What do you like to do in your spare time? It’s a common ice-breaking question, whether on the first day of school, at a job interview, or at a family gathering. Many teens, however, struggle to answer because they lack spare time in their busy schedules or primarily relax by scrolling through social media.
Stress is a constant companion for today’s teens, and when unbalanced by enjoyable pursuits, it can contribute to development of mental health conditions like depression and anxiety. Indeed, one criterion for a depressive episode listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Health Disorders (DSM) is a loss of interest or pleasure in usual daily activities. Intentionally engaging in novel pursuits like hobbies is a healthy way for teens to reduce emotional overload and mitigate daily stressors.
The link between hobbies and mental health
There is no list of perfect activities to improve mental health. Rather, teens should pursue one or more hobbies that match their interests and aptitudes. When engaged in regularly, hobbies offer many potential benefits.
- Supports relaxation: Between school demands, family expectations, and social pressures, teens endure increasing stress as they mature. Persistent worry over how to navigate these burdens can cause anxiety. Activities like making art or playing music can reduce levels of stress-related hormones, such as cortisol, facilitating relaxation, even in stressful situations.
- Reduces rumination: Rumination is repetitive thinking or dwelling on negative feelings. Adolescents often mentally replay unpleasant events, which can contribute to feelings of depression. Hobbies provide a much-needed, positive disruption to such repetitive thought processes.
- Boosts self-esteem: The 100-hour rule theorizes that spending just 18 minutes a day (a 100 hours a year) on a chosen practice will make someone more skilled at it than 95% of the world’s population. The intentional practice of a hobby improves skills over time, boosting teens’ confidence. Whether earning a new belt in martial arts or finally perfecting a bowl on the pottery wheel, teens can review their progress and recognize that they are capable of significant accomplishments.
- Expands social circles: Social hobbies like theater, book clubs, and team sports often introduce teens to peers they would not otherwise meet. Interacting and forming friendships with others from vastly different backgrounds can increase their capacity for empathy and encourage them to develop new communication skills.
- Improves physical health: Physical hobbies like sports and outdoor activities offer additional benefits like enhanced heart health, sleep, and weight management. Exercise improves mental well-being by releasing endorphins, which are neurochemicals that relieve pain and boost mood. Outdoor physical activities offer the added benefit of exposure to vitamin D, which improves immune function and can reduce depressive symptoms.
- Teaches coping skills: When overwhelmed, teens who lack a healthy hobby are more likely to turn to destructive habits, such as withdrawal from others, substance use, or self-harm. Regularly engaging in meaningful and enjoyable activities makes it easier for teens to choose such activities to relieve distress.
Hobbies for teens in Mesa, Arizona
East Valley teens have access to several local resources when pursuing new hobbies for mental health. Whether their interests lie in the arts, sports, intellectual pursuits, or community service, Mesa and its surrounding cities offer accessible programming and scenic views.
- The arts: For those interested in learning new artistic skills, Mesa Arts Center offers many affordable studio classes, such as painting, metal sculpture, flameworked glass, and ceramics. Theater kids have several youth companies to explore, including Childsplay, Actor’s Youth Theatre, and the East Valley Children’s Theater. Those interested in music and dance can visit West Mesa’s Solid Rock Teen Center, an organization founded by Alice Cooper that offers free after-school lessons and vocational training.
- Sports/exercise: Mesa Parks and Recreation offers many physical activities for teens, including dodgeball, volleyball, kickball, and flag football. Nearby Tempe Town Lake provides access to water activities like paddle boarding and youth rowing teams. Pickleball, which has exploded in popularity, can be played in style at the Mesa Tennis & Pickleball Center, which boasts 21 lighted courts. When the weather permits, hiking trails are another great way to exercise while taking in the desert landscapes.
- Intellectual activities: For teens interested in expanding their minds, Mesa Public Library offers monthly programming and special interest groups that teach new skills. Youth can attend role-playing game nights, learn how to use the library’s 3D printer, or join a team that reviews case file evidence to solve true crimes.
- Community service: Several programs encourage East Valley teens to gain new skills while serving their community alongside peers. The Junior Lifeguard program offers teens the opportunity to learn rescue response and drowning prevention while assisting lifeguarding staff at swim lessons and sporting events. The Teen Leadership Training (TLT) program allows Mesa teens to assist with youth summer camps and special events while developing skills for future employment.
Making time for mental health activities
Though many teens understand the importance of including hobbies into their routines, they may struggle with finding time or motivation to explore their interests. Here are a few strategies parents can use to help their teens maintain a hobby.
- Evaluate priorities: Sometimes what teens say is important to them does not align with their behaviors. Help your teen list the ways they prefer to spend their time. Do they want to have dinner with family most nights? Rollerblade at the park? Take a Spanish class? Then, have them note how they have actually spent their downtime during the past week. Are they skipping family dinner to finish a video game? Binge-watching a new show while complaining that the park is too far? If the two lists differ significantly, help your teen consider how they can align their second list with their values.
- Conduct a time audit: Taking the previous strategy further, have your teen create a detailed log (ideally in 15-minute segments) of how they have spent the last several days. Once they have a clear idea of how much time they spend on activities they hope to reduce (e.g., social media, online gaming), they can mindfully replace those activities with healthier pursuits.
- Make a hobby easier to access: Keeping hobby materials on hand can make it more likely that teens will engage with them when they have a short break. For example, they can keep an art journal close by to sketch during a homework break, take their camera along when running errands, or use a brief break to research which hiking trail they want to visit on the weekend.
- Write it down: Chances are your teen has a school-issued planner to keep track of assignments and due dates. Schools provide these tools because for many teens, if a scheduled activity is not written down, it won’t happen. Encourage your teen to include their chosen hobby on their to-do list. This will remind them to set aside time for it, and they will have the added satisfaction of crossing it off their list once complete.
Hobbies for teen mental health: When to seek help
Hobbies are a crucial part of a teen’s self-care routine, as they provide multiple physical and mental benefits. For youth struggling with mental health challenges like depression or anxiety, routinely practicing a hobby can reduce symptoms by creating healthy distractions, improving social connections, and disrupting negative thought patterns.
Although hobbies can bring relief from life’s inevitable stressors, they are not always sufficient for those with complex emotional and behavioral health needs.
Teen therapy services like those offered by Avery’s House Arizona can provide additional support for troubled teens who need a comprehensive approach. Its residential treatment program is a compassionate option for teens in acute distress who need an extended break from their usual environment to heal.
The highly skilled therapists at Avery’s House help youth forge healthier, more productive lives as they address teens’ emotional wounds in a nurturing group home setting. For teens who struggle to incorporate meaningful activities into their routines or have lost interest in hobbies due to mental health challenges, therapy provides tools, such as effective coping skills.
If your teen could benefit from such specialized care, reach out to an admissions coordinator to learn more about available treatment options or to begin the admissions process.