RUNNING HEAD: HOBBIES FOR HEALTH
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Hobbies for Health
James Just
Western Governors University
000388700
HOBBIES FOR HEALTH

Hobbies for Health
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Managing health and quality of life is a growing concern of modern society. We are
bombarded in popular media with admonitions to purchase a drug to enhance our lifestyle, lose
weight to be happy, join a website to train our brain and delay dementia. However, one thing the
popular media doesn’t emphasize is the importance of having a hobby. Participation in hobby
type of activities should be an integral part of any healthy lifestyle. Yet defining a hobby is not
simple. Many use the term leisure activity as a synonym and it can often end up like the famous
quote from United States Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, “I know it when I see it.” Robert
Stebbins, a Senior Fellow of the World Leisure Academy, takes it a step further in his paper
“Serious Leisure” (Stebbins, 2001), by separating casual and serious leisure into different
categories. He goes on to point out that the difference between the participants in casual leisure
and serious leisure, or hobby participant, is the “uncommon reward” (p. 55) received by those
who participate in activities in a serious manner. A growing body of research suggests having a
hobby has a positive impact on quality of life by helping manage physical, mental and social
health.
Confirming what has long been thought of as common sense, Sailara et al reported, in a
study of memory loss in dementia patients, that participating in outdoor activities can improve
long-term cardiovascular health (Sailara, 2010). Along with outdoor activities, Sailara examined
the effects of indoor hobbies and showed a positive effect on coronary function as well. These
findings just confirm what has long been known about athletic hobbies. Exercising, or even just
getting outside and moving around, has long been thought to help improve health. The inclusion
of indoor and less active hobby activities points to other factors at play as well, including
managing stress.

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Managing stress is an important part of managing physical health. As Rebecca
Wilkinson, an adjunct faculty member of the George Washington University Graduate Art
Therapy Program, describes in her article “Mind Over Matter”, in “Vibrant Life Magazine”
(Wilkinson, 2014), stress is the human animal reacting to a perceived threat. It is the
consequence of the flight-or-fight response, but the repeated triggering of that response hampers
our immune system and leaves us vulnerable to hypertension and intestinal disorders and can
worsen diabetes (Wilkinson, 2014). By using hobbies to manage stress, the positive impact on
short and long term physical health cannot be ignored.
As we examine the issues related to physical health and stress, we cannot ignore
examining issues related to the brain. Crisis Chaplain David Fair (Fair, 2010), who has spent
large parts of his career dealing with human trauma and crisis, now encourages everyone to take
up a hobby as a way to practice self-care. He reached a health crossroads in his life that
reinforced his belief in using a hobby for self-care. For him, riding a motorcycle, even with its
health and safety contradictions, was the best way to get away from the stress-inducing trauma
he was dealing with on a daily basis as a police chaplain. Managing his stress became a way to
improve his overall health (Fair, 2010). This is an important lesson for society to learn going
forward, that hobbies are an important stress management tool and the cumulative effect of stress
management on overall physical health should not be understated.
Not only does participating in a hobby have positive physical effects on the body, it also
has positive effects on the brain. According to an article by Dr. Singh Khalsa in “Total Health
Magazine” (Khalsa, 2004), with 4.5 million Americans being afflicted with Alzheimer’s and a
projected 16 to 20 million affected by 2050 (p. 20), if a solution isn’t found, brain health will be
an overwhelming national concern. Although there is still much to be done to research the causes

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of Alzheimer’s, we do know that some combination of genetics, lifestyle and environment play a
role. While we can do nothing about our genetic composition, we can take the action necessary
to care for our brain. We all know proper nutrition is important for brain health, but proper
blood flow and stress management are also factors in preventing damage to the brain’s memory
center, the Hippocampus. The long-term effect of participating in mental exercises can help stave
off Alzheimer’s by up to 70 percent (Khalsa, 2004, p 22). By engaging in moderate forms of
pleasurable mental exercise, brain function can be improved.
The exact hobby is not as important as enjoying the activity to receive the health benefits.
Whether it’s gardening, woodworking, or quilting, what’s important is that it is something the
person values and can look forward to and that exercises their brain (Skeen, 2007). It’s
something new and challenging and that makes you solve problems and use your creativity. In
gardening, for example, you have to learn which plants grow best in what area; what is the best
soil, lighting conditions, fertilizers, planting seasons, how to grow them and how to know when
to harvest. In woodworking, you have to decide what you want to build, get tools, learn safety
methods and learn how to implement your creations. In quilting, you have to decide on fabrics,
pattern, color, shape, usage. In all of these processes, you have to be able to fix errors or
compensate for them, and learn as you go. As an added benefit, having a hobby helps us increase
our social interaction (Skeen, 2007). Most people will connect with others to gain skills and
knowledge and also to have shared experiences. The woodworker may take a workshop or class
at a local community college. The quilter will join the local quilt guild. The gardener may
connect with others at a local nursery. But given modern culture, these connections don’t have to
be face-to-face. Virtual communities now exist where people can interact, even in real time.

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The combination of mental activity and effort has a cumulative effect not only on brain
function, but it also helps melt stress away. “Hobbies are fun; they may also offer you more
physical, emotional, and spiritual healing than any prescription” (Skeen, 2007, p13). As you
reduce your stress, you respond better to the world around you and are a healthier individual.
It is not only in disease prevention that having a hobby can be of a benefit. According to
a 2007 study published by Psycho-Oncology, art therapy is an effective way to help patients with
fatigue and depression (Bar-Sela et al, 2007). Cancer participants in this study, who were
undergoing chemotherapy, were shown to have more energy and less depression after art therapy
than those who did not receive art therapy. The artistic process gives patients a way to express
their emotions, to leave their frustrations on the canvas. It allows them to feel freer of their
struggles as well as giving them breathing space and a way to let go of the heaviness of their
problems and to feel lighter. If art therapy can reduce stress for someone who has a severe or
even life-threatening health crisis, it is likely that those who are just struggling to get through the
day can get the benefit of reduced stress as well.
The effects of challenging your cognitive abilities can sharpen your brain function.
According to an article by Sherri Mostaghni, an associate editor for American Society of
Radiologic Technologists, mental exercises that use the combination of your senses create new
brain pathways. New patterns of neural activity are stimulated that create more connections
among the different brain areas (Mostaghni, 2013). Your brain functions like any other muscle —
to maintain or increase its function, it has to be exercised. Challenging yourself, creating new
thought patterns and processes are critical. Just like lifting weights makes your arms stronger,
lifting numbers makes your brain stronger.

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The human animal is not just limited to physical and mental health. Being social
creatures, our social health is of great importance as well to our overall health. According to
Stebbins, “In the future, for those who are jobless or relatively jobless, serious leisure will be the
only remaining area in life where they can find an identity related to their distinctive personal
qualities” (Stebbins, 2001). Using hobbies to create and maintain human relationships is an
important part of social health. According to Stebbins, hobby based relationships will only
become more important as our society becomes more information based, more jobs become
automated and work-based social connections become less numerous. Since the days of working
one job for an entire career are basically dwindling to a close, the strength of those work-based
social ties are reducing as well.
Social health is not just about connections; it’s about who you are and where you fit into
your social group. Unlike work or family based activities, hobbies, or as Stebbins describes it
“serious leisure” (Stebbins, 2001), are chosen activities. The participants can decide when, where
and how to engage in an activity. These activities allow people to express themselves and be
around others with similar interests. They get to choose their social group; the sense of belonging
to a community and unlike work, with its financial obligations, or the emotionally based
obligations of family, a hobby or hobby organization can be quit with little long-term damage
(Stebbins 2001). People’s interests evolve and they move on all the time.
The social benefits of a hobby also include hobby type activities that are not centered
around group activities, even activities that are mostly done alone or in small numbers (Skeen,
2007). The need to learn about the basics tools and supplies, the desire to learn from failures and
wanting to have and share successes will drive social interaction. With the technology of today

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creating informal social connections, it is even easier and of growing importance to an aging
population.
While most studies focus on the aging and elderly, the positive effects are not just for that
segment of the population. In a longitudinal study, it was discovered that youths who participated
in a valued activity received physical and emotional benefits, largely because of stress
management and greater connections with their social group (DesRoches, Willoughby, 2013).
Resources should be directed towards activities youths will value so their personal and social
identities can develop. According to DesRoches, this is important information for society to
understand: “In fact, adolescence may be an especially important age period to make this
investment, as adolescents are more likely than children or adults to be seeking out opportunities
to develop autonomy, as well as to explore their identities.” (DesRoches, Willoughby, 2013).
We, as a society, need to realize that our youth need more than access to facts and figures and a
narrow educational focus on careers for their overall well-being.
This shift could have a crucial impact on our youth. We could be helping them with stress
management. We could be teaching them good cardiovascular health. As a result, they could
learn to exercise their brains, avoid depression and better manage their social lives. Even if all
that was accomplished by encouraging youth to participate in a valued hobby were stress
management (DesRoches, Willoughby, 2013), think of the long-term health impact that alone
would have down the line. Life-long good habits lead to a lifetime of good health. In addition,
stress management will impact all aspects of their long-term health. We are actually doing a dis
service to our children and society at large if we don’t encourage access and participation in
some form of hobby type activity.

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We are moving from a profession-based identity into a self-created leisure-based identity,
morphing, for example, from Joe the Plumber to Joe the Comi-con Nerd. Not only do we as
individuals have to accept this shift, we have to accept it as a society if we are to meet the needs
of the future (Stebbins, 2001). We will have to change our view of success; identifying with your
hobby group will need to be as socially acceptable as identifying with your professional group if
we are to have a socially health population.
A growing body of research suggests having a hobby has a positive impact on quality of
life by helping manage physical, mental and social health. First, while physical activity has long
been known to help physical health and many hobbies include physical components, managing
stress is an important component of managing physical health and hobbies are showing to be a
high quality method of stress management. Second, mental health is highly complex; not only
can participating in hobbies exercise the brain like a muscle, it can help mitigate some of the
effects of aging and help manage depression. Participating in hobbies can have a profound
impact on the overall mental health of the participants. Third, participating in hobby activities
can not only help an individual manage their physical, mental and social health, it may help a
person develop their personal identity and find a comfortable, nurturing place in a community of
people with similar interests. It is clear society needs to do more than just accept hobby
participation as a method for overall health; society needs to value, nurture and encourage it.

HOBBIES FOR HEALTH
References
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Bar-Sela, G., Atid, L., Danos, S., Gabay, N., & Epelbaum, R. (2007). Art therapy improved
depression and influenced fatigue levels in cancer patients on chemotherapy. Psycho
Oncology, 16(11), 980-984. doi: 10.1002/pon.1175
DesRoches, Andrea, and Teena Willoughby. 2014. "Bidirectional Associations Between Valued
Activities and Adolescent Positive Adjustment in a Longitudinal Study: Positive Mood as a
Mediator." Journal of Youth & Adolescence 43, no. 2: 208-220. Academic Search Complete,
EBSCOhost (accessed April 24, 2015).
Fair, C. J. (2010). 'You Need a Hobby': We All Need to Practice Self-Care. Annals of the
American Psychotherapy Association, 13(4), 72.
Khalsa, D. S. (2004). Can Memory Loss Be Prevented? YES, it can! Alzheimer's disease. Total
Health, 26(6), 20-22
Mostaghni, S. (2013). Mental Exercise Sharpens Gray Matter. ASRT Scanner, 46(1), 19.
Saihara, K., Hamasaki, S., Ishida, S., Kataoka, T., Yoshikawa, A., Orihara, K., & ... Tei, C.
(2010). Enjoying hobbies is related to desirable cardiovascular effects. Heart And Vessels,
25(2), 113-120. doi:10.1007/s00380-009-1173-y
Skeen, M. (2007). Birding, rollerblading, gardening, photographing.. Vibrant Life, 23(6), 10
13.113-120. doi:10.1007/s00380-009-1173-y
Stebbins, R. A. (2001). Serious Leisure. Society, 38(4), 53-57.
Wilkinson, R. (2014). MIND OVER MATTER. Vibrant Life, 30(4), 24-27.