My Experience With Cubing & Mental Health

Dylan Miller's existence has made my life better. Love u bro ❤ 1:32 *get busted by stucube 15-5

big man, means a lot to hear other top cubers talking about this topic. cubing is a wonderful thing, and i owe so much to the sport/community that's given me the agency to freely and unapologetically be myself. but it can't be everything. during the buildup to worlds 2025 i was so one-track minded on my grind that the other facets of my life began to strip away. i was gaining weight, my spiritual and romantic relationships had been long neglected, and in the end it culminated in the girl i loved more than anything in the world unable to cope with who i was becoming and leaving just a few days after i came home from america. my entire life had changed so fast, and it was blindingly obvious to me in hindsight that the cost of trying to mainline practice in the lead up to worlds was a hollowness from the absence of everything else important to me. this sport is still absolutely one of the most important things to me, but there's so many reasons it can't be your only thing. your body is capable of so much, sitting at a desk for 10 hours a day twisting plastic toys is borderline wasteful 14:44 sums it up so well. go for a walk, drive to a mountain and enjoy the views, grab a coffee with a friend, live a little! keep the cubes as a fun side thing. it has the capability to ruin you if you don't keep it in check.

Thanks for being real about all of this, I think it matters more than you probably realize. Mental health in cubing doesn’t get talked about enough. Especially important for younger cubers who can easily tie their self-worth to times and results. It’s such a great reminder that balance is key and life isn’t just about chasing PRs and podiums. For me it’s probably a good thing that I started cubing later in life or I would have likely fallen into the same trap. Also friendly reminder that you helped so many people improve and inspired a lot of cubers who look up to you. That is an big achievement, even if it‘s not the kind you had in mind. I really hope you can make the changes that feel right for you, find that balance, and start enjoying cubing again.

4:16 I genuinely cried around here, I love cubing so much. It is one of the 2 reasons I havent killed myself yet. On some days, its not even enough and I fight with the urge to self harm (failed many times). My parents hate cubing so much that I sometimes much rather have Yiheng’s mom as my parents than my actual parents who hate cubing. They don’t see how much it matters to me. I cube in school bc I cant at home. I barely talk to anyone during lunch bc i sit alone and practice. I would either have straight As or be doing the same as I currently am if I could cube at home (only reason it would be same is im scrolling). Almost all my friends i have or people i talk to come from cubing, and i have talked about very personal stuff with them. They know stuff about me that my parents will never know. Cubing also helped me manage my social anxiety and nerves before tests and such. 13:08 You are not chopped dilly, you are handsome (no homo), and I love your clothing style and your hair. Another thing is you dye your hair whatever color you want and don’t have social anxiety or let what people say impact you in that kind of way. The people who call u chopped are prob 300 pound dudes living in their mom’s basement. 14:41 why the cricket callout😭😭 Thank you for making this video.

Great that you could post this, it's a great watch. You're amazing dude

Dylan is very right about having more than one thing in your life. I think that's why I've been able to cube for almost 17 years and still love it. It's not my whole life and identity. I have other things to fulfill me, and trust me it's so much nicer. As a result I've had 17 years of just pure love of the game, and it's been so fun. Now granted that also probably is the reason why I'm not as fast as I could be but still, it is still fun and at the end of the day that's all that really matters.

'Your cubing life is the same as your real life' rlly hit home for me Maturing is realizing that having a solitary activity monopolize your life should be way more scary than becoming washed at something you don't even get money out of if you don't practice enough Ur such a king Dylan

Cubing is heavily ADHD coded

Real talk

I really needed this rn I just got rejected by someone and I’ve been trying to find something to distract myself from existing and cubing is one of the things I do when I’m sad or depressed to just turn my brain off but it doesn’t really work cuz when I stop I just realize nothing has changed and hearing this is exactly what I needed to hear to get myself out of this hole and remember to be present and I can’t hide from my problems love you Dillan you’ve had an amazing impact on my life over the past few years ❤

This is really important for people to hear

I will always look up at someone like you, not being afriad to share.

Resonated with pretty much every point in this, thanks for making it ik it’s hard to talk abt this kinda stuff sometimes

Yeah and it gets addicting to cube as well sometimes

FWIW from a senior cuber who has no chance at ever becoming “good”: I used to coach collegiate esports athletes, and the parallels here really stand out. Reaching the top level takes a rare mix of relentless grind and natural ability—something most people simply won’t experience firsthand. What really resonated with me was your point about identity. It’s easy to collapse everything into one label—“I’m a cuber”—but that’s far too narrow for something as complex as a person. A healthier way to think about it is like a well built stock portfolio: not just diversified, but made up of things that each matter in different ways.

Do you think it’s possible to become a top cuber while keeping a healthy relationship with cubing the whole time?

This is something that really touched me, my school counsellor has repeatedly mentioned my social anxiety which I’m guessing would only grow the more I lock myself in my room playing with toys. I hav about 2-3 friends that still are mean to me. In all the time I have been so demoted to cubing as a cope I could have socialised and have a relationship which would definitely break all my mental issues.

Thanks for sharing your experiences Dylan, this is a great message for people today and into the future. Best of luck on the journey to find cubing balance

One thing I've always struggled with is balancing 'enjoying' cubing with improvement. I'm glad to say that at no point has cubing ever felt all-encompassing in my life - I've never let it define me. I however face the struggle of knowing that I have not, and very possibly will never, reach my full potential. For years I've grappled with the necessary work that would take me from 'good' to 'world-class' and have simply time and time again realised that I am simply not dedicated enough to give it what it takes. I'm not sure if I'm ready to accept this yet - all I can do is hope that I do the correct things to enjoy cubing for (hopefully) the rest of my life.

I relate to your thoughts and feelings so much, Dylan. Over the past few years, as cubing became a bigger part of my life, I've learned some important lessons on mental health: 1. Don't make one hobby your entire life. This was the main point Dylan made, and I strongly agree. Other than physical activities, I also really enjoy artistic activities (I play in a couple community bands) which also allows me to maintain multiple groups of friends with different interests. 2. This is more for cubing specifically, but many times when I travel to comps I try to make the trip more than just going to the competition. For instance when going to Worlds last summer, me and some friends traveled to Seattle by taking a 3-day Amtrak all the way from Chicago which was super amazing and made the trip a 10/10 even before the actual comp. I had the mentality of traveling to Seattle for Worlds, rather than someone like Dylan's mentality of going to Worlds that happens to be in Seattle. 3. Take breaks! I go to a lot of comps (thanks Ohio), but I will strategically plan out breaks to not burn myself out and focus on other interests. I'm just coming off a one-month break after 9 comps in 6 straight weekends which was much needed! All in all, I really appreciate seeing more cubers open up about their own mental health experiences, and I hope this encourages a positive and healthy growth of our community.