Stress, anxiety, depression, and trauma are just the tip of mental health issues that many of us experience in our day to day lives. If you have experienced any of these, you can relate to how exhausting it can be to get through a day. Research shows, and therapists can tell you, that there are some ways you can reduce these feelings and boost your mental health. This includes:
Taking care of your overall physical health
Connecting with others
Meditation/Relaxation
Finding a sense of purpose in life
Practice gratitude and relaxation
Taking up a hobby such as photography can help check all of these boxes by boosting your mood, improving your mental health, and provide a way to cope with every day stresses. Here is our disclaimer that photography is not a cure all for mental health issues, and we encourage you to seek guidance from a professional as you recognize your need for help. However, photography and creating art in general can play an important role as part of your holistic approach to improved mental health.
Photography also gets you moving and works your brain by putting you in a meditative-type state which distracts you from your negative thoughts. As you create an image you are focusing on choosing your subject, looking for new angles, studying the light, and adjusting your settings. This puts all your focus on that image allowing you to push aside the negative thoughts, drawing you into a peaceful state. As an overthinker myself, I cannot count how many times photography has helped calm my mind by refocusing my brain and lowering my anxiety.
Challenges can give you a goal and sense of accomplishment. Photography can provide challenges in many ways including:
Through learning new techniques
Exploring new places to photograph
Creating a bucket list of shots and then crossing those shots off our bucket list
Getting involved in a community can help battle loneliness, especially when connecting with others who have similar interests. Here are several ways you can find the right community for you.
Join local or online photography communities (search Facebook by your city + photography)
Attend local meetups (www.meetup.com)
We welcome you to join our Facebook Community Group (Exploretography)
One of our favorite benefits of photography is how it connects you with nature.
Getting out in nature has many benefits to your psychological well-being.
Nature has been shown to uplift mood by decreasing the stress hormone cortisol, which reduces your overall stress. Our nights under the stars, or exploring trails looking for new landscape images always boosts our mood as we breathe in the fresh air and take in the beauty all around us. Being outside experiencing the wonders of the world helps foster within us the desire to help protect it as well. This is evident by Ansel Adam's work in conserving the national parks.
We realize there are many people struggling with mental health issues and photography isn’t a fix in itself, but we hope this encourages you to get out with your camera and find enjoyment through your lens and in the beauty that surrounds you.
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, please call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.
Mental Health Resources at
Call 1-800-273-TALK (8255);
En español 1-888-628-9454
Explore. Create. Do Good.
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