Depressed? Swim
with dolphins
Dolphin Marine Experience for two £59
Dolphin Posters
Taking a dip with
dolphins can be a tremendous therapy for people with depression
according
to a study published on Saturday in the weekly British Medical Journal (BMJ).
Nature lovers - biophiles
to give them their
scientific name - have long argued that interaction with animals can
soothe a troubled mind but this claim has always been anecdotal
lacking
the scientific data to back it up.
Seeking to find out more
psychiatrists Christian
Antonioli and Michael Reveley at Britain's University of Leicester
recruited 30 people in the United States and Honduras who had been
diagnosed with mild or moderate depression.
The severity of their symptoms was calculated according
to established yardsticks for mental health
the Hamilton and Beck scales
which are based on interviews and questionnaires with the patient.
No antidepressants
The volunteers were required to stop taking any
antidepressant drugs and psychotherapy for four weeks.
Half of the group was then randomly selected to play
snorkel and take care of dolphins each day at an institute for marine
sciences in Honduras.
The other half was assigned to a programme of outdoor
activities
also at the institute
that included swimming and snorkelling
at a coral reef
but without the dolphins.
Two weeks later
both groups had improved
but
especially so among patients who had been swimming with the dolphins.
Measurable symptoms of depression in the dolphin group
had fallen by half and by two-thirds according to the two scales - twice
as much as in the non-dolphin group.
In addition
a self-rating measurement of anxiety
symptoms
the Zung scale
found a fall of more than 20% among the dolphin
group
compared with a decline of 11% among the non-dolphin groups.
"To the best of our knowledge
this is the first
randomised
single blind
controlled trial of animal-facilitated therapy
with dolphins
" say Antonioli and Reveley.
"The effects exerted by the animals were significantly
greater than those of just the natural setting. The echolocation system
the aesthetic value
and the emotions raised by the interaction with
dolphins may explain the mammals' healing properties."
