Whatever your goals for 2025, science shows being happier will make you dramatically more likely to reach them. Being depressed, quite obviously, won’t. Which means no matter what you hope to accomplish, doing a few small things to cut your risk of depression will help.
What should those things be?
Psychology (and super achievers) often offer the same worthy, well known suggestions—things like exercise, spending time in nature, or more social connection.
These are all great ideas. But if you’re looking for a fun, lesser known mood booster to add to your 2025 to-do list, I point you to a recent Cambridge University study. It found going out on the town to enjoy some culture just once a month cuts your risk of depression in half.
The surprise link between cultural outings and depression
The study published in The British Journal of Psychiatry examined data on 2,000 British adults over the age of 50 over a 10-year period. After analyzing information on their health and lifestyle, a clear pattern emerged. When people got out to enjoy a movie, show, or museum regularly, their chance of suffering from depression decreased dramatically.
Just one such outing every few months cuts your risk of depression by 32 percent. Make enjoying some culture a monthly habit and your risk of depression falls by nearly half (48 percent).
You might think this is just because people who are privileged enough to have the time and money to go to the theater every month are also less likely to deal with the kind of stressful circumstances that make people more prone to depression. Fair enough. But the researchers controlled for people’s wealth. The mental-health boosting effects of enjoying culture remained.
“We were very pleasantly surprised by the results,” commented lead author Daisy Fancourt. She thinks others might be surprised to learn about the relationship between cultural outings and reduced instances of depression, too.
“Generally speaking, people know the benefits of eating their five-a-day [servings of fruits and vegetables recommended by British guidelines] and of exercise for their physical and mental health, but there is very little awareness that cultural activities also have similar benefits. People engage with culture for the pure enjoyment of doing so, but we need to be raising awareness of their wider benefits too,” she continued. Why do cultural experiences cut your risk of depression?
This is obviously a useful study to highlight as we all look forward to the new year and plan how to improve our lives. ‘Go out and enjoy more shows and museums’ is as easy and fun a New Year’s resolution as you’re likely to find. Now you know it’s more impactful than you probably suspected, too.
That raises the question of why.
“The researchers believe the power of these cultural activities lies in the combination of social interaction, creativity, mental stimulation and gentle physical activity they encourage,” explains the Cambridge Core blog.
This jibes with small, successful pilot projects in the UK and Canada that prescribed trips to the art museum to patients with anxiety and depression.
“There’s more and more scientific proof that art therapy is good for your physical health. We secrete hormones when we visit a museum and these hormones are responsible for our well-being,” explained Helene Boyer, vice president of the French Canadian medical association who was involved in the Canadian project.
Art outings don’t just spur us to produce different hormones. They also spur us to experience awe. And science also shows the feeling of being in the presence of something bigger than ourselves is a potent stress buster and all around mental health tonic. An easy, fun, and impactful New Year’s resolution
Whatever the exact mechanism that links more culture to less depression, the practical takeaway for entrepreneurs is simple.
You don’t need to blow your budget on tickets to the symphony. A trip to see your favorite local bar band or a free spin around a gallery work too. But if you want to cut your risk of depression in half next year, consider resolving to get out of the house and see some culture once a month this year.