UKC

Does Climbing Help With Stress?

In reply to JossGuyer:

Any type of hobby or physical activity will help with out a shadow of a doubt.

Get out and see mate, then let us know what you found out.

In reply to JossGuyer:

Dear Lord yes!

Maybe not indoor climbing so much(not for me anyway), but getting out on rock, even if it's just an hour bouldering is enough to make any worries go away, if only for a little while.

In reply to JossGuyer: These days, the times I'm most stressed is when I'm tired and trying to get some gear in. At other times, I'm not stressed.

In reply to JossGuyer:

Bit of a vague question I think.

If you're an experienced climber with good access to local crags, happy to climb on your own or with loads of partners and can get out for an hour or two easily without competing priorities then yes it's probably very helpful indeed.

That's not what it's like for everyone though. Some people might have to drive for hours through busy traffic to climb at a cramped, busy indoor wall, and a partner who resents them using their time that way...probably not so good then!

In reply to JossGuyer:
Yes. For me, climbing can be like flicking a switch to completely change my mood. Even going to the wall is a regular, very effective destressor.

In reply to JossGuyer:

Of course. I don't know how it works medically but I think it's something to do with endomorphines/adrenaline. Also, completely separate point, it helps enormously with very stressful situations in everyday life. Several times in my life when something really bad has happened I've said to myself 'treat this a climbing disaster/epic' and that's helped me enormously - especially to keep calm and think straight.

In reply to xplorer:



It pains me somewhat to say this, but you took the words out of my mouth.

If it works, it works. If not, try something else.....

In reply to JossGuyer:

yes

In reply to JossGuyer:

Yeah, definitely. A good day out at the crag with some mates makes everything seem amazing.

In reply to xplorer:

It definitely helps with my stress! I love it! puts me into a bubble, I am doing a university study so its interesting to get others opinions..

In reply to JossGuyer:

For some people. For me, amid a busy life with far too much responsibility, it is the best stress-buster ever. I am time-starved, sometimes time-bankrupt, but the time I make for climbing is an investment in salvation.

Definitely! I find that once I step onto the rock there is no space in my head for anything else. For me it is the only thing that I have found where that is the case. (Actually riding a wave is the same it's just you spend more time climbing in a 3 hour session than you do on a wave in a 3 hour session!)

In reply to JossGuyer:

Absolutely. I'd been feeling really subdued and lacklustre for a few weeks, just getting to the indoor wall once or twice a week with no real motivation. Then managed to get a free weekend and a good weather window and headed to Brean Down - just walking along the hill made me feel better!!
A good day outdoors, getting some exercise (despite spending the entire day working my 7a 'warmup'), and I felt right as rain.
Used to climb more frequently during exam period too as a way to blow off steam.

In reply to JossGuyer:

I find even just getting my kit ready for a day on the hills helps me, even if u get out on rock and its wet/windy, bloody cold(like yesterday on stanage)it lifts the soul and makes everything seem less of a major concern.

Thats my way of blowing of stress and clearing my head to see the problem clearly........................

In reply to JossGuyer:

I think this is rather a complex question and this will therefore not contain an answer.

From my experience its seems to that climbing (like many other activities) facilitates and indeed insists upon a meditative and focused mind state and to this extent deals in the short term with stress.
However it is also my experience that its possible to access this mind state as a displacement behaviour rather than addressing other stressors - in this instance I suspect I'd simply be masking the effects of long term stressors by voluntarily adopting a more acute one. Its also possible for climbing ( and other activities) to become disproportionately important in terms of one's self image and self esteem and thus become a source of dissatisfaction in themselves.
This might seem pessimistic, so I should emphasise that climbing is an excellent mechanism for achieving "time out of mind" - the more difficult question is why that goal is to be desired?

In reply to andrew ogilvie:

Just reading this website gets me destressed from an ex teacher. I tried putting my car one morning on way to work through a hedge. Climbing Mountaineerin was my savour

In reply to JossGuyer:

I think it depends on the route

In reply to andrew ogilvie:




Very true!

In reply to JossGuyer:

For me (severe anxiety and mild depression), climbing is one of very few things which can pull me out of a bad place, I stop worrying, stressing, procrastinating and it really brings out the best of me, gives me confidence and gives me something to look forward to day in day out as well as a whole new group of friends to have a laugh with... Saying that though if i have a bad session then it can be frustrating and in someways adds fuel on the fire, but as soon as I let go of my ego and just enjoy it then its magic. The key point really is to just enjoy it and you will see for yourself if it helps with the stress.

In reply to Gile5:

I have a past history of panic disorder, anxiety attacks and stress. Climbing and walking really help me where I don't have diagnosed panic disorder anymore.

I still get stress from work and life and I find trad climbing a massive destresser. I feel the adrenalin rush I get from trad lets my body use up any excess adrenalin.

In reply to JossGuyer:

It sure does...... focuses the mind on what you're doing and pretty much everything else is forgotten for the time being. Having said that, I find any physical exercise makes me feel good, must be the endorphins.