Green Treatment For Mental Health

Country walks can help reduce depression and raise self-esteem according to new research, which has led to calls for “ecotherapy” to become a recognised treatment for people with mental health problems.

The study, titled Ecotherapy: the green agenda for mental health, is the first looking at how “green” exercise specifically affects those suffering from depression. According to Mind, a leading mental health charity, the research produced “startling” results, proving the need for ecotherapy to be considered as a treatment option.

The study, by a team at the University of Essex, looke dat the effects on a group of 20 members of local Mind associations of a 30-minute walk in a country park compared with a walk in a shopping centre.

After the country walk, 71 per cent reported lower levels of depression and said they felt less tense, while 90 per cent reported increased self-esteem. Only 45 per cent experienced a decrease in depression after the shopping centre walk, with 22 per cent saying they felt more depressed. Some 50 per cent also felt more tense and 44 per cent said their self-esteem had dropped.

The university also asked 108 people with various mental health problems about their experiences of ecotherapy. A massive 94 per cent said green activities had lifted depression, and 90 per cent said the combination of nature and exercise had the greatest effect.

Mind chief executive Paul Farmer said: “[Ecotherapy] is a credible, clinically valid treatment option and needs to be prescribed by GPs, especially when, for many people, access to treatments other than anti-depressants is limited. We’re not saying that ecotherapy can replace drugs but that the debate needs to be broadened.”