By Lauren Steele, Men's Journal
New Research from
Eva-Maria Stelzer of the University of Arizona, in Tucson, touts
bouldering for health benefits that go far beyond promoting agility and
rock-solid muscles. The study, which was presented last week at the 29th
Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention in
Boston, found that bouldering can alleviate the symptoms of anxiety and
depression, the most common mental disorders in the country.
[post_ads]"Bouldering, in many ways, is a positive physical activity," Stelzer said in a report from Medical News Today.
"There are different routes for your physical activity level, and
there's a social aspect along with the feeling of an immediate
accomplishment when bouldering."
For the study, Stelzer and her team assessed the effects of
bouldering on more than 100 adults who suffer from depression.
Participants were divided into two groups: one that began incorporating
bouldering into their routine immediately, and one that had to wait to
begin the activity. According to the data, both groups took part in
bouldering for three hours per week for eight weeks, and the majority of
participants were new to the sport.
Throughout the study, Stelzer
and her team periodically assessed the participants’ depressive
symptoms using the Beck's Depression Inventory and the Symptom Check
List Revised. The group that began bouldering sooner experienced a
6.27-point improvement in Beck's Depression scores, while the group that
waited to boulder showed a 1.4-point improvement. By the scale’s
measurement, this means that the first group’s depression alleviated
from moderate to mild after getting out on the walls.
The
researchers credit the concentration and need for present action as the
key to bouldering’s ability to erase the symptoms of depression such as
sadness, a feeling of emptiness, fatigue, problems concentrating, guilt,
and thoughts of suicide or death.
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"You have to be mindful and focused
on the moment. It does not leave much room to let your mind wonder on
things that may be going on in your life — you have to focus on not
falling," Stelzer said.
The researchers leading the study are
encouraging doctors and those with depression to utilize bouldering and
other forms of physical recreation as a necessary component to treatment
plans for mental health. “I’d always encourage patients to do the sport
they like, whether it's climbing or something else, as sport is a
wonderful possibility to prevent all sorts of illnesses, mental and
physical,” wrote study co-leader Katharina Luttenberger.
