Being in contact with marine areas or other outdoor spaces with the presence of water can improve mental health, especially in people taking medication for chronic mental illness.
This is one of the conclusions of the first scientific study proposed to assess the effects of diving on mental health. It was carried out by Arnau Carreño and Josep Lloret, from the Chair of Oceans and Human Health at the University of Girona (UdG), and Mireia Gascon and Cristina Vert, from ISGlobal, Pompeu Fabra University and the Epidemiology and Public Health Networking Biomedical Research Centre (CIBERESP). It was published in October 2020 in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
The study was carried out in Cap de Creus and adjacent areas with 176 divers and a control group made up of 70 beach users. Divers did two dives after a short course to avoid negative environmental impacts, especially in gorgonians and corals, among other species.
Mood questionnaires showed that both divers and bathers experienced improvements after the activities and that there were no noticeable differences between the two groups. But it was found that the effects were more pronounced in people taking medication for chronic mental illness, which would therefore be the most benefited.
As the researchers said, more research is needed on the health impact of contact with what has been called Blue Spaces, which are defined as outdoor, natural or artificial spaces, where people can come into contact with water. They can therefore be coastal areas, but also rivers, lakes, artificial ponds and other places.
Test with cancer patients
The research carried out in Cap de Creus is part of a broader project of the Chair of Oceans and Human Health of the UdG. Within this project there is a pilot study described this year in the journal Atención Primaria, which in addition to the UdG involves primary care centers in Roses, Castelló d’Empúries, Tossa de Mar and Montilivi / Vila-roja, the Catalan Institute of Oncology, the Roses Cancer Foundation and Oncolliga Girona. The study includes two groups of cancer patients, without active disease, from Roses and Tossa.
The objective was to compare the effect of three interventions — walking along the coast, swimming and snorkeling (tube diving) — with non-intervention. Each participant did twelve sessions, four of each type, in the Natural Park of Cap de Creus or on the coast of Tossa.
The project was funded by an E-Health grant from the Official College of Physicians of Girona and a grant from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund to the GALP Costa Brava (Local Fishing Action Group).
The study has assessed, through epidemiological questionnaires, whether these activities can contribute to improving heart rate, blood pressure and sleep quality, and whether it also improves the well-being of cancer patients.
Another fact to check is whether there is a positive benefit gradient according to the degree of contact with the sea. That is, if the snorkel, for example, brings more benefits than walking by the sea.
The results have already been submitted to an international scientific journal for validation by independent experts.
Promote the Blue Recipe
Based on the results obtained, the basis for what is called the Blue Recipe would be established, which could be included in programs similar to the Green Presciptions that are developed in some countries, such as Scotland.
The Scottish Nature Agency has promoted the so-called Natural Health Service, which leverages this country’s valuable green heritage as a resource to address some health and well-being issues in a progressively aging population with more people with chronic problems.
But in the UK there are also Blue Recipe programmes, promoted by non-profits such as the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) or the Sea Sanctuary. And research centres and groups to study the benefits of blue spaces for health, such as the European Centre for Environment and Human Health at the University of Exeter.
Doctor Josep Lloret, marine and fishing biologist at the Institute of Aquatic Ecology of the UdG and director of the Oceans and Human Health Chair, comments to the 324.cat why so far far there have been far far fewer studies on health and blue spaces than on health and green spaces:
“On the ground, in general, studies of any kind are easier. At sea, the logistics are greater, especially when working with people who have suffered from an illness, some of whom had never done snorkeling, for example. Although in the first sessions for some people it took a while, they got used to it quickly.”
However, he adds that “there are studies carried out in the United Kingdom that, comparing blue spaces with green spaces, have found benefits for the well-being of people in general, but higher in blue spaces“.
For example, Scottish researchers at the Caledonian University of Glasgow published a study last year in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health showing that spending time in blue spaces reduces the risk of stress, anxiety, obesity, cardiovascular disease and premature death.
The authors found that the positive effects of blue spaces are consistent with those that several studies point to for green spaces. About the latter, as we said, there are many more. A recent one, made in Catalonia, shows that living less than 300 meters from a green area reduces by 16% the risk of having an ischemic stroke, the most common of strokes.
Other studies have been carried out by the Chair of Oceans and Human Health of the UdG. One was published in December last year in the Annals of Leisure Research and counts on the participation of researchers from the INEFC (National Institute of Physical Education of Catalonia) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
Based on interviews with 24 swimming monitors who work in the Natural Park of Cap de Creus or the Gulf of Roses, they concluded that non-motorized water sports, such as swimming, diving, kayaking, sailing or surfing, improve the physical and mental health of those who practice them.
(Source: www.costabravaports.com)
