Skip to main content

Feeling blue? Experts say taking photos with camera could help lift spirits

feeling blue experts say taking photos camera help lift spirits dakotilla ladyle flickr
Image used with permission by copyright holder
All of us have our bad days – those occasional moments where it feels like the universe is against us. For people dealing with mental illness, however, every day could be bad days. Photographers are humans, after all, and there are many who suffer from illnesses like post-traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, eating disorders. But The New York Times’ Well health blog recently wrote that photography and other artistic endeavors could possibly help people better cope with their mental illnesses.

Last year, we wrote about a study that found activities like photography could help us improve our memory over time. According to the Times, photography could also serve as “a kind of reward system in the brain,” due to the effort required and then seeing the picture, says Dr. Kelly Lambert, a behavioral neuroscientist at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va., and author of Lifting Depression. Citing lab research, Dr. Lambert says there are brain and stress hormone changes when you have to work toward something.

Recommended Videos

Harvard psychology professor Ellen J. Langer told the Times, “When people are depressed, they tend to retreat from the real world. Noticing things in the camera puts you in the present moment, makes you sensitive to context and perspective, and that’s the essence of engagement. I have years of research telling us how good that is for health and well-being.”

The Times highlights the Broken Light Collective, a website that helps photographers struggling mental illness by giving them a supportive community and an online gallery to showcase their work. It was founded Danielle Hark, a freelance photo editor who suffered from depression but found relief after she started taking photos. “It just took a couple of minutes for me to become more present, breathing more normally. It was a really important moment,” Hark tells the Times.

Mental illness is a serious condition that affects many, and while photography is not a cure, it could provide some form of therapy, according to these experts. But even for those of us who don’t struggle with a mental disorder, for the times you feel a bit down, try picking up the camera and go shooting for a while.

(Via The New York Times)

Les Shu
Former Digital Trends Contributor
I am formerly a senior editor at Digital Trends. I bring with me more than a decade of tech and lifestyle journalism…
My favorite SD card reader is a mere $15 for Prime Big Deal Days
The Lexar USB-C SD card reader.

I take a lot of pictures on a daily basis. And while I usually get to offload them in the comfort of my home, sometimes I need to export as quickly as possible. Maybe even straight from my phone.

That's where my new favorite SD card reader comes in.

Read more
Astronaut enjoys out-of-this-world view from his bedroom window
An aurora as seen from a Crew Dragon spacecraft docked at the ISS.

A NASA astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) has posted a beautiful image showing an aurora over Earth.

Matthew Dominick has been aboard the ISS since March and is due to return home on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on Sunday. In fact, it was from the docked Crew Dragon that he captured the stunning shot.

Read more
Best GoPro Prime Big Deal Days deals: Every model is on sale!
Best Prime Day Deals

Update 10/9/24: Day one of Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days festivities has closed out, but we've still got one more day of sales to go. Prime Day GoPro deals are still ripe for the picking, so check back here regularly if you haven't already made an action camera purchase this Prime Day.

In case you didn't know, it is now time for Prime Big Deal Day deals to heat up. Prime Day deals officialy lasts through October 9, and among them are plenty of Prime Big Deal Day camera deals that include good prices on action cameras. And, yet again, within these deals you'll find deals on what is probably the biggest name in action cameras, GoPro. The best GoPro Prime Day deals remaining offer some impressive savings on a number of camera models, as well as some accessories. Below you'll find all of the best GoPro Prime Big Deal Day deals available, so read onward for the details.
GoPro Hero 9 Black — $200 $350 43% off

Read more