Impact of Photography On Mental Health

Does photography have any effect on a person’s mental health? We will try to find out the answer to this question in this article.

Yes, photography will help to improve your mental health, if you take it up as your hobby.

Now, the question would be, which type of photography will have a positive impact on mental health. As you all know, there are different genres of photography.

Wedding, fashion, and portrait are commercial ones. So, you will have to work with tight guidelines and you can’t expect to relax when you take up such paid photography assignments.

But, there are other photography types that can help you to relieve your mental stress. It includes landscape photography, wildlife photography, bird photography, astrophotography, street photography, etc.

So, let us explore the mental health benefits of photography.

1. Helps to Reduce Depression & Anxiety

If you are suffering from depression and anxiety issues, then I strongly recommend you to take up photography.

Depression and anxiety mostly arise due to unnecessary thoughts. When you are doing photography, your mind will be completely free of all of these thoughts. You will be only thinking about, how to capture the scene in front of you in your camera.

Many doctors recommend their patients to take up photography as their hobby to reduce depression issues and it is found to be very effective also. In the medical field, it is referred to as therapeutic photography.

A study conducted also revealed that photography helps to increase the level of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the human body. So, it will help our brain to reorganize and grow, which is termed as neuroplasticity.

If you are still confused, then I recommend taking counseling to improve your mental health. You can easily get online counseling from sites like https://www.betterhelp.com/start/ or any others to improve your state of mind.

2. Photography as a Source of Happiness

You don’t have to take up photography seriously if you are planning to take it up as your hobby. Make it a habit to carry your camera to places you visit.

Try to capture beautiful frames from these destinations. Later, when you get free time, you can download these photos on your computer and enjoy watching those frames and moments.

It will really make you happy. Believe me, I am telling you from my years of experience in photography since 2008.

3. Helps Your Mind to Focus

Your office work and personal work can really make you tired and stressed. It would be really tough to focus on something if you are in a stressed state.

This lack of focus will have an adverse effect on your office work as well as personal stuff.

Photography helps your mind to focus properly. It is a real stress buster.

👉🏻 📖 READ MORE: How to Get Into Photography?

4. Make New Friends

You will definitely make new friends when you enter into photography. So, it is a great opportunity to meet new people and make friends with them. You will also learn more about photography through them. You can get valuable tips to improve your photography.

So, you will get a chance to interact with like-minded people. It will definitely have a good influence on you. A good friendship can bring lots of positive energy around you.

5. Improves Physical Health

As you all know, “A healthy mind rests in a healthy body.”

Photography not only helps to improve your mental health but also helps to improve your physical health as well.

When you are doing landscape photography, then you need to walk with your camera to get good pictures. You need to set up the tripod and camera in the best spot to get the desired frame. So, it involves good physical work also.

It is also applicable to other types of photography like street photography and bird photography.

So, it is a good exercise that will help to control your stress hormones, cholesterol, and blood pressure.

6. The Social Media Factor

You can use social media websites like Facebook and Instagram to upload your clicks.

Your friends and family members will definitely like and comment on your images. These appreciations will definitely help to improve your mental wellbeing. So, you should also give it a try.

I have seen many people who capture pictures, just to upload on these social media sites.

Conclusion

Now, you know how photography helps to improve your mental health. So, if you are feeling stressed or depressed then try to take up photography as one of your hobbies.

It will really help you to get over the tensions and make your mind relax. If you are struggling to find ways to focus or decrease stress, online therapy can be a good source of support. To explore your online therapy options, check out https://www.regain.us/advice/general/betterhelp-is-it-the-best-online-therapy-and-counseling-platform-in-2020-and-why/.

You don’t need any high-end cameras like DSLR or Mirrorless cameras to do photography. You can even use a simple point and shoot camera or a smartphone camera to capture beautiful pictures.

Nowadays, smartphones are coming with multiple cameras that support the different genres of photography like portrait, landscape, macro, etc. So, you don’t have to make any additional investment. You can go for a DSLR camera if you want to get high-quality images.