Recreation – A Non-Medicinal Therapy against Mortality
Jude Chikezie Nwakamma1; Okechukwu Chijioke2; Nwanesi Okechukwu3; Jubril Oseni4
1,2,3&4Department of Human Kinetics & Sports Studies, Alvan Ikoku Federal University of Education, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria
Abstract: The basic premise of this study is that regular participation in organized recreational activities provides a non-medicinal therapy against mortality. The study considers participation in recreation as contributing to the enhancement of high level wellness concept of health of the citizens. Recreation is defined as those activities in which individuals take part during leisure times and are motivated by the satisfactions derived from the experience. Its roots are deeply embedded in the social and conservation movements of the late nineteenth century. Its history parallels that of public education and public welfare. In an age of advanced technology, man’s physical work has been reduced to the barest minimum. He is daily suffering from tension, anxiety, high blood pressure and nervous break-down. These debilitating and degenerative diseases result in high mortality rate among our population. Participation in recreation is seen to offer a non-medicinal therapy against mortality. It achieves this through providing activities that are used as techniques to achieve desirable goals. Participation in recreational activities improves and maintains physical and emotional health, satisfactory adjustments to the social order in adult life, instills ethical concepts and promotes informal educational and cultural growth. Participation builds character, instills values and provides information and teaching. It is a means of breaking down the monotony of poverty, providing amusement and diversionary experiences, reducing tension and providing therapeutic and socializing force for growth and all ages of our population.
Conclusion: Nigerians are finding it very difficult to adjust their nervous tensions and their emotions to the seemingly fast pace they are living in modern day. The political and economic uncertainties are placing a lot of strains and stresses on the wellness of the citizens. The Nigeria’s former leading killers were pneumonia, influenza, tuberculosis and diarrhea. Today, the order has changed to heart attack, high blood pressure, intracranial lesions, nervous break-down and arthritis. The therapy to all these maladies lies in participating in regular recreation which is a non-medicinal therapy against mortality. Medical experts and AAHPER experts have shown that participation in recreational activities provides ample opportunities for enhancing high level wellness among the citizenry. Such citizens will now live longer, productive and meaningful lives.
Keywords: Recreation, Non-Medicinal Therapy, Wellness, Physical Activity, Mental Health, Mortality, Quality of Life