The importance of social activity and having interests and hobbies

7 October 2008

Monday was a public holiday, so people from Richardson Support House enjoyed the long weekend. Psychologist Karen went off to a science fiction convention, Conflux 5, and met up with new and old friends. Office Manager Kylie enjoyed time with her family. Social Work student Laura had a relaxing time (and a cold swim) at the coast. And volunteer Michael (soon to be an intern psychologist) attended a medieval recreation event. He arrived at work Tuesday to tell us that Sir Alpha and Sir Beringar had beaten him in battle.

All this activity reminded us about the importance of social activity in good mental health! Keeping active helps elevate your mood, helps to block negative thoughts and distracts you from hassles, reduces loneliness and increases well-being. So it is terrific when you have interests and hobbies.

So, back to the Medieval battle! Naturally we had to enjoy the recreation as well, so we promptly declared war on Sir Alpha and Sir Beringar for “besting our champion”. In our scroll, we challenged them to combat. Poor Michael! However, as it was school holidays, we had a number of children visiting. They have volunteered to be Michael’s viking horde should Sir Alpha and Sir Beringar take our challenge seriously!