Page 27 - GBC Eng winter 2021

My Life
MENTAL HEALTH BENEFITS OF PLAYING GOLF
Jenny Roe is an environmental psychologist at the University of Virginia who explores how our interactions with the world shape our health, wellbeing and behaviours. She has been involved in several studies looking at the mental health benefits associated with playing golf.
“I think to get out and play golf, you are really helping manage your mental health in a very holistic way,” she says.
She elaborated in a study by the R&A on this topic in 2020: “Contact with nature slows down our stress response and induces calm. There is evidence to show this is happening in our biological system. It is promoting stress resilience, it is improving our mood, it is decreasing our risk of depression and increasing our social wellbeing, particularly on a golf course where you are interacting with other members of that community. So there are a host of mental and social wellbeing benefits.”
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