In need of the word or phrase describing studying or educating in a non-formal way or as a hobby

Question

So when I was 14 years old I started an interest in psychology. I've been studying it (legitimate medical research articles, textbooks, clinical guides, etc vs googling) for almost 13 years at this point, while not having a degree or formal education in the subject, I'm still quite knowledgable. I've also in the past year have suffered multiple concussions so sometimes I'm struggling finding my words.

Answer 1

There is probably no single-word term for what you are trying to describe; however, the two word term "armchair student" encompasses the case that you delineate.

(Cambridge Dictionary) armchair adjective [ before noun ]

used to refer to a person who knows, or says they know, a lot about a subject without having direct experience of it:

• an armchair critic/gardener/traveller

(Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture, Volume 18 (2016) Daniel C. Peterson · 2016) Mark Bukowski is a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has been a student of philosophy for over 40 years. He received a dual Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy and Psychology at UCLA, studying with Robert C. Solomon, a noted scholar on 19th century German Philosophy, and Angela Davis, who was a student of Marcuse. As an undergraduate, he became a student radical and atheist Marxist. In graduate school at the university of New York, he studied William James and John Dewey Under the tutelage of John J. McDermott and became convinced that personal religious experience could be seen as a valid way to justify statements about religion. He also agreed with Wittgenstein, that philosophical "problems" were often purely semantic misunderstandings and that language was often inadequate to express direct experience. These two philosophical insights proved to be life changing. He left academic philosophy but has remained an "armchair student" ever since.

Answer 2

Perhaps you can call yourself an
autodidact

NOUN
: a self-taught person
was an autodidact who read voraciously
Merriam-Webster

Answer 3

The obvious answer is studying psychology is a hobby of mine. Other straightforward variations on that, such as one of my hobbies is the study of psychology, also seem to fit your requirements.

Answer 4

You could say you dabble in academic psychology, which indicates an intermittent or non-formal participation in an activity that's not your primary focus. It connotes an ongoing interest in something, but also suggests that the interest is not very serious - it's a hobby, not a profession. That said, 13 years is a fairly long time to dabble in something, it may be somewhat of an understatement depending on the depth and breadth of your knowledge.