Mental Health and Fishing
Cast a Line to Better Mental Health
How do you feel when you take the time to enjoy one of your hobbies? I’m guessing you probably feel pretty good when you’re done and are looking forward to the next time. While all hobbies bring enjoyment, they may not necessarily be healthy, but luckily for you that is not the case if one of your hobbies is fishing. There have been numerous studies looking at the connections between mental health and fishing.
Fishing can challenge you which can help benefit your cognitive thinking. The benefits don’t stop there. There is a direct correlation between spending time outdoors and your physical and mental health. If you're looking for a stress free way to spend time with family and friends, consider going fishing! Fishing is something that is very accessible, no matter where you are, it's likely there’s a water source nearby, to fish from, you’re not just limited to fishing from a boat. Depending on where you go to fish, you might be enjoying another added benefit of being around and being a part of a local community. Most people I know who enjoy fishing don’t need much of a push to go out and throw in a line, especially on a nice day, but sometimes when mental health starts to get sticky, it’s not that easy to get motivated. So check out this list of reasons why it might just be a good idea grab some gear and head to your nearest fishing hole.
Fishing and stress.
Believe it or not you can cast away your stress with fishing. Kenneth Reaves, professional fisherman for over 2 decades wrote this in a blog post in the National Alliance for Mental Illness “as someone who has encountered mental health challenges in the past, I have witnessed how fishing can improve mental health”.
Fishing is great for practicing mindfulness. Mindfulness is something that can help to reduce your stress levels and can contribute to your overall mental wellbeing. In a society where the phones in our hand connect us to our work emails, hours of mindless doom scrolling, an endless supply of depressing news, and addictive mindless apps, our brains are unknowingly being trained to be like web browsers with 723 tabs open. Fishing allows you to practice being mindful and not just while you are waiting for a bite. It starts from the moment you make the decision to go out to fish. You take care and are mindful of the weather, what you are aiming to catch, your fishing location, the right bait to bring, gear you need to fish, and the list goes on. Once you get started fishing, you are paying attention to the line, and your surroundings. This allows your mind to quiet itself or perhaps work through some of the things that have been on your mind, but your attention is always brought back to the line. If you’ve ever experienced anxiety or panic you know how helpful those small distractions can be to helping to break the doom spiral.
Fishing is great for boosting confidence. As with anything in life, the more you do something, the better you are at doing it, and the same can be said of fishing. Each time you toss a line in the water you get better and place it exactly where you want it. The more frequently you fish in a certain spot, the better you are at determining the best times of day, the best bait to use, and the most productive times of the season or even year. All of these things make you a better angler. The better you are, the more confident you will be. The confidence you gain while fishing can help to boost your mental image of yourself as well as how you relate to others during your life outside of fishing.
Fishing and the outdoors
There have been several studies discussing the merits of spending time outdoors. Getting healthy lungfuls of fresh air. Letting natural sunlight hit your skin and fill your eyes. And where does fishing take place? Outside. When you are fishing you are not only getting to enjoy the mental, stress-relieving benefits of fishing, but you are also going to benefit from being outside.
Fishing is a great time to soak up vitamins. When we spend time outside in the sun, our bodies are able to utilize the sun to produce vitamin D. Vitamin D plays a critical role in our health. Without it we are susceptible to everything from depression to weakened immune health, as well as weak brittle bones, and inflammation. Vitamin D deficiency is common around the world, especially for individuals in the northern latitudes and people who suffer from chronic mental illnesses like depression. Numerous studies have shown the benefits of vitamin d supplementation to help with mental health. So while you could just pop a few vitamins, why not have fun and soak up your vitamins while you are out fishing?
Fishing is a great time to practice deep breathing, and I’m not just talking about the huff of air you expel in frustration when a fish gets away or your line goes missing. We spend so much of our lives in office buildings breathing in stagnant refiltered air. In the 2005 book by Dr. Agnes E. van den Berg states there “is now strong evidence from research in non-clinical settings, such as homes, schools, and offices, that the supply of fresh air via ventilation is associated with positive health outcomes, and decreased asthma.” When was the last time you stood outside in nature and took a deep breath? You probably enjoyed the fresh oxygen rich air, the scent of the trees around you. It was nice wasn’t it? It’s more than just nice, it's healthy, so get outside and go fishing.
Fishing is a great time to put your phone on do not disturb mode. A lot of times when you are in remote outdoor areas your phone won’t get reception anyway, but even if it does, go ahead and turn it off for a bit. Give yourself time to enjoy the beauty of nature around you and focus on the task at hand. A study in 2022 looked at screen time and the relationship with mental health issues. Researchers found correlations between cellphone usage and increased depression, and ADHD. We spend so much time on our phones they are causing a number of health issues, from depression, to sleep loss and addiction. It’s not always easy, but feel free to use fishing as the excuse to put your phone away for a few hours.
Fishing is a great way to get exercise. Fishing is fun, but it does take work. You have to get all your gear together, lift it and move it around to pack it and that’s just to get it there. You still have to unpack it all at your fishing site, which could mean a nice walk to the water. Then there’s fishing itself. Sure a bit of the time will be spent sitting, but it takes effort to reel in lines. If you are fly fishing you may even get more of a workout if you are wading out and balancing as you navigate among the rocks in the stream. Maybe you’re fishing from a kayak, and you’re getting a full body workout as you go. So while you are out there getting a good physical workout without realizing it, that exercise is also doing wonders for your mental health. The National Institutes of Health summed it up nicely when they wrote, “Exercise improves mental health by reducing anxiety, depression, and negative mood and by improving self-esteem and cognitive function.” If you are trying to decide on plans for this weekend, consider getting some exercise while you go fishing, you’ll boost your mental health along the way.
Fishing and the community
A few years back Facebook had a slogan of Better Together, with the goal of bringing communities together. Does it sound a little bit cheesy? Yup, but think of how you feel around your friends and family. Remember the enjoyment you got to experience when you told a buddy about a recent fishing trip or got a tip about a great type of lure to use? Being part of a community allows you to share your passions and makes you feel less alone.
Fishing is a great way to meet people in the community. Whether it be on an online forum or at your local fishing hole there are almost always others who you can connect with about fishing. Many popular areas to fish have local fishing clubs you can join. Local or regional natural resources agencies offer events to teach things like fishing.
Even if you already know how to fish, you can reap the benefits of volunteering and teaching someone how to fish and how much joy it can bring (for you and them). According to the Mayo Clinic, “volunteering reduces stress and increases positive, relaxed feelings by releasing dopamine. By spending time in service to others, volunteers report feeling a sense of meaning and appreciation, both given and received, which can have a stress-reducing effect.” A bit of searching can help to find opportunities such as trash clean ups that take place in popular fishing areas to help the health of the area’s watershed. An amazing example of the benefits of the fishing community is a young girl in Texas. She is a big fan of fly fishing and has met friends all around the US and the world thanks to her passion for fly fishing. In addition to being active in her community she also volunteers and has a rule that for each time she goes out to fish she must remove and bring back trash from the area. In a tragic accident when her house burnt down and the fishing community came together to help replace her gear because of all she had done. Better together is sounding a little less cheesy now isn’t it?
Fishing is great for science. So many times when fishing tournaments are conducted there is data that is being collected. It could be anything from stomach contents, location of collection, fish size, tag numbers, recaptures, habitat information, and much more. Helping with data collection makes you a citizen scientist. Even if that wasn’t your initial goal in going out to fish, the knowledge that you have helped to further science and enhance the knowledge base around a species kind of makes you feel good. A sense of pride that what you are doing is making a difference can be a nice boost in mental health. A review in 2022 in Frontiers in Public Health states “Citizen science approaches are increasingly being used in chronic disease prevention to identify and prioritize community-focused solutions, mobilize support and advocacy, and empower communities to take action to support their health and wellbeing.”. The next time you have the chance to participate in a science-based fishing event, consider giving it a go for an extra boost in your mental health.