Mental well-being and how photography helps me

Mental well-being and how photography helps me

Mental health affects all of us in one way or another (whether you like to admit it or not) and everyone has there own ways to deal with their issues. Photography for me has always been my copping mechanism.

Until recently I worked for a London law firm doing all there IT, as you can guess this was a very high stress environment and regularly caused me to be depressed and suffer from neuralgia in my face (this is a stabbing, burning, and often severe pain due to an irritated or damaged nerve. )

When I was working there wasn’t often time available for me to go out and shoot landscapes or wildlife, especially as I was spending most of my time at work in London. The only way to get my phototherapy fix was to take up and learn street photography around my hectic work hours and this helped to a degree.

Recently (like many others in these sad times) I lost someone very close to me, this made me start thinking if all this was really worth all the stress and pain. For me the answer was definitely not and resulted in looking at a total lifestyle change (taking voluntary redundancy and looking for a lower stress job). Now I’m not advocating this for everyone but for me hitting the reset button has made me feel more human then I have for years.

In the last couple of months I’ve thrown myself into photography trying to heal the mess in my head and maybe make some shots I can be proud of. Despite getting up at silly times of the morning to drive miles for a sunset or sleeping in the back of the car to get a sunrise.



I’ve been physically exhausted but still better mentally then I have in a long time. There’s just something for me about the act of getting the camera out that just seems to release the stress valve in my head.

Now I’m not making light of mental health issues saying taking pictures can cure the world , I’m still going to have (many) issues and be on medication for life to take the edge off the pain from the neuralgia. But finding the right thing for you that helps you get your mind in a better place can only be a good thing.

I hope that reading these ramblings helps even one person to look at things differently or even just that you are not alone struggling in this messed up world.

Only thing left is too fined a lower stress job, so no stress there then.

Cheers
Jason