Danielle McGinlay (Photo - Graeme MacDonald) BOSSES at the National Park are throwing their weight behind efforts to promote nature as a way of helping boost people’s mental wellbeing after lockdown. As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, which ran until Sunday and which this year has a ‘nature’ theme, the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority is sharing stories from people who have benefited from feeling more connected to nature thanks to the area’s spectacular surroundings. One person who has embraced that to the full is Danielle McGinlay, a member of the Taking The Plunge group which has discovered the benefits of cold water swimming in Loch Lomond as a way of improving mental wellbeing.
National Park urges locals to get out into nature and improve mental health
The Mental Health Foundation found that green spaces were viewed as important for improving people s mental state - but that access was proving increasingly difficult.
Danielle McGinlay from West Dunbartonshire has taken up wild swimming in the National Park as part of her effort to improve her mental health
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IT is the mental health salve that many Scots have turned to during the pandemic. With increased numbers of people suffering with anxiety, stress and depression, nature has offered solace to those struggling through the crisis. Local cold water swimming group, Taking The Plunge, have used the natural waters of the various lochs and streams in the area to take in nature - and the health boosting effects of cold water immersion. And as we head into this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week, it is the beauty of our natural surroundings that will take centre stage. In a new report, Nature: Mental Health Awareness Week 2021, the Mental Health Foundation Scotland will call on the Scottish Government to introduce a Green Spaces Strategy to guarantee safe and accessible green spaces for all.
It is the mental health salve that many Scots have turned to during the pandemic. With increased numbers of people suffering with anxiety, stress and depression, nature has offered solace to those struggling through the crisis. And as we head into this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week, it is the beauty of our natural surroundings that will take centre stage. In a new report, Nature: Mental Health Awareness Week 2021, the Mental Health Foundation Scotland will call on the Scottish Government to introduce a Green Spaces Strategy to guarantee safe and accessible green spaces for all. The call is backed by a new survey which shows that while nearly two thirds of adults in Scotland say being close to nature improves their mood, one in ten find it difficult to access.