What could be more interesting than the secrets of a psychologist? I carry the secrets of clients with me every day.
Today, I want to share a secret with you about Cape May County, the place we call home. We know this county is unbeatable in summer; the ocean beckons us and fun surrounds us.
But, try to guess this. Which month did Cape May visitors vote as the best month to visit?
“August,” you say confidently. Nope. “July?” July took second place in one contest.
Jessica Leeburg, the creative director at Cape Publishing, reported that first place went to September when the ocean is still warm and the crowds thin. And, who wouldn’t fall in love with a walk in the crisp air at sunset under vibrant shades of red and orange over a near empty beach?
In my column ‘Making Life Work,’ I help people battle forces of psychological destruction to live life well in Cape May County. And, great news. The Herald is letting me add video to my column online to help more readers live their best life.
We are also moving ‘Making Life Work’ to the first and third Wednesday of the month. On the first Wednesday of the month, readers can find my column in the Health and Wellness section of the Herald, as space allows. And, on the third Wednesday of the month, readers can find my column on the Op-ed pages, in the usual location.
I am happy to do this since my vision is to bring the best of mental health to the public. So, please do join me as I help people tackle knotty problems in their life, be they related to marriage, kids, grandkids, drinking too much beer or whatever people ask me to write about.
But, here is this column’s news: did you know that the beach is a health-inducing location that comes with better health? A British study asked 48 million citizens and learned that the nearer they lived to the coast, the more likely people were to report good health within the past year.
The results held even after the researchers took into account possible health factors such as age, sex, socioeconomic status, and whether they lived near parks or other green spaces. Somehow, the beach brings something special to our lives.
How? The seaside environment reduces stress, the researchers said.
Another British study found that people who travel to the coast feel calmer and more relaxed than those who visit the countryside. They even learned that people were willing to pay more for the room with an ocean view than views of green fields or cities.
Researcher Mathew White, an environmental psychologist at Exeter, asked “How many people living near the beach experience such health effects?” They found that people who lived closer to the coast reported better health.
Researchers are now doing lab experiments to study the physiological benefits of coastal life. In the experiments, people in stressful situations found that people report feeling less pain when immersed in a beach setting, so ocean exposure could be a useful form of therapy.
But, what good is research for us? How do we make life work better when we know these facts?
We get ourselves to the nearby beaches, especially in fall when the beach is there for us. But, that is harder than it sounds; we work and care for kids and have many things to do most minutes of most days.
So, how do we prioritize the beach? Nobody can tell you how to do what is best for you.
What works is to look at yourself hard in the mirror and tell yourself that you belong to you and you need to get to a beach to walk off tons of stress. Try to remember why life is so great in Cape May County all year round.
I want to leave you with a recipe for a healthy November: walk on the sand. Smell the fresh ocean air. Discipline yourself to take good care of yourself. After all, you belong to you.
To consider: How might life be better if you add a beach walk to each week? What stops you? How can you change that? Might life be better if you did?
To explore: Beach Benefits. Live Science. https://bit.ly/2Gc8vlu
Dr. Coche practices clinical psychology in Stone Harbor and Philadelphia. She invites responses through her website, www.cochecenter.com
North Cape May – Another shout out to Officer Bohn, the school resource officer at LCMR. I admire his hard work and devotion to the students and staff as I see him every morning and afternoon, snow, wind , sleet or…
