By Tariq Gardezi
If you’re one to hit the green often, you can likely speak to how good you feel even after playing just a few holes of golf. This isn’t just your imagination: playing a game of golf is actually very good for your mental well-being.
While many people know that golf is good for your physical health, many are surprised to hear about the mental health benefits of golf. In learning more about these wonderful benefits, you might be tempted to hit the green even more than you already do.
What are some of the ways that golf can help us to feel our best? Read on and we’ll walk you through of the major mental health pluses.
Reduces the Effects of Depression
You’ve probably heard a little about the positive effects of exercise. Golf as a form of exercise is no different. Getting out on the green and making some swings can just make you feel happier, in the same fashion a runner or boxer might experience a high doing their version of the same thing.
Why is this? It’s because exercise releases endorphins in the body. Endorphins flood the brain and create a happiness that can be hard to match, and they can very literally improve your mental state.
The constant release of endorphins can help to battle mental health issues like depression. There’s no better battle against depression than some moderate exercise, and there’s no better exercise out there (we think) then a good game of golf.
Lowers Your Stress
The release of endorphins doesn’t only help to battle away things like depression, but it can help to decrease the effect of issues like stress on the body. Exercise helps erase some of the damage done by mental fatigue, which can be an all-important task.
Too much stress can increase the level of a hormone known as cortisol in the body, which can lead to problems like high blood pressure and increased risk of a heart attack.
Hitting the green alone or with friends can help to decrease stress, and thus decrease the risk of these diseases. Studies have shown being around green spaces and nature also helps to decrease stress. As such, golf is a green exercise that can serve as one of the best de-stressors out there.
What are you waiting for? Grab your used golf clubs and tee up at the first hole!
Offers Beneficial Social Interaction
Spending time with other people is very important for our mental health, as many studies have shown. Social interaction is key to a healthy and happy state of being.
Golf, more than almost any other sport, is a social game. There’s plenty of opportunities to talk, chat, and get to know another individual during your time going from hole to hole.
This kind of social interaction can help you to feel your very best.
The Mental Health Benefits of Golf
If you’re a fan of hitting the green than you’ll be pleased to hear about the many mental health benefits of golf. Playing the game isn’t just enjoyable, it can help you to feel your very best.
Need more health advice and information? Keep scrolling our blog for more.