Gardening and Mental Illness

Hi Amsterdam! Great blog. I am with you entirely on the therapeutic benefits of gardening. I believe that part of the reason that gardening is so helpful is that it 'forces' us to be 'in the moment' and 'mindful'. But that isn't all. Gardening is exercise, so it stimulates the endorphins. It's outdoor (mostly) so we gain sunshine (vit D) and fresh air for our lungs (hopefully!). Then there's the massive benefit of being 'at one' with nature and growth. There's so much to be gained by refamiliarising oneself with the earth, with the insects and with the miracle of the cycle of life and death. Then there's the amazing satisfaction that we gain from seeing our work come to fruition with fruit and veg, flowers and seeing a tree grow to maturity. And that's still not ALL! Colour! The therapeutic benefits of being up close with colours and enjoying the effects of them in different combinations etc. AND the creative aspect...designing a border that pleases you...overcoming challenges that present themselves, e.g. what to plant where, how to edge a border, how to make an area less time consuming to maintain....I could go on and on! :)))

This morning I watched The Beechgrove Garden on BBC2 and this included a section about young people with learning difficulties, benefiting from working in gardens. There is another episode on the same subject in next week's Beechgrove, BBC2 Sunday morning 21st May 2017 .. I hope this helps... today's Beechgrove was very interesting to view. They always include a variety of topics and maintain a happy atmosphere... great show.

Good to see that so many of us are recognising the mental and physical benefits of gardening and that the message is spreading! May it continue! ;)

I agree with you all, very good blog Amsterdam,I think you said it all Karen,I will check that prog. out Terrra sounds very good.

Your idea has certainly caught on here in New York. We call them community gardens. Abandoned lots are converted into beautiful gardens and used to introduced city folks to gardening. Princess Diana came to visit once and gave me a little wink. Many of the restaurants now have rooftop gardens. Can you imagine bees & butterflies on Broadway? It's happening! Everybody wins.

Amsterdam, I totally agree with you and find gardening a wonderful way to 'lose myself' if I'm not feeling very happy for whatever reason!

My OH often says I'm at my happiest when 'grubbing around' in the garden ... so true ... :o)

Agree with you completely. There's something very relaxing about working or pottering in the garden (although not so much when digging a huge area lol).

I have found myself getting very stressed and pretty down at the beginning of the year (work mainly). Escaping into the garden always proved to be relaxing and a mood lifter, even in winter when all I'm doing is planning.

Bathgate bees and butterflies on Broadway sounds fantastic. Would love to see it. We visited New York for thanksgiving a few years back. Love the city, such an amazing place. I was surprised just how big Central Park was.

I am convinced gardening keeps me sane. If I haven't had a few days out there I get restless and grumpy my OH says!

This is so so true, until 12 years ago, I worked as a nurse in a EMI (Elderly Mentally Infirm) assessment unit for the NHS back in Kent. This unit was a stand alone hospital purpose built. It was only single storey with a courtyard in the middle which had raised beds, a greenhouse and shed. I mainly nursed people with Dementia and a sad side effect of Dementia is some people can become very aggressive, mainly due to them being scared and not understanding what is going on around them. We found that taking them into the courtyard and doing a bit of gardening had a very calming effect. One of the reasons I left, was even though the unit was only 20yrs old, it was closed down , pulled down and houses built on the land. My old unit then was transferred to the main hospital with a cutting of beds. Gardening does really help!

Jen that must have made you so angry - how short sighted can you get? One of our town churches runs a gardening group for a local school for special needs pupils - its only small but produced various eatables that are sold in the church when there are enough.

I agree totally, gardening is very therapeutic. I am never happier than when outside in the fresh air enjoying watching and listening to the birds singing. The only downside is the sore joints from trying to do too much in one go. lol. But then when you get tired and sore bones it makes you sit and look and you can then appreciate all the hard work that you have put in. Hope I can keep gardening for lots more years, knees and back willing I shall. Great blog thanks. :O)

It did make me very angry Sue, one of the reasons I gave up nursing. Its a lovely idea what your church does and I'm sure the kids get so much from it.
Oliveoil, did make me laugh, think we have all been there, trying to do too much in one go :-).

There is a place a charity in Bedworth a small town by where I live that grows and sells for the hard of learning any one can go and plant up even the disabled yes it is theraputic unless you are digging hard difficult ground like above mentuoned as years ago I had two over grown allotment also my own back and front gardens my mothers and sons to to tend on my own I did mange to clear and plant the allotments.

Yes it is good for demenia it improves the brain if you continue to try working with things your not use to doing. My daughter works for tge mentally disabled and they do get violent all you can do is protect your self nothing else . My youngest daughter now also works in an infant school where they have raised beds for the children to plant why any of these projects get stopped I dont know as what does a packet of seeds cost and how far they go.
I know one person on this site was going into her local school to teach the children and plant but she was made to be the bad lady as the teachers resented her doing this shame on them.
As Bathgate says its taking off in New York there is a plot of land by me up my lane normally over grown but the butcher and farmer who owns it wont let any one have it which I can understand with his garden backing on to it. The council wanted it to build a relief road through it but lost the court case I would love to see it as a community garden for local children but I know locals would say not in my back yard of fear of attracting un desirable youths who would wreck it or use for other purposes like drugs which is now in every village town and city.

Gardening is definitely a help when times are stressfull, its so sad when the criminal element put people off allowing the spaces to be used, in case it attracts them, always better to see places being cared for rather than a dumping ground...

Well you are absolutely right, Amsterdam - there's nothing like being in contact with the soil to soothe the soul and the mind. That's how I first got into gardening in my 30th year - being married to a man suffering bi polar disorder nearly sent me mad too, and that's how I found out gardening was a salvation. Which rapidly became an obsession, and then my profession. I don't have my own garden now, only a balcony, but I still long for one, no matter how small. Despite my advanced years, I still tend two gardens for other people, simply because if I didn't, I'd never be able to work in a garden again.

I've never quite been able to explain it, but as soon as you get out there, you lose yourself and all your worries, stress and troubles disappear - I think its very grounding. I've had a troubled life, what with one thing and another, but then most of us do, don't we and I counted myself lucky that,although I was dealing with someone with a mental health problem, there but for the grace of god went I, I did not have to carry the cross of mental illness myself. I'm only sorry I could never persuade my ex husband to get involved in gardening. As he got older, there was nothing like that available for mental health patients, even though he thought he might be able to take an interest in his later years. Sadly, there's nothing at all available now, no activities for them at all, funding cuts, as he found when he tried to help himself by seeking something out recently at what used to be the Activity Centre at the local mental hospital. He is sadly, and to my shock and deep sorrow, now no longer with us - he killed himself three weeks ago, making up one of the increasing number of mental health patients who do this - British Transport police state that tube suicides used to be one a week, now its one or two a day, ,and almost all are mental health patients. We are in a sorry state when it comes to mental health assistance, and if there was more opportunity for people to be outdoors, with plants and soil, it would help - its a very healing thing to do, working in a garden, even if you do get aches and pains afterwards. I find I have to pace myself, little and often is best, otherwise the arthritis gets a grip.

Dearest Bamboo, my thoughts go out to you. What a sad state of affairs that your ex- husband could not access any therapeutic gardening relief. I am truly sorry for your loss. My brother over in Amsterdam suffers from bi-polar mental ilness and it has affected his life in so many ways. He's coming over to stay with us in a week to - guess what? Spend time with me in the GARDEN! He's helping me paint my summerhouse which will be put up next week. I have longed for this for years so I have a get away from every day madness to keep myself balanced, mentally healthy and enjoy my garden. I discovered gardening in my early thirties when my father died and my husband was at the frontline with the RAF. Somehow, digging in the soil made me feel connected and grounded and it was truly a lifesaver. Ever since it has been my saviour and I can not imagine living without a garden.

Well, Amsterdam, you and I found the same thing when gardening - a release of everything, I'm with you there. Thanks for your kind words... the whole family here is devastated, naturally enough, but actually, there was nothing therapeutic available at all for him, not even pottery and exercise,like there used to be. But he was getting old, like me, and beginning to get physical health problems too - who knows what drives someone on one particular day, one hour, to do such a thing, but it does happen. Bi polar is the most common mental illness other than depression, of course, and I'm sorry to hear your brother is afflicted. I hope you both enjoy his stay.

Dear Bamboo,my thoughts and sympathies go out to you at this sad time,I am also sorry your ex husband could not get the help he needed.Gardening for me is a life line,we have lost three of our family to mental illness,and gardening helps get me through this.

You never know what's going on in people's lives do you, Callie - I'm sorry you've had experience of mental illness in your family, and that its had such a dramatic impact. Keep gardening is my advice, if you can, its the only thing that takes the edge off for me at the moment.

Thank you Bamboo,I do feel better in the garden,and I am glad it is helping you at the sad time,take care and best wishes.Callie.

:-)