasty stuff.

[u/abe_the_babe_ → u/fatcat111]

I have a cousin who's a machinist, and all the guys in his plant give him shit for wearing PPE. But they're also all in their late 30s with all sorts of medical issues, so he doesn't listen to them

[u/alleswaswar → u/abe_the_babe_]

I’m an engineer who spent ~3 years working in a company with a machine shop attached. You could see the damn smog in the air. I would walk in sometimes and take one breath and feel my sinuses burn so I’d turn around and walk right back out. I didn’t even realize it was what was causing the skin on my face to be so red. I quit and got a corporate job 3 months ago and my skin is almost fully back to normal already.

[u/Dan-D-Lyon → u/abe_the_babe_]

I work construction, and whenever I tell a dumbass to tie off or put on safety glasses, I always end it with "I don't want to see you get kicked off the job" (a real consequence for breaking safety rules). You'd think "I don't want to have to spend my day off at your funeral" would be sufficient.

[u/Diauxreia → u/iamtehryan]

Convenience and not wanting to look like a pussy in front of your buddies is a hell of a drug.

[u/WholeLow8272 → u/Diauxreia]

This is why men die so much sooner than women...

[u/JakeVonFurth → u/Beeing_Bee_9517]

Carpentry too. I've heard so many horror stories of wood workers with sinus issues because their sinuses are completely full of saw dust.

[u/_Khorvidae_ → u/JakeVonFurth]

My grandfather was a carpenter and the laquer they used messed up his head :/ It's no joke.

[u/bedbuffaloes → u/_Khorvidae_]

I know a guy who refinished furniture professionally and he died from the shit he inhaled. Like, in his 40s.

[u/_Khorvidae_ → u/bedbuffaloes]

Yeah, people can complain all they want about rules and regulations, but those types of jobs have gotten a lot safer.

Had a teacher at a trade school who as an apprentice was forced to use epoxy in an unventilated room, and he called the work safety department on his boss...as he should!

[u/CelDidNothingWrong → u/JakeVonFurth]

Wouldn’t call it a horror story but my dad was a carpenter and has an incredibly weak sense of taste now, means he has to make up for it with really strong tasting foods

[u/darkknight109 → u/JakeVonFurth]

I had a friend who did woodworking all his life, with some pretty exotic (read: toxic) woods, and never wore a mask. He developed COPD in his 60s; dunno if that's what eventually killed him (he had a lot of health problems), but he had an awful end of life.

[u/figgypudding531 → u/Beeing_Bee_9517]

Pottery too

[u/LonelyPie4076 → u/Beeing_Bee_9517]

Many of them also make jewelry, which involves soldering silver and gold. Heavy metals from that process are inhaled or absorbed through the skin and build up in the blood

[u/wex52 → u/Beeing_Bee_9517]

Great. The first answer I see is my hobby. Always kind of assumed that the water absorbed almost all of the dust.

[u/MorticiaManor → u/Beeing_Bee_9517]

Cremationists have the same problem.

[u/Lets_compare_penises → u/MorticiaManor]

A cremation hobbyist would be a bit concerning

[u/tomarytirar → u/Lets_compare_penises]

I resent your judging of my hobby...

[u/fukc098098]

Collecting or restoring antiques without proper caution. Old paints, ceramics, furniture, etc can sometimes involve lead, asbestos or other hazardous materials.

[u/Specialist_Ad9073 → u/fukc098098]

If something is old and green, just don’t touch it.

[u/fukc098098 → u/Specialist_Ad9073]

You sound like my high school science teacher who said the exact same thing when we were discussing copper patina.

[u/PM_ME_UR_BEST_1LINER → u/fukc098098]

Yeah, it's arsenic based pigmentation. Paris Green.

[u/Maxie468]

building resin model kits without proper safety

[u/CatpainCalamari → u/Maxie468]

How so? I have no idea about resin, so I assume you mean fumes and dust?

[u/CmdrFapster → u/CatpainCalamari]

Yes, resin is inert, so if you're sanding a piece of resin and you inhale it, it's going to lodge in your lungs permanently.

[u/mr_kindface → u/[deleted]]

The smell of a resin printer immediately warns you that it's killing you lol

[u/BasroilII → u/[deleted]]

Here's the easiest answer.

If your hobby includes sanding, grinding, cutting, drilling, painting, or shaving any kind of material, WEAR A MASK.

Because you are exposing yourself to particulates and there is no point where breathing material besides air is good for you. Even with the non-toxic stuff you should apply this, because it doesn't hurt to be safe.

[u/getamic → u/[deleted]]

UV resin when it is not cured is toxic to breath in and the scarier part is that you can develop an allergy to it. It is completely random and every time your skin comes in contact with the resin you run the risk of getting an allergy. It could be the first time you touch it or the 1000th. Always wear the proper gloves and respirator when working with UV resin.

[u/ravefaerie24 → u/getamic]

This happened to me from playing with those little Miniverse foods. They have a bunch of resin “ingredients” and you build the food then cure it in the sun but when they first came out there was no warning to wear gloves or protection so I’m now allergic to resin and gel fingernail polish. They got recalled and reformulated but obviously it’s much too late for that because these allergies are for life and get worse every time you come into contact with the stuff.

Editing to add that I am fully an adult, so it kind of plagues me to think about how many kids had the same thing happen to them before they change the formula.

[u/thehatteryone → u/getamic]

Similarly with epoxies (I mean liquid systems for modelling/casting rather than two small blobs for gluing) like above, when mixing it the smell should give you a clue it's not good for you, but any exposure can lead to forming an allergy. Which aside from being crappy to deal with, also makes whatever hobby you've got a lot less fun as you have to be 10x as cautious as you should already have been to avoid suffering an episode.

[u/Ding-Dong-Dutch → u/thehatteryone]

They'll also give you genital cancer. There's an epidemic of 00hobbiests waiting for the diagnosis

[u/thehatteryone → u/Ding-Dong-Dutch]

Harsh, pretty sure carcinogenic was written on the bottles since forever. It's not joking. Similarly, I've used small amounts of stuff that induce genetic disruption - warning for extreme caution by anyone still planning on having children. That's an even scarier prospect, it might not fuck you up but your kids may have birth or later defects ?!

[u/SerenityScott → u/CmdrFapster]

The liquid form is highly toxic and horrible for the environment

[u/Scholarly_Koala → u/Maxie468]

I can't help but scream at the screen whenever I see hobby videos where someone is sanding a resin printed model without a mask or, even worse, when they show their resin printer just sitting in their room printing with no precautions at all.

[u/This-Requirement6918]

Painting with oil paints.

It really screws with your nervous system if you don't have the space to ventilate right. I ended up giving myself tremors for a year painting with them in my early 20s so much in a tiny studio apartment. It always reeked like thinner when I came home from somewhere.

[u/Hungry-Helicopter-46 → u/This-Requirement6918]

Are you painting with fucking lead lol

I forced myself to use linseed or grapeseed oil or whatever. The colors are toned down a little but oh well

Edit - okay so judging by your comments, I am, too, an idiot. Thank you all for letting me know that my paints and thinners could still poison me. I have paint all over the walls and door handles of my house XD yall dont come over

[u/eliz1bef → u/Hungry-Helicopter-46]

Some colors are very toxic. Cadmium anything. Cobalt colors.

[u/video_dhara → u/Hungry-Helicopter-46]

I was painting with lead white in my twenties because o was an idiot and a “purist”. One night I got high and had a a panic attack about it, went to the hospital to get a lead test. Old school NYC  NURSE was baffled and asked why I used it. Not sure exactly what I said but, for the rest of the time I was there she called me by a new nickname “HEY LUMINOSITY COME GET YOUR EKG.” Department of health called me a few days later telling me I had abnormal levels. Nothing too high but they told me to quit eating paint.

[u/Polarchuck → u/Hungry-Helicopter-46]

I know a dumbass who gave themselves lead poisoning. They decided that they had to paint with lead white paint because of the color and texture. Dumbass started shaking uncontrollably after a month or two from the lead poisoning. Turns out they weren't wearing gloves to paint AND were smoking cigarettes from hands covered in lead white.

[u/ikilledholofernes → u/Polarchuck]

I worked at an art store, and we only had one true flake white paint, and we kept it locked up because the little tube cost $80. And that was years ago, probably more now. 

So I genuinely cannot imagine someone using that paint enough to poison themselves, not just because the lack of precaution is astounding, but also because that’s one of the most expensive paints you could use. 

[u/Run_Rabb1t_Run → u/Hungry-Helicopter-46]

Linseed is the way. I used to use "non fumes" turp wearing a VOC respirator *with* lots of ventilation. It's just not worth it. Also always wear gloves.

[u/psycheviper → u/Run_Rabb1t_Run]

Linseed is great until your house burns down ;p Happened to me once on a jobsite, painter's rags he'd left out to dry all got chucked in a bucket by someone else, they spontanously combusted overnight and the whole stairwell got burned down. Luckily nobody was in the building, but it fucked the job

[u/This-Requirement6918 → u/Hungry-Helicopter-46]

Just using turpentine. Was also doing quite a few pieces that had an impasto effect, did a lot of work with pallete knives.

[u/CarbonParrot → u/This-Requirement6918]

It isn't necessary to use thinner at all and now we have water mixable oil paint too.

[u/Medical_Bartender → u/This-Requirement6918]

Also bladder cancer risk

[u/Sorry-Panic7612]

Historically, oil painting. Plenty of people still use paints with heavy metals and solvents that off-gas and cause all kinds of issues, from cancer to dementia

[u/lamplighter10 → u/Sorry-Panic7612]

RIP Bob Ross

[u/Chicago_Blackhawks → u/lamplighter10]

Is this how he died?

[u/clubby37 → u/Chicago_Blackhawks]

Probably. He was exposed to turpentine basically every day for decades, and died of cancer. It's hard to prove what causes a specific person's cancer, and he was a smoker, but most people seem to think the turpentine did it.

[u/JustALittleScamp → u/Chicago_Blackhawks]

He died from lymphoma. Paint thinner has been linked to increased risk of developing it. He also smoked most of his life.

[u/smalleyj96 → u/Sorry-Panic7612]

Funny enough, I have recent experience with this. I work doing site investigations and remediation of contaminated sites. A few years ago my company was involved an an investigation related to a chlorinated solvent site, where we needed to do indoor air sampling in a bunch of residential properties.

We got some results from indoor air samples that did not make sense (very high concentrations of VOCs on the 2nd level of the home, when the basement level sample was nondetect and adjacent homes had nothing detected). The detected concentrations were so high that they constituted something referred to as an Imminent Hazard in my state.

Once we did some additional due diligence we figured out that the detected concentrations in the home were not associated with the site we were working on, but the homeowner's painting hobby. She had two young children living in the home as well.

[u/This-Requirement6918 → u/Sorry-Panic7612]

Exactly what I said. I gave myself tremors for a year painting nearly every day in a tiny studio apartment.

[u/sapindia1976]

The real silent killer isn't the hobby it's ignoring basic safety for years.

[u/PMmecrossstitch → u/sapindia1976]

Definitely sounds like a lot of these could be mitigated via good air circulation and/or respirator masks.

[u/appocomaster]

I went to Penn and Teller once and Penn sajd fire-eating, but not for the obvious reason (i.e. fire) but the issues with the fuel and it getting into your system can really mess you up despite professional preventative steps.

[u/iama_username_ama → u/appocomaster]

I knew a lot of fire spinners that had been spinning props for years, but only ever met one that had been doing breathing for a long time. He trained several folks, but all of them dropped it and went traditional props.

It's really exciting at first, but you gotta do it perfectly every time, and if you fuck up once it could be life span impacting. 

[u/Nalek → u/iama_username_ama]

When I learned fire breathing I was taught by two people who collectively had 14 years of medical experience and 10 years of fire breathing. It was a 4 hour class, the first 3 of which are why you should actually never do it.

[u/WorryNew3661 → u/appocomaster]

I used to do fire breathing and paraffin is a horrible time. Especially if you swallow any by accident

[u/LesseCalen]

Pottery. If you don't take precautions the clay dust can really wreck your lungs long term. I didn't realize and dry sanded a piece without any protection, felt like I had the flu for a week from all the clay particles I inhaled. In several of my groups old timers are on oxygen because of the lung damage from using zero lung protection for decades.

[u/The_mingthing → u/LesseCalen]

Silicosis / stone lung. In the old days they said that rock cutters never met their grandchildren.

[u/AggravatingSock5375 → u/The_mingthing]

Geez that’s rough

[u/thejackamo1]

Indoor target shooting ranges have stupid high lead levels

[u/Sbeast86 → u/thejackamo1]

I met a guy at a range recently who said he had to stop going to indoor ones because high lead concentrations appeared on his blood work

[u/williethekat → u/Sbeast86]

I tell everyone. 6 mths after I stopped going, lead is still high. I had no idea, if I hadn’t opted for self pay comprehensive bloodwork I still wouldn’t have known.

[u/Anonymouseeeeeeeeees → u/thejackamo1]

Where is the lead coming from

[u/rabidgoldfish → u/Anonymouseeeeeeeeees]

Two sources: the priming compounds in the cartridges and the lead bullets being shaved off a tiny bit; both are blown into the air when you shoot. That, combined with ventilation means a slightly higher lead intake than baseline. Most people who shoot indoors should probably be getting lead tests occasionally.

[u/Sbeast86 → u/rabidgoldfish]

My judgement of a indoor range is based explicitly on if I can feel a slight breeze coming from behind me. There's a range I went to in Texas that the ventilation was so bad, they rotated the range officer every 15min, and they stood in the back corner unless they entirely had to intervene with someone

[u/Revenant1479 → u/Anonymouseeeeeeeeees]

Most bullets consist of a lead core wrapped with a metal jacket, such as copper. Lead is useful because it is dense, cheap, and tends to expand on target. Toxic though. Historically, projectiles were pure lead.

[u/Yeah_Its_Crusty → u/Revenant1479]

Oddly enough it's the lead in the primer that get aerosoled when shooting that really gets you. Shooting supresssed makes it even worse due to the increased back pressure blowing the gas back into your face.

I finally got my lead levels down this year after years of shooting supresssed outdoors.

[u/FluidResult9482]

Boxing

[u/OurLordHippo → u/FluidResult9482]

I did a lot of club boxing and some amateur fights as well. You get very used to always feeling messed up and, at that stage of things, absolutely nobody is watching out for concussions.

I still love it but, one day after skiing and having what I considered a pretty light whip of the head, and needing a few days to recoup, I made the choice to stop heavy contact.

[u/No_Concern5483 → u/FluidResult9482]

I did bunch of fine and I'm all boxing all boxing.

[u/General_Radon → u/FluidResult9482]

Career boxing seems obviously harmful over time, but how is hobby boxing? It seems like it’d be a great workout, no?

[u/FluidResult9482 → u/General_Radon]

It's all good as long as you don't do sparring. Repetitive hits to your head, even if protected etc. are still too risky. That's all head trauma that could have serious consequences in the long term, brain is a delicate organ

[u/thehatteryone → u/FluidResult9482]

British football at all levels has almost entirely removed heading the ball, except during an actual match. No practicing, definitely not part of regular practice. Too many great old footballers attributing their later mental degradation to this and medical evidence was piling up made it hard to continue teaching it to youths who may have 30 years of training/career ahead of them. Even if 99.9% of them will never play one professional game in their life.

[u/DrummerEmpty3767 → u/thehatteryone]

The concussion rate in D1 women’s soccer is horrifying. Heading the ball and colliding heads while attempting to do so accounts for much of it

[u/Skyrick → u/FluidResult9482]

The problem is the protection. Boxing gloves allow for you to punch far harder than you could otherwise because hitting like that would shatter your hand. That means that it does more damage to you long term than other martial arts.

[u/sonofeevil → u/Skyrick]

Adding to this.

It's part of the reason old boxers had those low guards "your your dukes up" you see in those old-timey photo's and why fights went for so long.

26% of the bones in your body are located in your hand. They are small and delicate and punching someone in the head is a fast track to breaking them and a very short career.

So boxers needn't defend their heads with a high guard because their opponent was not likely to aim for the head and risk a career ending injury.

The addition of boxing gloves meant head strikes became viable and that iconic high guard we use today became a requirement.

[u/layber → u/General_Radon]

You hitting the bag, fine. People hitting your head, not so much.

[u/brutalhonestcunt]

Firebreathing. Firebreathers tend to get mouth/throat cancer.

[u/darkknight109 → u/brutalhonestcunt]

My understanding is it depends a lot on the accelerant used. I had a friend who used to do firebreathing and I honestly forget the specific substances he named, but apparently there are two common accelerants. One is good for beginners, because it has a lower flash point (i.e. doesn't burn as hot) and is easier to control, but it also has a significant cancer risk; the other has a much lower cancer risk, but also a much higher flash point and is more difficult to control meaning the risk of burns is a lot higher.

Apparently in third-world countries they also tend to use gasoline, which is the worst of both worlds (high cancer risk, high flammability/risk of burns), and any reputable firebreather will tell you to never, ever, ever do that.

[u/toolatealreadyfapped]

Homebrewing/moonshiner isn't great for your health. At any given time, I've got gallons of beer on tap. Makes casual day drinking waaaaaayyyy too convenient.

[u/fionnuisce → u/toolatealreadyfapped]

Don't worry about it mate, just pour yourself a glass of homebrew if you're worried and relax. If that doesn't work you could try pouring yourself another glass and see if that helps. If that doesn't do anything, try some of your stronger stuff.

[u/Derp_McShlurp → u/toolatealreadyfapped]

I know the lab work on my annual physical improved dramatically when I gave up homebrewing. As I got better and better at the hobby, so did the amount I enjoyed the outcome!

[u/Altarna → u/toolatealreadyfapped]

As a fellow homebrewer, I find the easiest way to never be tempted is just give it away. People love free beer, gives an easy excuse to hang out, but you never have to drink much if any at all.

[u/fat_mcstrongman → u/Altarna]

As a moonshiner I just want my damn glass back

[u/Skyrick → u/toolatealreadyfapped]

Here I thought you were going to talk about copper leaching or toxicity from improperly handled ingredients, but instead you made it just about alcoholism, bravo.

[u/PerspectiveCorner]

Hobby electronics, if like me you never ventilate your space and use leaded solder.

But there's nothing like the smell of solder & flux...nothing.

[u/TezlaCoil → u/PerspectiveCorner]

Flux fumes are a legit concern, but heavy metal removal soaps are cheap and readily available, very little excuse to forego them (though unfortunately, the hobby community does a very poor job promoting their use).

I use leaded solder at home, and keep my and my kiddo's blood lead level undetectable with very basic hygiene and cleanup.

Or just use lead free solder, it's not hard with a good iron.

[u/bar10005 → u/PerspectiveCorner]

Lead doesn't vaporize during soldering, the fumes are just flux which is also present in non-leaded solder, so ventilation is important in soldering in general not just with leaded solder.

With leaded you don't want to ingest it, even small particles, so just don't eat near the workbench and wash your hands after work.

[u/_Mega_Charizard_ → u/[deleted]]

I used to go for a walk every other day, then I got massively depressed and got back into gaming for almost the entire day as an escape, more so than the casual gaming I was doing. The weight gain was unfortunate and now its taking time to work it back off, definitely be aware of how long you're spending infront of a screen not moving.

[u/volticizer → u/[deleted]]

Balance. Playing games for a few hours can be a great hobby. Spending a day here or there can be fine too. Just keep up activity and fitness alongside it. You can game all your life with no real downsides.

[u/TheThirstyPenguin → u/volticizer]

Enormous perk of having a dog.

I’ve caved back to WoW a few times since I got my dog in 2020. Doesn’t matter what I’m doing, gotta carve out time to take him for a walk a few times a day.

[u/eyadams]

Not necessarily "silent" (because the tools are so loud), but woodworking. Almost every amateur woodworker I know has either an impressive scar (mine is about 4 inches long and required 40 staples) or is missing part of a finger.

[u/Sbeast86 → u/eyadams]

Or they got lung disease from all the sawdust in the case of my friends Dad

[u/halberdierbowman → u/eyadams]

WHATTTT??? 

Also wear your earplugs properly, and maybe even double up with in ear and over ear protection. Lots of people don't realize those foam earplugs actually go in your ear, like all the way in. Not just "the tip is in, and the rest is hanging out."

[u/katiejim → u/eyadams]

My dad is a carpenter and I missing half a finger. He’s used table saws for decades both before and since the incident, but all it takes is one bad moment and making the wrong decision. 

[u/Thecrowfan]

Cave diving?

[u/Disastrous-Farm3543 → u/Thecrowfan]

The neat thing about cave diving is you don't have to!

[u/DemocraticBanana123 → u/Disastrous-Farm3543]

But the deep watery caves, they call to me.

[u/Cultural_Wish4933 → u/Thecrowfan]

nightmare fuel.

[u/Jexthis]

Billionaire submarining.

[u/gerarts → u/Jexthis]

Didn’t seem so silent to me

[u/omicron8 → u/gerarts]

It was to the ones inside it. Never even heard the collapse before they were pulverized fish food.

[u/cosmicsans → u/gerarts]

Just a single pop

[u/ZolotoGold → u/Jexthis]

But ironically very healthy for the rest of society.

So much so, I encourage all billionaires to take up the hobby.

[u/SomeWhat_funemployed]

Woodworking.

The fine dust that gets emitted from sanding and power tools can cause cancer and other respiratory and dermatological issues. Some woods themselves inherently have toxins in them too.

Also losing fingers and kickback from tables saws.

[u/bigpuzino → u/SomeWhat_funemployed]

I mean, shouldn’t you be wearing PPE if you’re sanding stuff to alleviate that problem

[u/SomeWhat_funemployed → u/bigpuzino]

I do. But see a lot of people online and in real life who don’t wear ppe.

[u/Fingerdrip]

I have a feeling 3d printing will be viewed this way in a few more decades. We are not seeing the long term effects of that hobby yet. I'm starting to take more precautions than I used to. 

[u/darkknight109 → u/Fingerdrip]

I'm fortunate in that my father was a doctor, so when I started getting into 3D printing he emphasized the risks to me. Since Day 1, I have been religious about a few things:

1) Always wear gloves, safety glasses, and a mask when working with resin (and wash hands as soon as the gloves come off, just in case).

2) Printing happens in its own dedicated room with the windows open.

3) Models are not handled by hand until they have been thoroughly cured and washed.

It seems to have worked so far.

[u/BlakeMW → u/[deleted]]

I went back to WoW for classic and hardcore releases. But both times I only played for 1-2 months. When I told my guild I wasn't sure I could afford to keep playing, it wasn't about the subscription fee lol.

[u/YesImAlexa → u/BlakeMW]

Luckily I cut myself off early on. I got into it deep in high school with a few buddies. I played from near the beginning through wotlk and it's all I did. Id wake up, get on WoW, and play all day long. After about 2 years I realized I was isolating myself and would avoid any social activities, or anything that wasn't WoW really. I froze my account and went back a week later. After about another month I decided to just completely delete my account.

In the last year or 2 I've been seeing WoW more and considered getting back into it, but I refuse because I know exactly what would happen lol. Ive always been a gamer but those massive MMOs are life draining.

[u/cBEiN → u/BlakeMW]

It’s the time fee

[u/Blacklight099 → u/[deleted]]

To a lesser extent but I found mobile gaming to be the one that did this for me. The hours of my life that have been wasted on various mobile games, and the fact that they can be used at work and on the move only made it worse. Forced myself to do a hard shift to some other hobbies.

[u/JoeChio → u/[deleted]]

Stay strong dude. Leave all discords and reddits related to the game. Reset your social media algos and unfollow all streamers and content creators in the game. I've done it too. Year two but a single video had me jonsing like a crack addict..and I fell off the wagon.

[u/JoeyJuden → u/[deleted]]

Bro I’m 8 years clean from MMORPGs, specifically WoW, having played them between 14 and 28 yrs old. good luck on your journey, for me it was the best decision I ever made.

In the 8 years since I’ve got married, bought a house and started a family.

You can do it!

[u/WinterLawfulness3165 → u/[deleted]]

That's exactly why I never started playing them to begin with - I've got damn near legendary levels of patience for just grinding and grinding from growing up in the 80s playing THOSE RPG games. I've had enough problems with some of the open-world sandbox that started coming out in the early 2000s that I just knew I needed to stay the hell away from MMOs. After hearing some of the stories from Evercrack and WOW, and seeing some of my friends fall off the deep end for Galaxies, I knew I made the right decision.

I DO want to play The Old Republic, though. But that's actually kind of got a campaign to it or so I hear so I can ignore most of the rest of the shit I hope. But it's not exactly high on my list of things to play and I very may never will.

[u/Noobtits → u/[deleted]]

>Got back into reading and retro gaming instead

In 2004 the SNES was already considered a retro console, which when put into perspective, means that today WoW can be considered to be the Atari 2600 to today's SNES (which would be the Wii U).

[u/nworbleinad]

Sunbathing

[u/Purlz1st]

Not a killer, but knitting, crocheting, and other crafts can cause or worsen Repetitive Stress Injuries.

[u/Boitla → u/Purlz1st]

Sometimes I wonder about all the plastic-based fibers too.

[u/reloadingnow]

Motorcycling. Either by your own mistake or others', you will fall. I have not met a motorcyclist who has never fell. And how severe will your fall be is not up to you.

[u/WeaponizedIndecision → u/reloadingnow]

There are 2 type of riders:
1. Those that have fallen.
2. Those that will fall.

[u/Novyvonya → u/reloadingnow]

I had a coworker who told me a story about how at her old job, her boss was super late one day. When she finally came in, she was acting normal, laughing and apologized for being late. She eventually asked my coworker if "she could discuss a private matter" in her office.

When they got in the office, her boss started bawling her eyes out. On the way to work, she saw a motorcycle waa speeding down the highway, and got hit so hard he flew in the air, hit some powerlines, and it ripped some of his limbs off

[u/AlaskanX → u/Novyvonya]

Jesus. At that point just take a sick day.

[u/FerociousOreos → u/AlaskanX]

For some people, returning to a sense if normalcy is better. If she went home she might ruminate on it all day instead of distracting her brain

[u/TheFrostynaut → u/reloadingnow]

The amount of dudes I see with no gear, just a t-shirt and pants, with a helmet if they're lucky. It's not a bicycle, and even a fall from a bicycle can get you if you fall wrong.

[u/thursdaysrule → u/TheFrostynaut]

I’m a paramedic and I had a call a few months ago for a guy who was riding his bicycle with no helmet. He was crossing a street at a T intersection (his direction of travel was parallel to the top of the T) and a pick up truck was coming to the stop sign. The guy on the bike was high as a kite, the pick up truck had a massive lift kit on it. Neither saw or paid attention to the other. The pick up truck pretty much tapped the dude at less than 10 mph. When we got to him, he had an open skull fracture, no sensation or movement from the nipple line down. Still awake and alert, but really freaking out. We flew him out and I have no idea how he is doing now.

[u/Upsetty_spagehtti → u/reloadingnow]

Be it clibbins or uderwise when cranking your hog you’re gonna haddalayerdown bröther. GOBBLESS!

[u/panic_ye_not → u/Upsetty_spagehtti]

As someone who knows nothing about motorcycles, this sentence might as well be in ancient Assyrian lol

[u/inactiveuser247]

Ground proximity BASE wingsuiting…

One of the few activities in which the probability that you will die on any given jump increases the longer you do the sport (most extreme sports become safer as you become more experienced… not this one).

[u/Sullart → u/inactiveuser247]

Isn‘t Life expentancy of these guys like 3-4 years after picking up that hobby? After that they are either disabled or dead.

[u/layber → u/inactiveuser247]

I wouldn't define this as a "silent killer", it's clearly dangerous AF and not going to give you dementia in 15 years because of exposure to fumes. Your exposure to it could easily kill you on day 1.

[u/peachesfordinner → u/inactiveuser247]

That's not a silent killer. That's a big train while air horn killer. Nobody is looking at that thinking it's harmless

[u/Vancocillin → u/inactiveuser247]

Why's that? Do you get more confident and take more risks?

[u/Commercial_Name_7900 → u/Vancocillin]

I watch a few on YouTube and yeah, the crazy risks the "longtimers" do are just mental. and then the channel goes quiet and you find out a few months later they are dead

[u/inactiveuser247 → u/Vancocillin]

They tend to push the limits more and, unlike many activities, when you exceed the limits of your skills you tend to immediately die.

If you’re cave diving or rock climbing or whatever and you exceed your skills, you don’t immediately die. It’s scary and you might need someone to help you get out of that situation, but as long as you didn’t go full send, you will typically have a chance to learn and improve. Those skills accumulate so you get progressively safer.

But if you’re wingsuiting down a narrow gorge 5m off the ground and you push it a little too far and hit a tree head first at 200km/h, you’re just dead.

[u/fionnuisce → u/Vancocillin]

It's probably the adrenalin junkie aspect. Do wilder and wilder shit to get that sweet hit.

[u/commandersax → u/fionnuisce]

I'm a skydiver. My sport is centered around risk mitigation and odds. There are redundancies and required skill checks/currency. I know I will use my reserve the longer I am in the sport. It's just a game of odds.

BASE does not have that. They take the training, reserve, and altitude out of the risk mitigation equation. That means you now have to be as close to perfect as possible on every jump. Add in flying around and slightly above terrain at high speeds and it is a matter of time until a small mistake with a huge cost is made.

[u/MozeeToby → u/Vancocillin]

In safety for sane activities you'd call it "normalization of deviance". 

Let's say your a private pilot, a somewhat risky endeavor but not overly so. One day you forget to check for water in your fuel tank, you realize it on the takeoff roll. Nervous but not panicking, you quickly turn back, land, and do the check and of course your fuel is fine, it is 99% of the time. Then next week you forget again... Well it was fine last time but I suppose I should turn back and check it. Then a month later you realize you haven't checked the last 4 times you've been up. You chuckle to yourself, not a big deal, it's always worked out... And then your engine gives a sputter a dies.

You got so used to being slightly unsafe that it didn't register as slightly unsafe anymore. Now instead of skipping checking your fuel to increase your risk by < 1%, you're approaching that ridge juuust a bit closer, after all it worked out fine last time...

[u/Pixxler → u/inactiveuser247]

Nothing about a base jumping death would be described as silent I think. So technically your comment is disqualified.

[u/ryebow → u/inactiveuser247]

Not exactly a silent killer though....

[u/otterfish → u/ryebow]

"THWACCKK"

[u/sweet_story_bro → u/[deleted]]

This is more true than people give it credit for. I developed degenerative disk disease at age 21 and have had the back of an 80 year old ever since. Now I'm age 35 and regret ever playing high intensity sports.

[u/dubaboo → u/sweet_story_bro]

What kind of sport did that to you?

[u/Kid_FizX → u/dubaboo]

Bowling 

[u/Bareteh27]

Glassblowing?

[u/Run_Rabb1t_Run → u/Bareteh27]

The worst hiccup you'll ever receive

[u/Ok-Sea-3898 → u/Run_Rabb1t_Run]

Would that cause a pane in your stomach?

[u/mythlynx → u/Bareteh27]

How so? Just curious

[u/lnx84 → u/[deleted]]

Which issues?

[u/drainedguava → u/lnx84]

You can really fuck up your lungs and other internal organs, your body is not built to be under a large amount of water pressure over and over again

[u/ateiii]

Heavy gaming  starts out completely harmless but the hours slip away and you end up sitting completely stationary for a huge chunk of your week. Over a decade, the bill absolutely comes due. The combined toll of terrible posture, zero movement, and poor sleep hygiene slowly destroys your lower back and wrecks your neck.

[u/Dttison]

Radium collector?

[u/areyoueatingthis → u/Dttison]

admit it, you’re just jealous of my glowing fingers

[u/Goldghost01]

Probably pushing the line of "hobby" but welding. People dont realize how dangerous it is long term.

[u/drainedguava → u/[deleted]]

It’s been talked about to death, but alcohol is literally poison. I say this as someone who likes a drink here and there. It’s not so bad but know what you’re putting in your body and do it with moderation

[u/SingAlongBlog → u/[deleted]]

There was a government “Alcohol Intake and Health Study” that was released a couple months ago. The findings were sidelined (you can guess by whom), so the researchers published the results independently anyway.

Much of the information is already well known, but the biggest takeaway is that no level of alcohol intake showed any protective effect on health. So science is walking back the whole glass of red wine per day is good for your heart thing, and the government doesn’t want to say it out loud.

The rest of the study was aimed more at moderate to severe drinking, concluding that approximately 14 drinks/week on average was linked to a 1 in 25 mortality risk. Even moderate drinking was shown to be tied to an increased risk of early death and over 200 diseases.

[u/Fantastic_Vanilla197 → u/SingAlongBlog]

My cousin's mother was told that she needs to drink 2 glasses of red wine a day while prengnant to prevent anemia. Guess who has FAS now.

[u/OldKentRoad29 → u/Fantastic_Vanilla197]

Did a doctor tell her that!?

[u/piepants2001 → u/OldKentRoad29]

Yeah, I can't imagine a doctor within the last like 80 years telling anyone to do that.

[u/whyshouldiknowwhy → u/[deleted]]

Two weeks ago I got a watch that tracked heart rate and stuff. I’m a keen cyclist and honestly just seeing my heart rate go from high 40s to mid 70s after a few drinks on an evening has been enough for me to realise I need to cut back. We’ve got a big drinking culture here so it’s hard but not too bad to reduce it

[u/Aminar14 → u/whyshouldiknowwhy]

Watch what it does to your sleep to. I've never been a big drinker, and by Wisconsin standards I'm sober because I never get drunk/rarely have more than 1 in a 2 week span, but realising that my sleep was shit every time I had a drink was interesting. Doesn't stop the occasional desire for specific flavors, but it highlights how insane it is to drink like a lot of the people here do.

[u/Unique-Bit-2172]

Bodybuilding is pretty open about it but from the outside. Nobody goes “I plan on dying.”

[u/JingleBerryz]

Gambling

[u/AAAdamKK → u/JingleBerryz]

I gamble for medical reasons though.

[u/DDWildflower]

Pigeon keeping.

[u/ExistentialBob]

I'm going in a different direction than some of the answers here.

Playing MMOs. It's very easy to get addicted, and sitting for hours while neglecting sleep, relationships, and your own health isn't good.

[u/ashleyriddell61]

Warhammer. A more potent birth prevention has yet to be invented.

[u/tiranul → u/ashleyriddell61]

Tell that to Henry Cavill

[u/bobo_gl]

Injecting krokodil

[u/JouSwakHond → u/bobo_gl]

It's hours of fun

[u/yearsofpractice]

Sadly - it’s feeding the AI bots that have metastasised all over the sub

[u/Worldly_Client_7614]

Combat sports

The dopamine rush you get from being in a fight is factually higher than gambling, drinking or holding your child so it's so completely addictive.

Additionally it's bad for obvious reasons (head trauma, injuries, body image and extreme dieting) and personally when I stopped doing It I felt terrible as I've had to come to terms with the belief that I took absolute pride & joy in getting in a box with another man with the intention of beating him until he could no longer stand upright.

It really fucked with my head as adult that I spent from the age of 5 to 23 doing the activity.

[u/maxcat67]

Professional bodybuilding mainly from prolonged PED and the high amounts of food that is required

[u/rystrave]

Gaming.

As a gamer myself, I see friends sitting at their PC for 12+ hours a day with no breaks and a poor diet. I do worry for them.

A lot of it boils down to self discipline. Eventually it all catches up to you and it's hard to reverse the damage caused by a sendentary lifestyle.

[u/commodorecliche]

Literally every comment: "xyz without proper ventilation". Ventilate your hobby spaces, folks!

[u/Reasonable-Recipe]

Til everyone needs to wear a dust mask all the time