Sometimes, symptoms of depression could be cured with tickets to a soccer game — or at least, some doctors think so.
Labour MP for Stroud, Dr. Simon Opher, has teamed-up with the owner of Forest Green Rovers, Dale Vince, to offer patients in Gloucestershire the chance to attend National League side’s matches. Rather than antidepressants, Dr. Opher is testing offering social prescribing to patients with mild or moderate depression. He said that this is a “different way of treating mental ilness that doesn’t involve tablets.”
“Football clubs are in the centre of our communities and it’s a way of getting people who perhaps are a bit socially isolated back into the community and back chatting to people,” Dr. Opher told the BBC.
Previously, the doctor said he has prescribed activities like comedy or gardening, noting that “I think one of the problems in our society is we’ve lost that ability and a lot of people get quite isolated – which leads to depression.”
“Some people do have very severe mental health issues and do need medication and specialist care,” he told the publication. “What we’re aiming for here is people with moderate depression.”
The club is supplying the tickets for free for the pilot program, set to run all season starting with the home match against Yeovil on August 16.
