GET WELL IN THE GARDEN

DOCTORS can prescribe medicine, tell patients to lose weight and suggest that they exercise more, but how often do we tell them to spend more time outside? Probably not nearly as frequently as we should.

In this month’s Clinical Medicine journal of the Royal College of Physicians, Richard Thompson, the past president, writes of the increasing evidence that plants, green spaces and gardening benefit mental and physical health.

I would go a step further: spending time among nature can be transformative. Mr Thompson points to a Japanese study which found that looking at plants alters electrocardiogram readings (which check the electrical activity of the heart), improves mood and reduces pulse rate, muscle tension and blood pressure. I cannot think of a drug taken in isolation that could achieve this.

Green medicine — offering time in a horticultural environment, supervised by an occupational therapist — can be prescribed in certain areas.

But if faced with a depressed patient who wants a quick fix, the temptation may be to give them antidepressants rather than a spell at an allotment. And, sometimes, it takes time to be convinced of the benefits of such things.

Recently, I have learnt the term ‘forest bathing’, a translation of the Japanese phrase shinrin-yoku. It refers to being in nature to ease stress, boost energy and improve wellbeing.

In his article, Mr Thompson uses a statement I have come to paraphrase: if you want to be happy for a month, fall in love; if you want to be happy for a year, get married — but if you want to be happy for life, tend a garden.’