There’s a study out there showing that hobbying is actually good for you. Yes, even if you’re not the most experienced. Check out these details!
If you’re new to the hobby or a ten-year veteran, you should be happy to know that putting long hours at your hobby desk is actually good for you. It doesn’t matter about skill or experience, science says that you’re better off painting and building minis!
Coming from Life Hack, studies were rounded up showing that spending time in the hobby reduces stress and cortisol levels.
What Does Hobbying Do For You?
To give you a basic overview of the study, a group of people was gathered with mixed experience of hobby/arts & crafts time. They were all put into a room and had saliva tests taken before and after a 45-minute hobby session. Then, they could listen to music, paint, draw, etc. Scientists swabbed their mouths once again after their hobby time and found that 75% of the people had reduced cortisol levels. The best part is, it didn’t matter how much experience the people had or what they were doing. The time that they had to express themselves proved to relax them! With that said, younger people had greater decreased stress over the older testers.
So what is cortisol? Cortisol is a natural chemical found in the body in the presence of stress. The higher the stress, the higher levels of cortisol. The lower levels of stress, the lower levels of cortisol.
Not all of us are artists. But all of us can paint, sculpt, draw, sketch, and do some forms of an artsy thing, on varying levels. Some of us are just naturally more gifted than others, but it doesn’t matter. If you enjoy it, do it. You really don’t have to make a living out of it, and if you are unsure as to whether you might enjoy it, still do it. Not only is there a possibility that you might like it, but also a possibility of making you mentally healthier.
Sure, 40k and AoS are some awesome tabletop games, but if you’re one of those people that refuses to pick up a paintbrush because of lack of experience, you should at least test the waters and give it a shot! Regardless of skill or time, you’ll be able to say that you’ve painted your army from the ground-up, reduced your stress, and can feel accomplished whenever you put it on the table.
Has hobbying helped you de-stress at the end of the day? What’s your favorite thing to do in your hobby time? Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group, and sign up to get your free hobby updates newsletter (with discount coupon codes) each morning as well!
About the Author: Wesley Floyd
Wesley Floyd
Job Title: Staff Writer
Joined: 2018
Socials: @RealmbrushPainting
About Wesley Floyd: Wes has been in the Warhammer hobby since 2015 and joined the Spikey Bits writing team in 2018. He is known for his satirist takes on trending topics and imaginative yet amazingly affordable hobby solutions to painting Warhammer miniatures.
Imperial fanboy, tabletop fanatic, and the self-proclaimed King of Sprues. He knows for a fact that Mephiston red is the best-tasting paint and is the commission painting equivalent of a Wendy’s 4 for $4. If you like what he writes and want to contact him or have your tabletop minatures painted (to a mostly okayish standard), message him on Instagram.
