Skateboarding For Recovery
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What is Skateboarding Recovery?
People recovering from trauma or drug and alcohol abuse are encouraged to try the sport for its various mental and therapeutic benefits. It is common to sustain skating injuries, especially for new skaters. Still, despite the dangers associated with the sport, it has the potential to help in recovery if skateboarding safety precautions are taken.
What are the Health Benefits of Skateboarding?
It is easy for some to argue the effectiveness of skateboarding as a therapy for mental illness, but skateboarders find it uniquely gratifying at the end of the day. In any event, no time is lost skateboarding as it continues to build balance, bone strength, and muscle coordination. In fact, clinical trials recommend therapeutic skating for children suffering from autism.
1. Helps Victims of Traumatic Injuries Remove the Fear of Pain
People who have been victims of traumatic injuries can have difficulty inculcating courage. More often than not, such people experience fatigue as their injuries force them to stay indoors. They may need something to help them forget the trauma they experienced and resume their everyday lives.
Skateboarding is good for mental health, providing an excellent option for people who are completing their recovery. Some may need to improve their ability to mix with others in sports or work.
It is therapeutic and helps the muscles affected by injuries heal faster with improved blood flow and improves confidence in participating in extracurricular activities. Some patients need help regaining balance on the skateboard, especially if they are not ardent skateboarders. It is advisable to keep an eye on their progress before letting them ride free.
2. Allows Creative Freedom for Mental Health Improvement
Skateboarding has proven benefits, and one of the main reasons it is more effective than other mainstream sports is that it allows creative freedom. By drawing attention to experiencing new highs, skateboarding shifts focus away from anxieties and negative thought patterns, which improves self-esteem and self-efficacy. This is particularly important for recovering from injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression.
While others scramble for imported therapeutic options such as meditative gardening and banana bread, it’s much more enjoyable to hop on a skateboard and ride off the tension in the wind. Most skateboarders can attest that skateboarding for mental health is the right choice for an enjoyable return to normalcy.
3. Increases Metabolism
A healthy metabolism requires regular workouts. Skateboarding is tedious but much more fun than hitting the gym every once in a while. This is the case for millions of skateboarders across the globe.
Skateboarding works on various muscles in the human body, not just the legs. With every stunt or trick, a skateboarder takes on various positions to maintain balance on the board. Thus helping them exercise several muscles simultaneously while boarding as an emotional outlet.
4. Enhances Brain and Body Coordination
A regular workout regimen can be helpful for people recovering from mental or behavioral health challenges. Skateboarding provides people with an alternative option for fitness and practicing coordination. Working on coordination can help some people with mindfulness.
Regaining strength and body coordination requires a regular but limited workout regimen. Skateboarding offers an excellent option as it works out various muscles across the body, which helps the body heal much faster than other tedious workout and sporting options.
5. Mood Improvement and Stress Relief
Even when injuries are improving and recovery is going smoothly, setbacks are common. This may be due to mood changes or other challenges like depression. Skateboarding, unlike most other workout regimens, allows the rider to feel the breeze as they ride atop a board, listening to music on some headphones and simply unwinding. It is why skateboarding and mental health go along so well.
Mood improvement and stress relief are critical aspects of a successful recovery process, and with skateboarding, that is almost assured. Physical activity can also help people sleep at night and relax their bodies.
Skateboard Recovery at Healthy Life Recovery
Clients are provided a skating program as additional support for treatment, along with evidence-based therapy methods. They can help with various tools to add color and efficiency in cleansing, balancing, and clearing yourself from the inside. Get in contact with us today and improve your recovery process on board.
Medically Reviewed By:
Dr. Sanjai Thankachen
Dr. Sanjai Thankachen graduated from Adichunchanagiri Institute of Medicine in 2000. He completed his residency in psychiatry in 2008 at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in New York. Dr. Thankachen is currently working with Pacific Neuropsychiatric Specialists in an outpatient practice, as well as working at multiple in-patient psychiatric and medical units bringing his patients the most advanced healthcare treatment in psychiatry. Dr. Thankachen sees patients with an array of disorders, including depression, bipolar illness, schizophrenia, anxiety, and dementia-related problems.
Edited for Clinical Accuracy By:
Sean Leonard, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner
Sean Leonard is a board-certified psychiatric nurse practitioner. He received his master’s degree in adult geriatric primary care nurse practitioner from Walden University and a second postmaster specialty in psychiatry mental health nurse practitioner from Rocky Mountain University. Sean has experience working in various diverse settings, including an outpatient clinic, inpatient detox and rehab, psychiatric emergency, and dual diagnosis programs. His specialty areas include substance abuse, depression, anxiety, mood disorders, PTSD, ADHD, and OCD.