Internet review

Citation

(2007), "Internet review", Health Education, Vol. 107 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/he.2007.142107eag.001

Internet review

Is tree hugging a sound alternative to current treatments for depression and other types of mental ill health? Recent research commissioned by MIND, suggests that perhaps health education professionals should be paying more attention, if not specifically to tree hugging, then certainly to other forms of, what is becoming known as ecotherapy. Prescriptions for anti-depressants are rapidly increasing in the UK with over 31 million written last year at a cost to the National Health Service of more than £338 million. Ecotherapy, which might include anything from a walk in the park to working on a farm, is completely natural, has no unpleasant side effects (apart from standing in the odd cow pat!), and costs very little. But does it work? When self-esteem, depression and tension are examined, retail therapy comes a poor second to ecotherapy. An outdoor walk around a country park brings about significant improvements in these conditions compared with an indoor walk around a shopping centre. In this review we will highlight a few web sites that might be informative for health professionals who want to learn more about ecotherapy.

MINDwww.mind.org.uk/mindweek/report/

MIND, the UK based mental health charity, is involved in a number of ecotherapy projects aimed at improving the mental health of participants. The report that can be found in this web site, “Ecotherapy: the green agenda for mental health”, provides the user with interesting background to ecotherapy and describes a number of practical projects that examine the feasibility of ecotherapy as a way of dealing with mental health issues. Unfortunately the report is only available in PDF format and printing has been disabled, so if you want to look at this report you will have to do so online. There is a good executive summary that can be printed, but this lacks some of the more interesting detail.

The first case study describes a beachcombing project that was started in Pembrokeshire in 2004. None of these case studies is particularly complex, and in this example the report describes how a group of Pembrokeshire Mind clients get together once a month to help clean up the beaches in Pembrokeshire. These are people who would not normally have the motivation to get outdoors and do something that is quite physically demanding and they report that working as part of a group has social and psychological benefits.

Green Care projects involve a range of therapeutic interventions including horticulture and animal assisted therapy. Green gyms refer to local nature conservation projects that encourage outdoor physical activity. These projects might include the maintenance of footpaths, tree planting, or the establishment of community gardens. The whole point is to get people outside, working with others, on projects that benefit the whole community. The evidence for the psychological benefits of these projects, in terms of reducing depression, increasing self-esteem and confidence, is now starting to accumulate.

Green care farming, while common in the rest of Europe, is quite rare in the UK. In the European model, these projects have a number of small farms that work in partnership with health and social care providers. Patients or clients may be referred to a care farm for a day, a week or even longer. Participation in these activities is optional and farmers are paid for providing what is in essence a health service. Small farms that might not be economically viable are helped to survive by providing a service that benefits the physical and mental health of individuals.

It seems a pity that MIND has chosen to publish this report in the chosen format; it would have been much more accessible if published in the form of a web site. Despite this, for health educators who want to know more about the practicalities of introducing ecotherapy, the report that can be found here is a very good starting point.

Ecotherapywww.geocities.com/jmackey50/ecotherapy.htm

The World Health Organisation defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” and this is quite close to what this web site describes as the basis for ecotherapy. Ecotherapy is involved with the relationship between mental, emotional and spiritual health. The authors of this web site provide a philosophical basis for ecotherapy in terms of the relationship people have with the natural world. In essence the authors suggest that this relationship has become unbalanced and the role of ecotherapy is to help restore this balance and in so doing promote mental, emotional and spiritual health. For health professionals who are interested in some of the more esoteric aspects of health and healing this web site has a number of useful links and pointers to workshops and courses, though most are based in North America. The web site also has a useful reading list, although with titles like “Celebrating the Great Mother: A Handbook of Earth-Honoring Activities for Parents and Children” some users might find the content rather “off beam”. Nevertheless, as a starting point, and as a way of discovering something about the breadth of ecotherapy, this web site is quite useful.

When Things Fall Apartwww.whenthingsfallapart.com/index.html

This web site describes itself as “educational foundation dedicated to the exploration and development of human potential.” The foundation runs a number of courses including cognitive therapy, meditation, psychotherapy and ecotherapy. Although the web site is in effect an advertisement for the courses on offer, there are good summaries of the different therapies and the account of ecotherapy is particularly good. As well as providing some basic information on ecotherapy, users can also take an eco-colour test and an eco-quiz. The eco colour test is in fact the Stroop test that may be familiar to some users particularly if they have a psychology background. In this test the user is presented with the names of colours that have been printed using different coloured inks. So for example the word “Green” might be written with yellow ink, or “Red” written in black ink. Users are encouraged to read out the list of colour words as best they can and then to look at an interpretation of what they have done. It must be said that the interpretation goes far beyond what might be found in a cognitive psychology textbook. According to the authors the mistakes users make when taking the test is an indication of “the non-verbal voice of Nature … ” And by listening to this voice we will not only avoid many problems but we will “find our way to a more enjoyable life”!

The eco-quiz is basically a 24-item stress test with environmental overtones. For example you are asked if you spend more than 20 hours per day indoors, or whether you notice the birds singing. Answering “Yes” to more than ten of these questions is an indication that you are suffering from “nature-deprivation”. If you do score more than 10 you are advised to go to the “Just Ask a Tree” page. Scoring 18 I decided to find out what a tree might think so clicked on the link. Initially I thought I had arrived in the land of tree huggers with messages about re-bonding with nature and so on. However, scrolling down the page the user finds a list of suggested activities that do come very close to the guidance suggested by MIND as a result of their research. These suggestions included gardening, walks in the country, animal watching and a whole range of other calming outdoor pursuits. Certainly based on the findings of the MIND research it would be expected that many of the activities listed would have beneficial effects on mental health.

The design of this web site makes navigation easy, and the content is attractively presented and will be useful for many people with mental health problems as well as academics and health professionals.

The International Community for Ecopsychologywww.ecopsychology.org/

The International Community for Ecopsychology (ICE) suggests that at its core, ecopsychology is concerned with the relationship between planetary and personal well-being. If we look after the planet, the planet will look after us. In terms of informative content, this web site is rather limited, but what it does provide is a useful resource with links researchers, practitioners, journals and books. The books section is good in that it not only provides titles and authors, but it also includes useful summaries of the books’ content. The Explorations link takes the user to a list of researchers who are actively involved in ecopsychology research. For each entry there is a mini biography providing details of their research interests and publications. The reader will get a good sense of the interdisciplinary nature of ecopsychology from this list finding representatives from psychology, ecology, performing arts, tourism and counselling. The practitioners’ link provides details of professionals and organisations involved in ecopsychology. This is a worldwide database so most users should be able to find a practitioner close to home.

What is described as the ICE Journal is in reality more of a newsletter or magazine, rather than an academic journal. The “journal” contains lots of interesting essays, usually with a heavy philosophical leaning, but very little in the way of empirical research. For health professionals and academics this might be something of a disappointment.