Photo credit Ingrid Exner
I have been taking photographs for many years. I take photos as one of my coping mechanisms to help control pain and help reduce other symptoms or side effects of an aging shunt and my hydrocephalus. While I practice what is known as Phototherapy, I know that I am not alone.
What is Phototherapy?
Phototherapy can be a therapeutic technique used either individually or as a group to analyze personal photos and the different emotions that they can evoke. This can either be done with a therapist or even on your own.
Many people in the spina bifida and hydrocephalus community use photos or photography to remember, relax and renew in health and spirit, including Ersin Omay, a gentleman from the community. As two people living with shunted hydrocephalus, we both find comfort in photography as a creative outlet that allows us greater expression.
In his own words, Ersin finds that, “Photography helps me get into a different world where no one can harm me. It gives me something else [not pain] to focus on. I can lose myself in photography and it makes me feel like I have accomplished something.”
There are many others benefits of taking and viewing photographs. Did you know that so much healing could be found behind the lens of a camera?
Benefits of Taking Photos and Viewing Photos
- Increases Mindfulness and being in the moment– Taking a photo demands that you are truly present, mindful and in the moment as you line up the shot. Likewise, I believe that photography and taking photos heightens your awareness as you wait for that perfect moment to take the photo with the best atmosphere and feelings.
- Relaxes you– Many individuals find photography and taking photos to be very relaxing and almost meditative. Likewise, for those shooting manually and in RAW, selecting the settings and making the editing changes can be meditative and calming as well.
- Focuses concentration– Your overall concentration is heightened through photography from beginning to end- through taking the photo to developing it, the entire process requires concentration and patience.
- Operating in various different modes and changing between settings also challenges the brain– Using your eyes to differentiate between modes then physically adjusting the modes on your camera, based on changing lighting and environment challenges both the body and brain and works both parts of the brain. Our visual cortex interprets the pictures that we see and this area is located in the temporal lobe straddling both hemispheres of our brain! So, we actually use both sides of the brain in photography!
- Photographing beautiful things increases gratitude and appreciation. Photographing beautiful things and scenes that you see and deem as beautiful is both relaxing and healing. There have been numerous studies done on the healing effects of viewing both nature itself and nature photographs.
- Increases Creativity- Taking photos forces you to become creative as your mind begins to see different and better angles to take the photograph and express the feeling of the photo.
- Encourages Self Expression- We all see things from different angles and bring our own perspectives to everything including to photography. Practicing photography allows you to self- express through choice of image and type of development and tone of photo.
- Increases Sense of Community- Whether you take photos with other people, take photos of other people or belong to a photography club, photography increases and creates a sense of community which is especially important for those who are feeling isolated due to illness or disability.
- Photography often involves being out in nature which is also healing. Nature heals. From going for long walks to just simply sitting in the sunshine and absorbing the vitamin D of the sun- nature heals. When you combine the healing effects of nature with the healing effects of photography, you have a powerful combination of healing.
- Increases Creativity- Taking photos forces you to become creative as your mind begins to see different and better angles to take the photograph and express the feeling of the photo.
Benefits of Viewing Photos
- Viewing photos corrects inaccurate memories– Many people like to look at older photographs to remind them of happier times and of people that they may have lost. However, viewing photographs can also help to act as a memory trigger. In hospitals and in senior care across the country (and even world), photographs are being used to bring comfort (and increase memories) in patients and persons with memory issues and dementia. Photographs are great rehabilitation tools as well for those who are regaining lost memories e.g. temporary memory loss/amnesia.
- Triggers happy memories– Reviewing photographs can bring back happy memories. In Dr. Joe Spinoza’s bestselling book, You Are the Placebo, he notes that the brain does not differentiate between what is really happening (or what you are doing) and what you are thinking about. So, in this way, a photograph can act like a time machine taking you back-instantly to a favorite place or moment in time.
- Looking at photos of family can even trigger bonding neurochemicals- Oxytocin and dopamine, a feel good neurotransmitter, are released when people view photos of family members that they love.
- Looking at photos can remind us of who we are– Viewing photos is a grounding and orienting experience used for people with memory issues and even those with Alzheimer’s disease.
