We’ve all been cooped up for far too long, and you doctors have been grinding it out since February. But with vaccines slowly trickling into American immune systems, hopefully the end of this pandemic is within sight. The question is, how do you plan to celebrate it? Chances are, you haven’t had any ‘me’ time in a while, and you’ve accumulated quite a bit of PTO. PhysicianSense has a few suggestions for you. These ideas range from simple pleasures, to extravagant indulgences, to far-flung destinations. When it’s safe to do so, we strongly encourage you to have these 4 experiences in 2021. Attend a concert Zoom and Instagram Live barely capture a fraction of a live concert. Think about it. Music is actually based in vibration. The frequency of sound’s wave motion determines pitch. Our eardrums convert this vibration into the experience of sound. So you see, sound is something that’s felt as well as heard. That feeling can be far more intense when you’re in the same space as the instruments and the singers. Furthermore, the experience of being in a crowd–surrounded by people all seeing and feeling the same thing–may amplify the intensity of live music. There are proven stress-busting benefits to attending concerts as well. A 2016 Public Health study revealed that attending a concert can lower stress biomarkers. Prior to two classical music concerts, researchers took saliva samples from two groups of concert-goers, measuring glucocorticoid and cortisol levels. They then repeated the test after the concert. In both tests, there were statistically significant declines in cortisol and cortisone levels, as well as the cortisol/cortisone ratio. Attend a game We’re partial to baseball, but pick any sport you might enjoy. The point is to be outdoors, in the sun, with a crowd of people who (mostly) want the same thing: the home team to win. The purpose of this experience is two-fold. One, we’re social creatures, and social distancing, while absolutely necessary, has had psychological implications that likely we won’t understand until years from now. Already, an International Journal of Medicine study has determined that the following are among the “most relevant psychological reactions” to coronavirus infection: Aspecific and uncontrolled fears related to infection Pervasive anxiety Frustration and boredom Disabling loneliness Social support ranks among the study’s protective factors. Hence, being surrounded by like-minded humans, even if they’re just like-minded about one team winning. Purpose two: Can you remember a more politically divisive year in your life? Again, maybe attending a live sporting event or two will help us all find a little more common ground. We may vote differently, worship differently, or have different world views, but at least we can all get behind a team. Travel at home This could be as simple as driving to the other side of the state line, or the other side of the country. Our country contains multitudes of wonders, natural and manmade, though we tend to gravitate toward the natural variety. The health benefits of time in nature are well-documented. A 2015 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America study showed that nature walks may lower the amount of rumination we do, lowering neural activity in parts of the brain associated with mental illness. Furthermore, a 2007 Public Health study showed that the Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, may reduce stress and risk of stress-related diseases. Looking for some excursion ideas that check these boxes? Here’s one for each region of the U.S.: Acadia National Park, Maine Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina/Tennessee Isle Royale National Park, Michigan Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado Joshua Tree National Park, California Travel abroad Perhaps one of the things you miss most about pre-pandemic life is international travel. As soon as it’s safe to do so, we strongly recommend that you feel free to trot about the globe. And the scientific research supports you here, as well. A 2014 Tourism Management study looked at the cognitive effects of recreational travel. The researchers studied a group of 46 workers before and after vacation. Study participants showed increased cognitive flexibility after a long summer vacation, though originality remained unchanged. These findings were echoed in a 2014 Academy of Management study. In this study, researchers looked at fashion collections from some of the world’s leading design houses. After combing through 11 years of their collections and assigning creativity scores to each, the researchers determined that “foreign professional experiences of creative directors predicted creativity ratings of their collections.” If you’re looking for some bucket list international destinations, we suggest the following: The Tuscan countryside The Pyramids of Giza Kruger National Park, South Africa Bora Bora, French Polynesia Paris, France TL;DR As soon as it’s safe to do so in 2021, we recommend you do the following: Attend a concert to lower stress levels Attend a live sporting event to feel a sense of community Travel at home to reduce risk of stress-related diseases Travel abroad to increase creativity Source
