A study shows hobbies are associated with fewer depressive symptoms. This is probably because hobbies provide us with a sense of meaning, or allow us to rest from the constant search for meaning.
A Study Found Hobbies Can Help With Depression
- A recent study found having a hobby is associated with fewer depressive symptoms and higher levels of happiness.
Independent of confounders, having a hobby was associated with fewer depressive symptoms, and higher levels of self-reported health, happiness and life satisfaction.
Hobby engagement and mental wellbeing among people aged 65 years and older in 16 countries | Nature Medicine
Why Are Hobbies Associated With Less Depression and More Happiness?
- The research tries to answer this question:
Hobbies involve imagination, novelty, creativity, sensory activation, self-expression, relaxation and cognitive stimulation, all of which are positively related to mental health and wellbeing via psychological, biological, social, and behavioral pathways.
Hobby engagement and mental wellbeing among people aged 65 years and older in 16 countries | Nature Medicine
- That’s interesting, but it doesn’t feel like we got to the bottom of it.
- Why did life pave these pathways? Where do they lead?
It’s All About a Meaning
- We believe these pathways lead to a sense of purpose in life.
- (A “purpose in life” is mentioned twice in the article, but not very much highlighted).
- A purpose in life, or a sense of meaning, is something most of us are searching for, most of the time.
We all do it, but most people struggle with pinning down a purpose.
Trying to Find Our Life’s Purpose is Stressing Us Out | Center for Practical Wisdom | The University of Chicago
- A lack of a sense of meaning can be viewed as the root of depression.
[…] there is a significant relationship between meaning in life and depression […]
Meaning in life, and depression: A comparative study of the relation between them across the life span | American Psychological Association
As expected, subjects with higher life meaning were found to have lower depressive symptomatology, while subjects with higher depression scores were found to have a lower sense of meaning in life.
Meaning in Life, Psychological Well-Being and Depressive Symptomatology: A Comparative Study | Scientific Research
- So, hobbies can give us a sense of a purpose in life, reliving depression and establishing happiness instead.
- As Viktor E. Frankl paraphrased Friedrich Nietzsche in his famous book “Man’s Search for Meaning”:
He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.
Man’s Search For Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl
Hobbies Can Also Help Us Be Meaning-Free
- Hobbies can help us be happier in another way, a somewhat opposite way.
- Man’s (and women’s) constant search for meaning is endless and exhausting:
Psychologists largely agree it’s one of the most difficult journeys we take ourselves on.
Trying to Find Our Life’s Purpose is Stressing Us Out | Center for Practical Wisdom | The University of Chicago
- Taking a break from the search for meaning can let our minds rest and us relax and simply enjoy life – meaning-free.
- This is the essence of meditation – and hobbies can have a meditative effect.
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