03 June 2008 - Mental wellbeing is intrinsically linked to an individual’s relationship with the environment, Green MEP Caroline Lucas said yesterday as she addressed a conference hosted by a leading mental health charity.

Speaking at the MIND event in London, Caroline Lucas MEP highlighted the need to invest more resources in ecotherapy initiatives in order to address the mental imbalances in modern life.

She said: “In the western world, fifty years or so of economic growth and consumption have not only failed to deliver a society of people with high levels of wellbeing, they have undermined environmental protection and social cohesion. One in four people in Europe experience at least one significant episode of mental ill health during their lives [1].

“The idea that ‘buying stuff is good’ is peddled to us ruthlessly; we are told we need to keep buying more goods so that the economy can keep expanding. This relies on us believing we can never have enough material possessions.

“We are also encouraged to buy into the idea that our purchases define us, give us status and make us fulfilled individuals. Creating wealth as a nation appears to mean consuming more as individuals, and this is where the problems of greed, status anxiety, personal dissatisfaction, as well as social and environmental deterioration, arise.”

“Now, there is a growing body of evidence which suggests that green exercise and a reconnection with nature could significantly contribute to a person’s positive mental health.”

Research done by MIND in collaboration with the University of Essex into the mental health benefits of ecotherapy and green exercise shows that individuals can thrive if connecting with the natural world is a part of everyday life. The study compared a 30-minute walk in a country park with a walk in an indoor shopping centre for 20 individuals. After the country walk, 71% reported decreased levels of depression and said they felt less tense, while 90% reported increased self-esteem.

This was in contrast to only 45% who experienced a decrease in depression after the shopping centre walk, after which 22% said they actually felt more depressed. Some 50% also felt more tense and 44% said their self-esteem had dropped after window-shopping at the centre.

Caroline Lucas continued: “While this is nothing new in itself, the impact of green exercise has been found to be so significant that MIND suggests it should be recognised as a clinically valid treatment for mental ill health.

“Given that over 31 million prescriptions were written for anti-depressants last year, a 6% increase on the previous year, the Health Service needs more effective and more holistic alternatives to solving our crises of wellbeing. While green exercise and ecotherapy may not, of course, always be appropriate in dealing with incidences of mental ill health, and may not be a suitable replacement for drugs, they could help to offer a way forward in achieving better health, improved job satisfaction, and better relationships with friends, family and community.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

[1]http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P6-TA-2006-0341+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN&language=EN John Bowis report adopted by EP in 2006

To find out more about MIND, please visit http://www.mind.org.uk/.