Should Doctors Start Prescribing Outdoor Therapy for Recovering Addicts?

The Benefits of Outdoor Therapy for Recovering Addicts

Outdoor therapy for recovering addicts can include quite a few different things within the category.  It can embrace activities such as rafting, hiking, rock climbing, or other such outdoor endeavors.  While these may merely seem like leisurely or recreational activities, the reality is being outside, in general, has been shown to have excellent benefit in the realm of several different types of psychological and physiological conditions.  In fact, according to an article from OutsideOnline.com regarding a study of rafting trips being used for veterans with PTSD, “The three-year study, currently under review by several academic journals, corroborated Keltner’s lab findings and showed that veterans experienced a 35 percent decrease of PTSD symptoms after a single two-day rafting trip.”

The benefits displayed beg the question, should outdoor therapy be prescribed for addicts?  Many different programs provide this type of therapy as a treatment for addiction already at this time.  Some are specialized purely in outdoor therapy, while others just offer it as a component of their program.  So, with it already being embraced in many treatment centers, as well as proving itself beneficial in addiction treatment and other conditions, it seems there should be more support from professionals within this realm.

Many medical and psychological professionals consider that there is just not enough well-grounded research done upon it to establish it as a founded form of therapy.  Since vast amounts of research need to be done to completely validate this as an addiction treatment form in the medical realm, it may be a bit before it reaches this level.  A lot of research is being done that shows promise toward this direction.

Outdoor therapy for recovering addicts is becoming a common recommendation and very well may be what we need to turn around the mass amount of pills being prescribed for a gamut of conditions.  When something as simple as outdoor therapy may be able to resolve the difficulties and struggles of an individual’s situation to some degree, fewer medications may be needed.  One day it may become commonplace for people to go to their doctors, be prescribed outdoor therapy, and have their insurance to cover the whole thing.  Apparently, this is a far-off idea at the moment, and further research needs to be done to solidify the benefits of outdoor therapy, though it is not a bad ideal scene for the future.