Mental illness is becoming one of the biggest health issues in American society today. One in five people you encounter has some form of mental illness whether they like to admit it or not. A lot of people with mental illness don’t get the help they need because they’re embarrassed and feel shameful of their illness. I was one of those people for the longest time. I’ve dealt with both anxiety and depression at different times in my life. I’ve been to intense therapy and currently take Paxil for my Generalized Anxiety. One thing that has been a huge help in my path to getting back on track is staying in touch with nature. Sometimes a simple walk or a run through the woods clears my mind and eases my anxiety more than a pill. I feel that the great outdoors really can be the best medicine for both anxiety and depression.
Too often people turn to antidepressants for helping their anxiety and depression. One in 10 Americans now takes an antidepressant medication (Rabin). People are finding that …show more content…
A new form of therapy called Ecotherapy has made a large impact on depression thus far. Ecotherapy uses a large amount of outdoor activities such as: walking, building, photography and fire building to improve psychological functions in the brain. A study done by the University of Essex compared the benefits of a 30-minute walk out in nature to a 30-minute walk in an indoor shopping center and the results of the twenty members included were amazing. After the country walk, 71 percent reported decreased levels of depression and that they felt less tense while 90 percent reported increase self-esteem (Denby). The indoor shopping center results on the other hand were completely different. Almost half of the people said they felt less depressed, and 22 percent said they felt more depressed. Half of the study also said their self-esteem dropped and they became tense while window
Too often people turn to antidepressants for helping their anxiety and depression. One in 10 Americans now takes an antidepressant medication (Rabin). People are finding that …show more content…
A new form of therapy called Ecotherapy has made a large impact on depression thus far. Ecotherapy uses a large amount of outdoor activities such as: walking, building, photography and fire building to improve psychological functions in the brain. A study done by the University of Essex compared the benefits of a 30-minute walk out in nature to a 30-minute walk in an indoor shopping center and the results of the twenty members included were amazing. After the country walk, 71 percent reported decreased levels of depression and that they felt less tense while 90 percent reported increase self-esteem (Denby). The indoor shopping center results on the other hand were completely different. Almost half of the people said they felt less depressed, and 22 percent said they felt more depressed. Half of the study also said their self-esteem dropped and they became tense while window