Photography and mental health
THERE’S much more to AP than camera reviews or tips features. We’ve also reported on the growing awareness of how photography can help with mental health – one of the hottest topics of our age.
Back in February we ran a ground-breaking cover feature on how taking pictures can improve your wellbeing. It included insights from psychotherapists and a big contribution from professional landscape photographer Paul Sanders, who’s bravely battled anxiety and depression. The response from readers was huge, and a large number contacted us with their own stories – it was also one of our best-selling issues of the year.
More and more workshops are now appearing which use photography to help with stress relief and greater mindfulness, including some that are run by AP’s former features editor, Tracy Calder. Mental health charities are also getting involved in this fascinating area, including Mind. In October the charity teamed up with photoprinting specialist CEWE to promote a competition encouraging more ‘positive’ photography beyond compulsive selfie-taking. According to addiction expert Dr Mark Griffiths, ‘a minority of individuals suffer negative mental health effects of excessive social media use.’ We’ll be covering this important and wide-ranging topic again in 2019 so please keep sending your stories in.