The need for mental health support
One of the things that many people forget, is that mental health, just like physical health is a part of each and everyone of us and we need to take care of it. Until you experience a set back with your mental health, or witness someone else do so, it can be overlooked, but actually, if your mental health takes a turn for the worse, it can be just as bad as a physical illness, if not worse.
Mental health gardening has a significant role to play in support of the NHS. It helps people progress after clinical therapies, reduces reoccurrence and prevents low mental wellbeing descending into problems requiring NHS intervention.
In any given year mental health is said to effect around 1 in 4 of us.
These problems aren’t always obvious, they can range from common conditions, such as depression and anxiety to those less common such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The reality is, mental health problems are a common human experience.
A total of 6,507 suicides were registered by coroners in the UK in 2018, up by 11.8% on the previous year according to the Office for National Statistics.
Importantly, it is possible to recover from mental health conditions, and many people do, even more serious conditions can be managed. Recovery is a journey and there are becoming more and more support options to aide you along the way.
A variety of overlapping terminology is used for nature based therapies. Muddy Fork doesn’t precisely follow any of the definitions of specific therapies, though we have much in common with all of them.
(Ecotherapy) has become more and more popular, a type of therapy which involves carrying out activities in an outdoor setting. Evidence is expanding and part of that evidence is that gardening really can benefit our mental wellbeing.
The Mental Health Journal* reported that gardening really can reduce stress and improve mood, with a reduction in symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Gardening can be used in combination with clinical therapies to help to support recovery and prevent re-occurrence.
* The Mental Health Journal’s report can be viewed here.
**Follow this link to read a very useful summary of nature based therapies “A review of nature-based interventions for mental health care“