You look at your calendar for this week. You have swim practice, lacrosse practice, you are taking a Community College Course outside of your regular High school courses, and you have hours worth of homework. You are stressed out constantly, and feel completely overwhelmed. You wonder, “How can I Improve my mental health?”
Hobbies! Hobbies are an amazing way to improve mental health, balance out your life, and learn how to develop a healthy work life balance. Mental health helps create more positive emotions towards life, and the tasks that need to be completed.
“Creative activities allow you to expand neural connections in your brain, this has been linked to the release of feel good hormones such as dopamine.” (Connect Health and Community). It is also a healthy way to induce endorphins. Many people resort to drugs, alcohol, or other unhealthy vices to feel better, when in reality it may make moods worsen, and significantly decrease health.
Hobbies can span from yoga and fitness, to crafting costumes, or making miniature scenes. Hobbies don’t have to be an elaborate or expensive thing, it can simply be going for a run every day. Any form of hobby is a great way to improve mental health.
It can also improve mental sharpness and focus. Having the time to focus and learn a new skill, people often improve mental function. “Many scientific studies have found that having a hobby can improve your physical and mental health, keep you sharp on the job, and help your relationships.” (Alera Group)
Having this time to mentally detox and heal people’s relationships with themselves. Jobs, and responsibilities often prove to be overwhelming for many people. By being able to release at least some of the stress, people are able to be more present in their families lives.
Hobbies prove to be a great way for people to connect with their community as well. By joining a local hiking group, or a group of people that like to knit. This will promote a stronger community, and allow for people to make friends with similar interests.
Hobbies also help to improve self esteem. They allow individuals to find a piece of themselves that they can surround their friends with, and live around in a way that is healthy, allowing people to find some material purpose in life.
Creativity is a huge part of being a well rounded person. Being well rounded is very important for being empathetic as a person, and developing a wide range of skills. These skills can be applied to many aspects of life, and are generally a good thing to have for a variety of reasons.
Finally, Hobbies are important because they can boost confidence. Having a deep understanding of who a person is is very important for a person to be confident in who they are and therefore lead to them being happier overall.
In the end, hobbies are very important for happiness, confidence, mental health, community, and many more categories. They allow for people to become in touch with their interests and who they are. Knowing who you are is one of the most important aspects of life, and hobbies are the path to finding that for many people.
