If you are worried about memory loss or a memory-related diagnosis, the best thing to do is to speak with your loved ones and a trusted doctor or specialist. While it is crucial that you seek support from professionals and those around you, there are also activities and exercises you can pick up to help strengthen your cognitive functions. This hobby leaves you with more than just beautiful pictures – it can also help boost your decision-making skills, confidence and self-esteem. Photography is also a therapeutic activity that really sharpens your clarity of mind, which can help with depression and anxiety. Here, we list down the benefits of photography for memory.
Boosts Brain Activity
Photography helps enhance your cognitive functions, keeping your brain healthy and active, which will aid you in maintaining a robust sense of memory. And that’s just the act of taking photos. Looking at photos can also help boost your memory, since it stimulates specific memories and any feelings that come along with them. Like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.
Clarifies Visual Details
But what exactly is the science behind the claim that photography strengthens memory? Studies show that taking photos help us hold on to visual details, which in turn helps prompt memory. For those with cognitive impairment, photography helps strengthen brain functions and memory as a whole.
Improves Mental Health
Photography is a creative practice, and like most creative practices, it is deeply therapeutic and has been shown to help with the typical symptoms of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, like depression and anxiety. Creative practices can boost self-esteem since they encourage their practitioners to go outside their comfort zone and embark on new adventures. As you practice, you are challenging yourself to come up with a piece of art. This very act of creation can help boost your confidence level and sense of self-worth.
Encourages Social Interaction
If you are suffering from a memory-related diagnosis, you may also have symptoms of depression or anxiety. One way to combat this is through engaging in social interaction. This is especially important as you grow older, as it sometimes feels easier to remain isolated. Engaging in a hobby, like photography, can give you the opportunity to engage and bond with others. You can share your photos with your loved ones, or start attending classes where you can bond with others over your shared passion. Some of the deepest friendships are forged in interest groups, where like-minded individuals band together to share their love for a subject or practice.
Tips to Start
If you’re looking to get into photography, here are some projects you can start with:
- Create a scrapbook of your life. Take photographs – or dig up old ones! – that capture the essence of the life you have lived so far, and leave spaces for the future you have yet to enjoy.
- Look for a local photography club or interest group to get you motivated.
- Include your loved ones in your new hobby – it can be a great way to bond with grandkids!
We hope that these benefits encourage you to try out photography today!
