Photography as Therapy?

From PsyBlog (via FlakPhoto and John MacPherson):

"It turns out that photography has an unsuspected psychological benefit. Taking photos can enhance the enjoyment of everyday activities, a new study finds."

Well, kind of. The study seems more like a survey. And it seems to be about perception after the fact, which is contradictory to the article's hypothesis that this has to do with a study of being in the present.

I don't want to shoot down the hypothesis. I do want to shoot down the hype.

Being mindful with photography is great as long as it's about being mindful and not necessarily about the photography. Can you do the same without photography? Sure. And it's been done that way for thousands of years before the invention of the camera.

You can't say the camera is necessary.

However, maybe it can help some people get into that mindfulness mode that so hard to achieve for most.

Perception is everything, so if you really believe you enjoyed yourself, you enjoyed yourself. It's better than being stressed out, right? Whether photography is actually improving your mental health is an entirely different thing.

It deserves further study. I'm grabbing my camera and heading out to conduct my own study this weekend. I suggest you do the same.