I need opinions about a strange hobby my friend has.

back before dvd`s.. id tape movies offa the premium cable channels. they were movies i liked and wanted to keep and watch again and really didnt wanna pay the 24 bucks to buy it. at one point in time i had a video library of well over 600 movies, so in order to find the movie i wanted without pouring through them all every time.. i cateloged them all in a notebook, and numbered each tape to coincide with same number in said book so id know which tape had which movies on them (you could put 3 sometimes 4 movies per tape). when id wanna watch a movie.. id open the book, find the one i wanted, and then go the shelves and find that numbered tape. collecting movies isnt really all that odd.. lots of people do it.

it sounds to me like he is obsessive /compulsive. There is medication for that. Get him some help. He is wasting a lot of his tme.

Fifty tubs of VHS Cassettes in his place that he's recorded,and he hasn't watched ANY of them? WHERE does he sleep?! is there room for him to get into the room? It doesn't sound like much of a hobby from here,more like OCD..does He go out socialising with You or other friends at all? Does He have many visitors in his place? Hasn't he heard of DVD? TIVO? Okay,I'm here at the computer a few hours each day,I don't watch much TV,but I go out,and at least I'm interacting with others,friends and Family,etc..Does He have a Computer? Doesn't sound like he has an internet habit!

Hi anawar fortunatley I don't know of anyone like that...you are right though his brain needs some other sort of stimulation your littleowl

good day.. did you ask him why he's doing it? Maybe it's not the movies he's recording what he's really after but the act of recording that's what giving him the high. Ask him and then maybe we could help when we know what's the reason behind his recording.

Really...hehehe. That's very odd. Your friend is ok? Just asking no offense meant. What's the use of all the recordings if he doesn't even watch a single one of it. Waste of time and electric bill and not to mention the money he used on purchasing the equipments.

I like the comment above that recording the movies is his "job" now. Maybe if he had some other purpose, he wouldn't record so much. You did say when he's away he doesn't record so it seems that he can NOT do it and be okay. Everyone says OCD and I don't know enough about it that OCD could affect a person this selectively. I thought OCD was with you all the time. You are probably being the biggest help by being his friend. We'd like to give advice and change someone and maybe you can get him to change, who knows.

Maybe he has got too much free time on his hand and he doesn't know what to do with all the free time he has.. And so maybe that's the only way for him to pass time much more faster, as time flies when we are doing something.. As for me, taping even when he's out, it has become a habit for him and he cant stop now.. If u really wanna know, try to stop his recording when he's out 1 day, and see his reaction to it..

You said he is retired and a very smart person, I think he records all those movies and stuff because he thinks it's his "job". It's something he can do to keep busy. I don't think it's wrong or odd, when he wants to stop maybe he could do some volunteering somewhere. My step dad used to tape movies an stuff he had two vcr's and two tv's in his room and he would tape all kinds of stuff for other people and himself. He's passed away now and every once in awhile I will run into a VHS that he has taped for me and I think of him, I treasure every one of them because he taped them thinking of me. Good luck to your friend and you, Amberina.

I don't do that, but you should advise him to start using cd rom media as soon there won't be any VCRs to watch the stuff on. I assume he's taping them for someone's future use..does he think there will be a global disaster soon, or a total breakdown of society? Sometimes those people do things like that.

Well I think it is a little odd at the most. Like you said there is no harm in it. I do think that he is probably wasting a lot of time. There is absolutely no reason why he is doing it? If he feels like he needs help maybe you should suggest that he can go to a counselor. I am not saying he needs it I am just saying there is no harm in going and seeing if he gets any use out of it. It does sound a little like OCD. Again I am not saying he has it. When I went to a counselor, something that I told her made her think there was a slight chance I had it. We talked about it and she asked me some questions about it and we figured out that I don't have it. When we were talking about it though, she said that there are different levels. Not everyone that has it has it that extreme. Just a thought. Is he worried about something, like perhaps his cable be turned off and he is recording shows and movies so he will have something to watch if that happens? I hope this helped a little.

Actually hun this sounds like a form of OCD to me. (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) I mean he knows it doesn't make sense to do it but he can't make himself stop. It's a physical need. That is a symptom of OCD and if unchecked this disorder may get worse as he gets older. Might suggest that he speaks to someone about it.

Actually I have two friends who do this and they both have had to build shelves to store their tapes. For the life of my I don't understand what they get out of this but it's just some sort of hobby they have. It's OK by me, just so I don't have to go to their house and dust. lol

Just reading your friends scenario makes it sound like he has some kind of case of obsessive compulsive disorder. It seems like he has a problem where he feels like hes going to miss something on TV and needs to tape it just incase something important happens. The fact he is frusterated with his hobby but still continues it seems like he feels kind of perpetually trapped to continue recording. Then again he might make it big one day selling antique VHS tapes of old television shows haha.

Interesting!

Well, you never know. Stuff like this sells for millions after sometime. It's obsessive and completely ridiculous that he does that even though he doesn't like it, but its something that can help him in the long run. bourne

Some sort of OCD? This doesn't seem to be mild either, it seems to have taken over his life lol. You say he's frustrated with his behavior, probably because he cannot control/end it. Does he want to control or end this? Maybe a way to suggest he get some help is come up with a list of things he would prefer to be doing instead of sitting there recording multiple things he will never watch. This is a time-intensive thing to do, and hundreds of VHS tapes not to mention the storage tubs could be getting expensive as well. As well as I can gather, I would only consider myself mildly OCD about a couple of things, and they are neither expensive nor very time consuming, in fact part of the obsessive-compulsion for me is that I hate doing these things so they must be done asap in the shortest amount of time possible so I don't have to think about them when I return home.... dishes, getting kitchen cleaned up, and laundry. Some people spend a LOT of time doing those things and they do them slowly, or throughout the day, or even ALL WEEK, never completing it all. I prefer to go tackle those things and try to get them done in a couple minutes.

Does he have a reason for doing this? I'm thinking it could simply be OCD, Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder. I have a weird habit of collecting unusual brass objects, usually from second-hand stores, flea markets or yard sales. BUT, I do have a reason. I clean them up and am putting them on my new online store for resale. Hey, it's not all crazy! I found a brass "candle wick cutter" which was no longer manufactured after 1837. I bought it for 25 cents and it's worth over $400.00!!! I also found an antique brass Egyptian vase. So, my weirdness has a plus side; at least THIS weirdness does. LOL

I think it would be ok if someone else was watching the videos or if at least he was, but sense that's not the case, it does seem kind of strange. There doesn't seem to be any reason for him to do this, and like you said, he's frustrated with this hobby, so he probably should just quit now and be happy with what he's already recorded. :)

Why not help him develop some outdoor hobbies, such as fishing. Siting in front of the TV for a long time does hurt his eyes somewhat. And he realy need do something interesting to fill his time. My father often goes fishing after retiring from his work, and he keep a good health and high spirit.