Hobbies like Gardening, stamp collecting, even playing cards keep us healthy – in both body and mind.
Some one with serious hobby may had 3000 Barbie dolls. Her passion may seem odd, but experts agree: being an enthusiastic hobbyist is good for you.
Hobbies reduce stress, syas Alice Domar, director of the Mind/Body Centre for Women’s Health at Harvard Medical School. They distract you from everyday worries: if you’re focused on the pottery you’re making, you can’t fret about work, says Domar.
And knitting, or anything requiring repetitive motion, elicits the relaxation response, a feeling of overall serenity, marked by lowered blood pressure.
Hobbies provide a calming sense of control, says Domar, and research suggest this strengthens immunity. You may have a little say at work, but when you’re woodworking, you’re in charge.
You get the credit – and satisfaction – of a job well done.
We know that physical activity extends life, but less active pursuits are healthy as well. A Swedish study, showed people who regularly engaged in hobbies such as sewing and gardening were less likely to suffer mental decline. Similar research in The New England Journal of Medicine found that those who pursued mind-boosting activities – such as crossword puzzles – lowered their risk of Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia. “Any hobby that challenges the brain should have a positive effect on dementia risk,” says lead Author Joe Verghese, a neurologist.
Many hobbies are social. From dealing cards at bridge to swapping tips with other collectors, engaging with like-minded souls boost immunity. A Japanese study af almost 12,000 people found that men who engaged in hobbies or community activities were less likely to die of stroke or circulatory disorders than those who didn’t.
So keep fishing or collecting dolls. Other may think you’re obsessed – you know otherwise.
Healing Power of Hobbies
Don’t get hooked
Women may be more prone to addiction to some drugs than men. Dr. Jill Becker from the University of Michigan has found that rats injected with cocaine and oestrogen showed 20-50 per cent more “sensitisation” than those given cocaine alone. This suggests that, in particular, young women experiencing major hormonal changes (as well as older women on HRT) should be careful what they’re exposed to.
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Scientist studying the body’s response to stress have long focused on the “fight or flight” model – that animals sensing danger release hormones that speed things up or either fight foes or flee, fast.
But this view is incomplete, says Shelley Taylor, a University of California, Los Angeles, psychology professor. Her theory: Women have potent stress-fighting system based partly on oxytocin, the “cuddling hormone”.
Known for being produced in women during childbirth and lactation and in both sexes during orgasm, oxytocin has also been shown to boost bonding in rats, sheep and prairie voles. And one study found that giving male and female rats daily shots of it cut blood pressure and the stress hormone cortisol while promoting wound healing and possibly, weight gain.
Though women’s blood may not hold more oxytocin than men’s, it does have more oestrogen, which increases the available oxytocin’s effectiveness. To Taylor and others, this shows that women naturally cope with stress not just by fighting or fleeing, but by finding comfort in friends too.
Most intriguing is how, by acting as a cause and a product of animal bonding, oxytocin may feed a kind of self-perpetuating loop of stress reduction.
So, when stress hits, call a friend. If you don’t have one, make one. If all else fails, cuddle up to a prairie vole.
