Could hopping on the Detroit Lions bandwagon be good for your health?

Detroit Lions fans hold up signs against the Los Angeles Rams during an NFL wild-card playoff football game, Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Rick Osentoski)

Experts say the success of the Detroit Lions this season is likely giving the mental health of fans a positive boost.

The fan base is seeing a deeper playoff run than it has in decades, with Sunday set to see the team play its first conference semifinal game since the 90s.

Clinical psychologist Mohsan Beg said the length of the wait makes the victory all the more sweeter for Lions loyal.

“A lot of people have been waiting a lifetime,” he said.

The high of a touchdown. The low of the other team scoring.

When watching a game, fans are put through a rollercoaster of emotions.

The highs made to feel even higher when you’ve not experienced them in so long, as with Detroit fans.

“This is pent up emotion,” Beg said. “So what's happening in your brain we know is a couple of things. There's this release of dopamine … So people are getting the sense of joy and pleasure and euphoria, much like listening to good music or going to a concert or having good meal, right, or a runner's high.”

“And then what else is happening,” he explained. “Sometimes you get this release of endorphins, so when you're jumping and shouting and yelling and all that energy … it results in a sense of excitement and then reduction of stress.”

“So you have all of this in that environment and the history, it can for some people become overwhelming,” he said.

Cameras at last Sunday’s game captured fans high-fiving, hugging strangers, and even sobbing over the win.

Fans like Aaron Wikaryasz, who went viral for shedding tears after the final touchdown.

“[People say] I can’t believe this guy is crying over football game, and that’s true,” Wikaryasz told WXYZ in Detroit.

Wikaryasz said his father was a diehard Lions fan, even buried in a jersey when he died in 2004.

“That’s funny to cry over a football game, but it was more than that,” he said.

Beg said the emotions and togetherness experienced by fans in these moments are healthy – especially in the typically gloomy days of winter and especially with an epidemic of loneliness this side of the pandemic.

“We know there's a whole problem with isolation and feeling disconnected from people and this is something that's really bringing the region together,” he said.

Even if you haven’t been a lifelong fan, Beg said there are benefits to hopping on the bandwagon.

“I don't think people have a choice, it happens naturally,” he said.