A walk in the woods can be beneficial for all of us. For many it may even improve mental health

In May 2016 the Canadian Mental Health Association, Windsor-Essex County Branch (CMHA-WECB) launched a Mood Walks program for individuals in the Early Intervention Program. The program is being offered at 40 agencies across the province with an aim of getting young people with mental illnesses out of the hospital and into the outdoors.

Staff from the Early Intervention (EI) program are leading guided walks for youth aged 13 to 24 for 12 weeks through until October. The walks are free to EI clients and are done at Ojibway Parkway. They are an hour to 90 minutes in length.

On any given week there are six to eight participants who have given positive feedback about the walks.

“Clients state that at the end of the walk they are happier and more energetic, and their anxiety level has decreased,” says Cynthia Brown, Occupational Therapist, CMHA-WECB.

One client stated, “It’s impossible to walk in the woods and be in a bad mood at the same time!”

The Early Psychosis and Intervention Program provides early identification, assessment and treatment for individuals experiencing first-episode psychosis. The focus of this program is upon minimizing the impact of disruption to a young person’s functioning and to enhance psychological and social development.

Recently the Johansen-Larsen Foundation Board of Directors donated a $1,000 grant in support of the Mood Walks at CMHA-WECB. Marianne Larsen, President of the Foundation will be in Windsor on Wednesday, July 20 at 10:45 a.m. at Ojibway Parkway to present the cheque. These funds will be used to offset expenses associated with the Mood Walks program.

Often times the walks help youth reconnect and shift the focus away from their problems. A 2015 Stanford-led study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, found a 90 minute walk in a nature setting, as opposed to an urban setting, showed ‘decreased activity in a region of the brain associated with a key factor in depression.