Martin Mau: the Conceptualization of Long-Distance Walking and Its Relation to Mental Health
I have recently read a study by Martin Mau and a few others on the relationship of long-distance walking and mental health. The abstract of the study was interesting. It commented on the prevalence and the age of pilgrimage, an idea we have commented on in class before, and how there is some effect on the mental health of an individual undergoing a pilgrimage and a lack of effect on well-being.
What is the difference between mental health and well-being? Are the two not intrinsically connected? Can one be well while being mentally unwell? Would fixing the one not help in the fixing of the other? As I see it, the difference in well-being and mental health is the difference between physical wellness and spiritual wellness. One's well-being is comprised of their situation, their health, and their maintenance of it. One's mental health, however, is how they are dealing with it, how they react, their "ok-ness" with it all. While going out on a long walk may not fix one's physical health, in many cases it even deteriorates their health, it helps in a more meditative way, allowing for the interfacing with oneself and the dealing with the more existential problems that plague them.
Something we say again and again in class is that long distance hiking and pilgrimage are therapeutic processes. There come many reasons for undertaking the journey, and many definitions for what make the journey so important. But how would one classify these ideas? In class, we defined a journey as one that has meaning, particularly some meaning which we derive in exegesis and diegesis of the story to another, and one which the meaning provides some enlightenment or assistance to the hiker. In this study however, the author cites Timothy, D. Olsen's, Tourism, Religion and Spiritual Journeys to say, " In order to encompass the pilgrimages that are not based on belief, a pilgrimage may more simply be defined as a “journey redolent with meaning”", allowing for the definition of the pilgrimage/long distance hike, to be just meaningful journeys, which fits nicely with our definition. He too cites Egan, K.'s I want to feel the Camino in my legs, to say "Egan uses the term “the body as a memorial” to explain how the physical strain that the long-distance walkers expose themselves to may be chosen to express the personal struggles they are going through. The “wounded soul” of the walker may attain a more concrete form in the “wounded body”" a slightly morbid but well reflective definition which tells of how the pilgrim is seeking a deeper connection with themselves, which also follows the definition which we established in class. This then covers both the why and the what of the journey in a way that encourages my interest in their study.
The results of the study were very interesting an align well with our claim that long distance hiking constitutes therapy. "The majority of qualitative studies focused on the participants’ general approach to life and found that long-distance walking enabled a focus on self, thus giving time to, e.g., discovering oneself or managing emotionally difficult experiences. These studies also focused on how the walks provided a sense of strength in the form of self-efficacy, attaining a sense of capability, or independence.", "Studies that focused on emotional distress generally found a positive effect of long-distance walking. No effect of study design was identified as they were all longitudinal. The only study that did not find a positive effect found that long-distance walking did not have a negative effect" and "One study examined both measures of emotional distress and well-being and found that long-distance walking was not related to well-being but was related to a significant reduction in some measures of emotional distress. This, however, depended on the measure of emotional distress, finding non-significant reductions in depression and generalized anxiety, but significant reductions with regards to stress and state anxiety. However, one other study, which also examined depression, found a significant reduction after long-distance walking. Stress was examined by four of the studies, either through questionnaires or biological markers, all of which found significant reductions after long-distance walking.".
This study showed much correlation between long distance hiking in short an long form, from less than or equal to 12 kilometers or da day, or 100+ kilometers or multiple days, and a reduction in emotional distress, "the findings collectively suggested that long-distance walking may be a remedy against mental health issues. In fact, even short LDW showed beneficial effects on various aspects of mental distress such as stress, depression, and anxiety.". So does long distance hiking help? Is it therapeutic? Can we claim this? According to this set of research, based off of 8557 screened records and 26 included studies, it does help, it can be therapeutic, and while we may not have the certainty required to claim certainty, we can claim that it may help, and even a chance can help.
Study link
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