‘Massive Boost of Serotonin!’: How a Dose of Nature Is Treating Mental Illness

“What you’ve got there from the sun on your face is a massive boost of serotonin!” says Alison Greenwood, founder of Dose of Nature, the charity successfully prescribing time outside as a treatment for mental health.

Greenwood is striding round Pensford Field, a tiny patch of wildness tucked behind houses in south-west London. The bright day is illuminating the early blackthorn blossom, gleaming off the pond where a heron watches tiny froglets and shadows of birch trees on a wood-chip path. “All these trees and plants are giving off phytoncides, and they’re good for your immune system too,” the former NHS psychologist says.

Dose of Nature has already delivered 1,500 one-to-one courses and is outperforming standard NHS talking therapies, boasting a recovery rate of 64% compared with the health service’s 50%, and a reliable improvement rate of 86% compared with 69%. Unlike most green social prescribing schemes, clients are referred directly by their GPs. “Our nature prescriptions are a genuine alternative to medication and more traditional psychological therapies,” Greenwood says.