Research paper about how hobbies impact mental health. Five pdfs are linked and at least 3/5 must be included in the paper. Three interviews were also conducted asking three questions about the aforementioned research question and is the main part of the paper.
The three participants were asked the following questions:
1. What hobbies do you partake in?
2. How have they affected your mental health if they have had an impact at all?
3. What differences do you see in yourself compared to individuals who do not have hobbies or pastimes?
Partipant 1 (male, 19)
1. My hobbies are learning piano, recording covers, and going to the gym. I used to breakdance and skate but I grew stagnant in both and they became a lot less enjoyable for me.
2. I like to be good at anything I do. Whenever I have a hobby I tend to focus on improving, and the feeling of happiness comes partially from seeing myself improve, and partially because I actually enjoy doing it. Whenever I have a hobby it tends to take a good chunk of my day up, so I’m absorbed into doing something I can see progress in and it feels like I’m working towards something rather than filling the dead space by keeping my brain constantly in a state of autopilot serotonin overdrive.
3. I feel like individuals without hobbies tend to fill their days up with the constant watching of media/entertainment and can easily get sucked into this activity for hours at a time. I myself was guilty of this and used to make my day fly by watching YouTube or Instagram Reels. Whenever I get sucked into this period of “doomscrolling” I find the lack of physical interaction with the outside world can have a large effect on productivity and get you stuck in a cycle of ignorant contentment. People are more prone to choose the comfortable option and usually that means not exerting themselves to a point of improving in any way. If this person happened to be critical with themselves, and their own lack of improvement, it could eventually take a toll on their mental well-being as they are stuck between giving up their overly comfortable day-to-day over making a change in themselves.
Participant 2 (female, 18)
1) Bead making, making different projects like purses, figures, and other items.
2) it helps calm my anxiety as well as helps me decompress when I’m over stimulated.
3) I have noticed that compared to others without hobbies they don’t really have an outlet in order to unwind or decompress.
Participant 3 (female, 22)
1) Writing and reading.
2) I write when I have intense feelings or things that are confusing me as it genuinely helps me either calm down or sort out how I’m feeling. I have a hard time regulating my emotions so having that as a way to at least understand myself means a lot to me.
3) compared to those who do not have hobbies I have noticed that I do have a better idea of how to compose myself as well as I have something to do beyond just doom scrolling or letting my mind wander.
