Mental health and the environment

Being active and being outdoors can help lift mood, develop motivation, raise self-esteem, reduce stress, and improve mental health.  But for many people living with a mental health problem, access to these simple mood-boosters can be challenging.  To illustrate this point, we want to provide an in-sight in to how we find living with a mental health problem can act as a barrier to what, for many, are every-day activities.

If nature is so good for us, why don’t we get out more?!

As a group, our mental health problems have impacted significantly on our quality of life for many years.  We know that we are in the minority and that many people misunderstand mental illness.  Perhaps they think we should just ‘pull ourselves together’.  We wish we could!  When anxiety is high and mood is low, it is difficult to get out of bed let alone leave the house.  Stepping in to the outside world can exacerbate feelings of paranoia, anxiety and worthlessness.  We do not choose to feel this way and are always trying to find ways to manage the difficult emotions that we experience.  Sometimes we need medication and sometimes we need hospital treatment to control our symptoms, but what about living and enjoying life? 

We are all clients of a voluntary sector organisation Network for Change who provide support including a weekly timetable of groups and activities.  Because this service has been set up for individuals with a mental health problem, we know that we will not be judged and will be supported if we are struggling.  For many of us, this is our only social network and the only way we feel a sense of purpose to our days.  Network Nature Express aims to provide us with the same therapeutic benefit that the environment brings to others.  By visiting local green spaces on rambles and residential trips we get the chance to experience nature and use it as inspiration for art. 

Without groups like Network Nature Express we could easily become isolated and trapped in the difficult feelings associated with our mental health difficulties.  With this, there can be an increase in hospital admissions and exacerbation of symptoms.  So while these groups may not seem important to someone without experience of mental health difficulties, for us they are, at times, life savers.