Beyond Pills Campaign: Dr William Bird on the impact Green Social Prescribing can have.

Reading GP Dr William Bird, the College of Medicine’s Nature Lead and a pioneer of Green Social Prescribing, talks to Sarah Stacey about the healing power of nature for every age group…

Think of the shapes, colours and sounds of nature: softness, curves, greens, blues, golds, dancing gleams of light on water, froths of pale blossom, bird song and burbling streams or splashing crashing waves – often long views to woods, lakes, hills under a big sky.

Now think of modern built-up landscapes: mostly shades of grey, with implacable lines, hard surfaces and high walls. It’s no wonder which environment our millennia-old brains respond to best.

“Being outdoors in nature is comforting and restorative,” says Dr William Bird MBE, a pioneer of what’s now called Green Social Prescribing and a supporter of our Beyond Pills Campaign.

Green Social Prescribing: Dr William Bird was an early passionate advocate of the power of nature to benefit health, a concept now recognised by the Government (Image: Pixabay/StockSnap)

“It goes straight to the autonomic nervous system (ANS). While hard unyielding shapes and surfaces cause a stress response – ‘there’s something wrong here’ – when we go back into natural surroundings, everything shifts round and the brain de-stresses and feels safe again.’

Green Social Prescribing is recognised by the Government, which says ‘The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of being outdoors to people’s mental and physical health’. Seven sites were chosen and funded as pilot studies to research how nature can be used to improve mental health and wellbeing. Reviews are due this summer. 

Dr William Bird pictured speaking at a College of Medicine event; the Reading-based GP says being in nature can help reduce negative thoughts

“When you feel negative or low,” Dr Bird continues, “and you go out for a walk in a green and/or blue space – whether to your local park or somewhere wilder, even wandering round your garden deadheading flowers – a lot of your problems fall away.

This reduction in negative rumination is because nature provides positive distraction away from ‘self’, which is a traditional method used to reduce negative thoughts. You could see it as a form of mindfulness.”

He points out also ‘the absence of visual cues of advertising and urban social hierarchy, which can trigger feelings of inadequacy’. (1) 

As a family GP in the 1990s, Dr Bird set up the first Health Walk scheme, followed by giving his patients prescriptions for Green Gyms. The combination of contact with nature and companionship are, he discovered, major drivers of keeping people active. The benefits of exercise are recognised by NHS England as ‘the miracle cure we’ve all been waiting for’. (2)

“Our evolutionary survival instincts are intrinsically connected to finding shelter, water and food – so most of us subconsciously feel safe when we’re near those natural resources,” he says. Even the high pitched notes of birdsong are proven to be inherently relaxing and reassuring, compared to low sounds like the roar and rumble of traffic, which your evolutionary brain perceives as signaling predators on the prowl. (3)

For some adults, however, being in nature is far from a benign experience. According to Dr Bird, this is usually because they have not grown up with a relationship to nature.

“Sometimes creating this for an adult is as simple as having a picnic and a few beers in a local park,” he suggests. “But ideally we need to give children the chance to have that immersion from the earliest years up to the critical age of 12, according to research. They need to pull on welly boots and make mud pies in puddles and dig for wriggly worms with sticks. To build dams and collect tadpoles in a jar. To climb trees and splosh through streams. As they get older, they can join in groups walking, running or hiking, ore get involved in bird watching or forest bathing.” (4)

The nation’s schoolchildren have been encouraged to walk to school – tapping in at certain points with a card as they go – in the Beat the Street scheme, which Dr Bird helped devise

Converting a tarmacked schoolyard into a green space, perhaps with a garden or vegetable patch, has been shown to help stop bullying. In the former, bullies dominate, often forming gangs, whereas putting children into a natural environment stimulates the creative children to come out on top and bullying drops. There is a clear correlation between children being outside and greater resilience to disease and depression, as well as improvements in behavior for ADHD and autism. (5)

Interestingly, research shows that teenagers find nature important as a refuge. “There’s a lot of evidence that teens will go to a river or hillside, often on their own, to sit and contemplate away from miserable parents and horrible school. They feel comforted, almost safe and that there’s something bigger and separate from a situation in which they may feel judged, bullied or found wanting.” (6)

For older people with dementia, there’s evidence that helping them go into a garden helps to reduce agitation and become calm. (7) 

I also know from a local prison governor in Dorset, he says, that having access to a garden with rescue animals soothes elderly inmates with mental health problems. Young offenders who have grown up in urban environments with little or no access to green or blue space derive significant benefit from the Parachute Regiment’s Airborne Initiative, which provides a five day residential course on Dartmoor aimed at reducing reoffending.

Two things Dr Bird is adamant about: firstly, ‘not being preachy – we mustn’t be the “We Know Best Brigade”. People need to find their own way – we can just signpost opportunities’. And secondly, these opportunities should be routed in the community and accessible via non-medical routes. “Of course it’s great if a social prescribing link worker suggests options but we also need people to be able to go straight to community groups to connect with nature.”

From his starting point in the 1990s with ‘more traditional’ health walks and green gyms – not, incidentally, recommended by his GP colleagues at that point – Dr Bird came up with the concept of empowering people by creating a free fun game for all ages and stages.

Taking place in a particular location over a period of weeks, Beat the Street turns towns into ‘giant games’ where people can get out of restricted environments and walk, run, cycle or even scoot to discover more options in their own neighbourhood.

In towns where Beat the Street takes place, 98 per cent of schools participate and, during the past six years, over 800,000 children have been encouraged to be outside in nature through the game. Teachers and parents are encouraged to take up the challenge and lead children to local parks and green spaces.

Over his 30 years as a ‘very happy GP’, Dr Bird has concluded that ‘for many chronic conditions, modern healthcare at best just delays the progress of disease – at worst it has no impact other than causing side effects and a lifelong dependency on healthcare. Connection to nature, however, can reduce chronic stress, increase social connections and increase physical activity. All of these can prevent and/or limit the progress of many diseases, outside the healthcare system.’

Footnotes:

1. Rethinking Rumination https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26158958/
2. Benefits of exercise https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/exercise-health-benefits/
3. Natural sound facilitates mood recovery https://pennstate.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/natural-sound-facilitates-mood-recovery
4. Emotional Affinity toward nature as a motivational Basis to Protect Nature https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1999-10622-002
5. Physical Activity and Social Behaviors of Urban Children in Green Playgrounds https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30772148/
6. Mental health benefits of interactions with nature in children and teenagers: a systematic review;  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29950520/
7. Effectiveness of Therapeutic Gardens for People with Dementia: A Systematic Review https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8469939/

Article Source: https://collegeofmedicine.org.uk/beyond-pills-campaign-dr-william-bird-on-the-impact-green-social-prescribing-can-have/

Life Span Vs. Health Span

Life Span vs. Health Span - You may have heard of these two terms and wonder what the difference is. Living well and long: Are they the same? Can we do both?

Living a longer life does not necessarily mean a better life. New research has changed our concept of aging. Instead of worrying about how long we live - our life span - we now place emphasis on our "health span."

Ideally our health span (that functional, disease-free period of physical, mental and emotional health) should equal our life span. But, statistics show our health has steadily declined since World War II with over 50 percent of adults suffering one chronic illness or condition while others suffer multiple conditions.

It's obvious that advancements in medicine and technology have increased overall lifespan, but the achievement of extending our health span is still lagging.

For example, let's look at the villain cancer, the second leading cause of death in the world. Even though billions of dollars has been spent on research cancer is just as deadly now as it was 20, 30 or even 50 years ago.

The average person has a one-in-two chance of getting cancer and a one-in-three chance of dying from it. Three quarters of the population find themselves in this category already and sadly these figures are expected to soar as the number of overweight and obese people climbs to unprecedented levels.

The reality is, even with more drugs, more hospitals and more nursing homes available many people still suffer more than their parents did at a similar age.

To live with a life span that does not match one's health span is very expensive and a much less attractive option. If along with those extra years of life, life to years is to be added, experts agree the next chapter in medical advancement will need to be as much about "lifestyle as medicine"

This is wonderful news as it means we do have a lot of control and can structure our lifestyle to ensure our health span does indeed match our life span.

A huge part of being healthy is about removing the risk around getting these killers. To lower the likelihood of developing modern "lifestyle chronic diseases" like diabetes, heart disease and cancer along with many hundreds of others, a healthy lifestyle should start in childhood and last throughout adulthood

So, what can we do to increase our health span?

It is now becoming evident that adherence to healthy lifestyle choices like proper exercise, healthy eating (REAL food) and other healthy lifestyle elements like stress management, quality sleep and healthy doses of sunlight is the formula necessary to obtain a comparable increase in "health span."

A focus on lean body mass which is the amount of lean muscle tissue we have is vitally important and many of us fail to understand that our muscles go far beyond mobility.

Increased muscle mass helps slow the aging process, improve our functionality, and enhance our quality of life. Unfortunately, our modern increasingly sedentary world does not offer enough "work" for our muscles to remain strong. We literally sit for most of the day and do not get enough muscle- building and maintaining activity.

The only way to assure we do get enough of the right activity is to add intentional strengthening exercise into our lives and never stop doing them no matter how old we are, or we get.

Muscle health protects against metabolic and hormonal decline, insulin resistance, obesity and increased risk of fractures. When neglected it will limit health span.

Lean body mass is the MOST important biomarker because it hugely influences many other biomarkers such as basil metabolic rate, overall body strength, bone density and brain health.

If we ignore these issues and do nothing about them, sarcopenia - the serious loss of muscle mass and strength - sets in.

Toned, strong muscles maintain optimum blood sugar levels, boost heart strength and immune system health, keeps bones and joints healthy, and enhances cognitive function while slowing the aging process.

Given the metabolic and biological importance of healthy muscle mass, allowing degradation of this system through inactivity particularly as we get older can set the stage for a significant health crisis.

In short, once muscle tissue loss sets in, health is on a slippery downhill slope, triggering unhealthy body composition (muscle/fat ratio) changes, loss of physical energy and vitality, increased tendency to gain excess weight, increased vulnerability to disease and accelerating the aging process.

When strength is lost, the loss of independence also disappears and we become too frail to move around unassisted in order to take care of ourselves. A condition many of us have seen with our parents and grandparents.

Partaking in strengthening exercise (not cardio-type activity) defined as slow, direct controlled loading of the muscles through their ranges of movement under with adequate resistance is the key to rebuilding lost muscle mass and strengthening or maintaining it.

Moral of the story: Every lifestyle choice we make has a direct impact on our health now, and in the future.

Decide today to become passionate about increasing your own health span for a long AND healthy life.

It's not so much about years of life, but about life in years. A long life with a high burden of chronic disease is not a good thing if it means more time is spent living with illness and disability.

Carolyn Hansen -Your Go To Health & Fitness Specialist

"I help clients take charge of their health before circumstance removes the option. If your quest for a life of true physical and mental well-being is a journey I'll put you in the driver's seat."

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10526535

Exercise, Physical Activity and Mental Health

 

Exercise and physical activity play a crucial role in both maintaining one's mental health condition and in recovering from a mental illness. Breaking research indicates that exercise actually produces a chemical that stimulates the growth of brain cells, thus allowing for recovery from sever substance abuse disorders. Furthermore, physical activity and mental health recovery coincide in fostering a social network and encouraging self-reflection, both of which are crucial on the path to mental health recovery.

The human mind evolved in an environment which required it to travel over twelve miles daily. And no, that drive to work in the morning does not count...but that would make things easier, no? This evolution was due to survival instincts when humans migrated from the jungles into the flatlands. Humans also developed an adrenaline reaction which both encouraged movement and triggered immediate learning reactions; as Doctor Carl Clark from the Mental Health Center of Denver once stated, when early man saw that saber-tooth tiger charging out of the brambles, the neurons must have been firing pretty fast to teach them to stay away from the bushes next time...that is assuming their get away was fast enough to allow for a next time!

This adrenaline rush encouraging learning has become neutralized by the flow of activities in modern western societies, wherein the normal individual is seemingly on a constant, albeit generally unnoticed, adrenaline rush. Consequently, stress levels have continuously been on the rise, consequently decreasing the rate at which an individual learns when in a compromising situation, thus decreasing mental wellness levels.

Physical activity is a huge aid to mental health in the fact that exercise allows for a stress outlet, thus decreasing day-to-day stress, while creating functional adrenaline for the mind. In reality, physical activity is important for mental health due to its role in creating Brain Derived Neurotropic Factor (BDNF), which is a key factor in the creation of brain cells. The myth of the old days is past; you know the one, where once your brain cells are gone they are gone. Well such is not the case, physical activity and exercise can increase BDNF levels and allow the re-growth of brain cells, consequently making physical activity immensely important for mental illness recovery.

Exercise and mental health further coincide in regards to the alarming statistic that people with mental illnesses, on average, die 20 years sooner than mentally healthy individuals. While there are many factors that go into this involved in substance abuse risk factors, two considerations that one would be remiss to ignore is the fact that those suffering from mental illnesses have a tendency to stagnate and become physically inactive. This has resulted in a large percentage of mental health consumers being considered overweight, which can ultimately result in adult onset diabetes. Diabetes is very dangerous in sedentary individuals who, in a depressant state, care little about taking care of themselves, for such a medical ailment can result in numerous health related issues, some of which can be very serious.

Physical activity and mental illness recovery are highly correlated. In some of the most successful recovery-based treatment facilities one will find strong proponents of mental health consumers engaging in physical activity. These activities also subsidize the development and formation of a support network populated by individuals interested in similar hobbies. Furthermore, exercise can often be a form of active meditation, and as practitioners of Dialectic Behavioral Treatment (DBT) can profess, meditation, including meditation absent any religious connotations (whether it be active or seated), drives self-reflection which is crucial to mental health recovery; for more information on the importance of self-reflection, you can access my article on Spirituality and Hope in Mental Health.

Stay physically active, exercise and mental wellness are highly correlated. Exercise is one of the best ways to prevent the development of serious mental illnesses, and is also one of the most effective treatment plans. Stay active, stay healthy, stay happy.

For more research on mental health, behavioral disorders, substance abuse, psychographics, childhood mental illnesses, childhood resiliency, adolescent mental illnesses, and adult recovery, access MHCD's Research and Evaluation's publication page [http://www.outcomesmhcd.com/pubs/publications.htm].

- Lex Douvasa

Information Systems Researcher and Data Mining Mental Health Researcher

For an open discussion on mental healthcare recovery, what it means for mental healthcare consumers, and what it means for mental healthcare practioners, along with the differences implicitly underlying a recovery based approach, access the Mental Health Recovery Blog.

Stay healthy, stay happy!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2619737

Exercises and Workouts - Three Ways Exercise Benefits Your Mental Health

If you are planning on becoming healthier and improve your overall well-being, it should come as no surprise to know exercise is one of the most critical factors for your success.

However, what many people do not realize is exercise also boosts brain health. It is going to do so much more for you than help ensure you can keep your weight in a healthy range and protect your heart. It will also keep your mind sound as well.

So, how can exercise improve your psychological well-being? Let us look at some of the ways it helps you achieve this...

1. Reduced Stress. Like many other risk factors that may contribute to Type 2 diabetes or heart disease, we are now exposed to far more stressors than earlier generations have been. Stress is naturally something that can get you down, leading to burnout, feelings of depression, and anxiety. If not controlled, it could also lead to weight gain because you are not keeping your cortisol levels in check which can promote fat storage around the abdominal region.

Lowering your stress level is easy when you exercise. You will get the release of positive "feel-good" endorphins, which will help give you a boost and ensure you are feeling calmer and more in control of your situation.

2. Greater Self-Confidence. When you exercise regularly, you can also notice improvements in your self-confidence levels as well. You will see what you can achieve with a little time and effort, and this can help you move one step forward on your pathway to success. When you are gaining confidence in your abilities to exercise, you will also gain confidence in other areas of your life. To achieve this, it is vital to employ an exercise program that helps ensure you are progressively challenging your body so you can see continual improvement taking place as well.

3. Improved Memory. Exercise will also help to boost your mental health and enhance your memory abilities: this is one factor many people do not realize. When you exercise, your hippocampus begins to grow, and this is the area associated with improved memory.

If you are finding yourself a little forgetful lately, adding a little more exercise to your plan may be just the thing you need to resolve this.

Hopefully, now you can see how many benefits exercise will bring to the table. It 's well worth putting some extra time and attention to carving out a spot for training in your week. Your health depends on it.

Although managing Type 2 diabetes can be very challenging, it is not a condition you must just live with. Make simple changes to your daily routine - include exercise to help lower both your blood sugar levels and your weight.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10080043