Travelling Perspective: By A Psychologist
By Danielle Pereira #TravelTips
All through my journey as a traveler, I’ve always come across people from different walks of life who have questioned, reasoned and stood up for a point of view, and what they felt about travel. Travel is good, bad or unimportant are mostly explanations and beliefs one expresses based on their own knowledge, exposure and majorly through the lens that they have been accustomed to wear. This may defer from person to person, but I’ve always wondered what does a Psychologist or Therapist think about travel? Is it the best form of organic therapy? Or is it a way of pushing things away and not dealing with them?
(You wonder too, right? You can
thank me, post reading this.)
So to unravel this and a lot more,
I decided to get different perspectives on travel from individuals from
different worlds. And to start off with this edition, I have interviewed my
friend who has studied and learnt psychology all her life. She is a practising
therapist, and did not want me to give her a formal introduction. But thank you
Danielle Pereira, this write up would have not been possible without your
support, time and insights. Appreciate it. All the pictures, and inputs you see
below are unfiltered and contributed solely by Danielle. So without further a
due, here is some clarity on A Psychologists Perspective on Travel.
During a therapy session when you hear the word "travel",
what is the first thing that you think of?
If a client mentions a love of travel, that
they have already travelled a lot or that they look forward to travelling in
the future, it is a positive sign. To want to travel means that you are willing
to open yourself up to new experiences, to broaden your horizons and see the
world from different perspectives, all of which are signs of good mental
health.
How essential do you think travel is for the mental wellbeing?
As human beings, we are what we know. For a person
who has not travelled, their knowledge is limited and thus in a way their
mental make-up is limited by the boundaries in which they have kept themselves.
A good example is how prejudices and stereotypes develop when a person isn't
exposed to anything or anyone outside their own in-group. Problems also seem
larger than they really are if you have a limited concept of how vast the world
is around you.
People often say
that you shouldn't run away from your problems. You think travel is an
unhealthy escape?
Travel isn't an escape, because the notion of travel
involves going somewhere and eventually coming home. If you leave for a new
place and never come back, that does not really count as 'travel'. Travelling
may actually help with problem solving in a healthy way by giving a person time
to regroup and clear some mental space, or learn new coping strategies, or see
their issues in perspective when they have distance from them.
Do you think that
someone facing depression could benefit through travel?
Travelling could help with depression by providing new positive
experiences, and breaking unhealthy behaviour cycles that depressed persons
often get stuck in. It may be difficult, however, to find pleasure in travelling
if one is clinically depressed.
Some say travel is
an organic and more natural form of therapy. You agree? What is your opinion on
it?
I would say travelling is a healthy activity, but I would hesitate to
call it a "therapy" because as a professional, I use
"therapy" as a clinical term though it has become widely misused in
recent years.
Things to keep in
mind if you’re facing psychological or mental challenges and opting to travel
as an outlet.
Be completely sure of your decision to travel. Keep backups in place in
case it becomes too much for you and you need to go home quickly. Travelling is
also stressful in terms of the number of things to keep in mind, completely new
environments that may be uncomfortable and situations that may be unsafe for a
tourist. Planning and being prepared is the best way to deal with this. Travelling
with someone experienced and capable is also a good option.
What is the gap
between Alternative Therapy (Organic/Travelling) & Actual Therapy? And how
can one realise one would need to shift from one to another?
I would say there is a “large” gap. One form of therapy has a scientific
basis and the other doesn’t. Doing something that temporarily makes you happy
isn’t a substitute for proper treatment that is well thought out and
structured. One would not expect travel to cure malaria, why would it cure a
mental illness?
These are few of the queries that I had with regards to travel and
psychological perspective on it. I agree to most of the points made by her, I
feel too that travel could lead to anxiety or stress at times and it is
important to reduce that factor and plan well to ensure that it is more of an
enjoyable affair to head out than another worrisome task for you to execute. It
helps you disconnect and spend time with yourselves which is quite hard to do
these days. So I think travel may not be professionally called therapy, but it
surely does help a person find and mend oneself, if panned out well.
But what do you think? You think travel is a good form of unwinding or
do you think otherwise? Would love to know your thoughts on this write up and
do feel free to leave queries and other questions if any for Danielle and I
would surely get you a response from her. Thank you once again Danielle for
contributing pictures and insights, hope to have you as a part of this blog
again soon. And I hope for the readers, this helps you get motivated to go out
and travel. To resolve any uncertainties (if you did have any) about about
psychology and travel and perspectives from a new world.
Happy Travelling This Weekend!
Be Safe. Stay Positive. Stay Happy J
Edited & Written by Alvin Anthony
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