Trial Report The Psychological Benefits of Forest Bathing in Individuals with Fibromyalgia and CFS/ME: A Pilot Study, 2023, Serrat et al

[hotblack]

Done!

Nice!

 

[MrMagoo]

Ha. I wonder if a Mediterranean forest has similar benefits to the Mediterranean diet? Seriously, there are all sorts of forest types sitting under that description of 'Mediterranean forest'. This study is of a 3 hour visit to just one of them.

No change in pain, and people who self-selected to walk in the forest reported having enjoyed the experience and meeting others with the same illness. Amazing.

I think the actual Mediterranean Diet includes white wine in low to moderate quantities. The benefits aren’t realised if you exclude the booze.

This is my new push-back on it being shoved down my throat. My previous “but before I eat I don’t swim in the med, and after I don’t walk up any hills or do manual work, in fact I’m just buying the herbs and veg from a large Tesco and trudging through the rain, do you think that might render it less effective?” Wasn’t working.

Forest bathing, sounds baths, why is everything a “bath” now?

 

[Hutan]

Blue zone forests perhaps? Can we get funding for a qualitative study of which forests promote the most wellbeing? It may involve travel to some rather nice locations…

I think the actual Mediterranean Diet includes white wine in low to moderate quantities. The benefits aren’t realised if you exclude the booze.

I think there is a potential treatment here: Mediterranean food picnics in a mediterranean forest

We could try sending UK based people with fibromyalgia to have a free and delicious lunch, with wine, on a Greek Island, ideally Icaria, the blue zone island. I'm pretty sure they will report, in a survey administered immediately after lunch, that they had a nice time and feel more friendly.

Then we just have to publish a paper, referencing this one endorsing the healing powers of Mediterranean forests, sort out the arrangements with a travel agent, decide how much to charge for the package and get marketing.

Actually, Icaria looks rather lovely. And there's the ruins of a temple to Artemis on a beautiful bit of coast, Artemis being, according to Wikipedia, the goddess of quite a number of things including healing of women and children. Yep, it's looking pretty good as a multi-disciplinary holistic treatment. I'd give it a go myself.

 

[rvallee]

Done!

Fits well with the "bad things are bad research" from so many studies that find, puzzled and baffled, that sick people are unhappy and they can't figure out why, because they can't conceive of the illness being real, despite pretending to.

Although, since the last few years of health care regression have seen the idea of prescribing walks in the forest and other nonsense, it doesn't really feel all that absurd to prescribe all-paid vacations to the Mediterranean. They can call it 'bathing' if they want to. Some of the psychobehavioral 'interventions' are even more expensive per person, and they don't even work.

 

[MrMagoo]

I think there is a potential treatment here: Mediterranean food picnics in a mediterranean forest

We could try sending UK based people with fibromyalgia to have a free and delicious lunch, with wine, on a Greek Island, ideally Icaria, the blue zone island. I'm pretty sure they will report, in a survey administered immediately after lunch, that they had a nice time and feel more friendly.

Then we just have to publish a paper, referencing this one endorsing the healing powers of Mediterranean forests, sort out the arrangements with a travel agent, decide how much to charge for the package and get marketing.

Actually, Icaria looks rather lovely. And there's the ruins of a temple to Artemis on a beautiful bit of coast, Artemis being, according to Wikipedia, the goddess of quite a number of things including healing of women and children. Yep, it's looking pretty good as a multi-disciplinary holistic treatment. I'd give it a go myself.

Will we be doing a full cultural appropriation trip then? Chuck in bit of yoga and mindfulness? Maybe some stoicism and Epicureanism?

 

[bobbler]

It's a shame really because they've taken something that could be lauded from a Maslow's needs perspective if they were saying 'enabling those who are really ill to be able to have the chance to get out into really nice nature whilst minimising the impact on them' and it was focused on providing support like the equipment and carers who could help someone pretty ill to be able to get a trip to just chill in eg a reclining wheelchair in a really nice forest (or something else suitably close, like a beach if they hadn't seen that for years but it was near)

But this sounds like how to make a good thing bad, by putting all these things on top like it can only be good if you then force-feed it being nonsense meditation on top as if that makes it acceptable 'as if that's medicine', which it isn't much as they want to kid themselves on the quality of their research, or yes yoga or exercise.

What's wrong with just letting people get a break in a forest and saying that's important in itself and if someone is too ill for it to be accessible then how do we understand that, take it seriously and think that's important in itself?

 

[shak8]

Will we be doing a full cultural appropriation trip then? Chuck in bit of yoga and mindfulness? Maybe some stoicism and Epicureanism?

Send Americans with FM to Costa Rica. (I've never been there.)
Nicoya Peninsula is a blue zone.

Slow forest bathing with sloth sightings promised, maybe tree climbing involved if sloths permit closer contact.


Just to say that flying at altitude in a plane--it's freezing cold. Opioids needed due to cold causing intense pain in FM.

While on the plane for an hour in May, I wanted a battery-operated heated jacket that hunters wear in the winter. But reviews are bad.

Need one to feel like a hot microwaved sack, with weight to it.

 

[hotblack]

enabling those who are really ill to be able to have the chance to get out into really nice nature whilst minimising the impact on them' and it was focused on providing support like the equipment and carers who could help someone pretty ill to be able to get a trip to just chill in eg a reclining wheelchair in a really nice forest

I had to reply as this whole post deserves more than a thumbs up. So well put @bobbler