As a part of my ongoing, seemingly never-ending book proposal, I was doing more research today on tourism. (Sometimes “research” can mean “reading your email.”)
According to the esteemed Travel Agent Central, “Mental Health Tourism could be the new niche.” As Mark Rogers writes:
The Bangkok Post is reporting on the contents of a paper presented by Japanese researchers at the Asia Pacific Tourism Association annual conference held last week in Bangkok on mental health tourism. This form of tourism will primarily target city-folk suffering from depression and stress, largely as a result of spending too many hours staring at computer screens.
Obviously, vacations and relaxation at destination spas or practicing a favorite activity go a long way toward reducing stress. Mental health tourism takes de-stressing a step further, although it’s not targeted toward the severely ill. Instead, it will help those who are feeling stressed.
And now, for the coup de grâce:
Mental health tourism will involve the activation of all five senses to restore the imbalance caused by too many hours interacting with your computer.
Let me get this straight: mental health tourism involves using your senses. (How novel!) But just how remains unclear, as the article adds that “further studies” are being conducted to ascertain exactly what would be needed to obtain the maximum benefits of this.
So what is mental health tourism: a trip on a cruise hosted by John Mayer? That might give some people a rash.
First of all, if we’re talking about de-stressing, all tourism can be considered mental health tourism. Tourism implies freedom from obligation and a choice of one’s destinations and activities for an extended period of time. (I’d argue that visiting your in-laws, reunions, and crap like that does not count as pure leisure, tourism or vacation, since it’s motivated primarily by obligation.)
Secondly, this fragmented, all-or-nothing attitude is precisely what’s wrong with so many people’s perceptions of vacations or traveling in the first place. Why would one trip you’re fully choosing be considered a “mental health” trip over another–because your travel agent or the people at the hotel said so? The benefits you get from that would be from the placebo effect, people. But it works the other way, too.
Say you’re stressed but don’t have enough money to go on a “mental health vacation.” The very existence of such an asinine trend might make those people feel like their own vacations just aren’t cutting it. You know the drill: you buy a blue pen online, and five seconds later you see a pack of “Blue Pens Made for Awesome People Who Read Random Blogs” going for ten cents less. Now you’re thinking, “that’s the pen I should have bought! Mine suck!” Creating the perception that one choice is superior to another is called asymmetric dominance, a marketing and psychology trick that hooks people into buying.
Japanese researchers aside, one idea is to step away from the computer on a daily basis. And on the weekends, take two-day respites. Humans are sort of like the opposite of cell phones: we must go unplugged for an extended period of time to charge up and get restored. Vacations can provide health benefits, but because gas prices have made driving, boating and flying so much more expensive, they can also be an added source of stress. (Which would be why some people just wouldn’t choose them in the first place.)
What’s lost in the ‘is traveling a right?’ discussion is the idea that it’s a luxury not everyone can afford. For every American who’s having a hard time commuting from their house to their job right now, there are countless people around the world who could never even pay for a car in the first place, let alone a vacation around the world. But lots of people who don’t have money to travel at all are just fine. Instead of segmenting their “play” or “fun” time into bite-sized bits a few times a year, they know that the key is to prevent burnout on a daily basis. Take it easy, gringos. Even if your job was taste-testing donuts, only allowing yourself to rest for two weeks a year—while feeling tense and on-the-go the other 50 weeks—would never be enough.
Filed under: Cultural miscellany | Leave a Comment
Tags: computers, economy, gas, gas prices, health, mental health, tourism, travel, trend, trends
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Photo credit: Fran Lebowitz.I like to write about behavior, culture, and technology.
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