Improving and maintaining woodlands in deprived communities is linked with reduced antidepressant and anti-anxiety medication use, research suggests.

People living in deprived communities are less likely to use medication for depression and anxiety if they have easy access to well-maintained woodlands, the study found.

Researchers at the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow analysed data from more than 129,000 people over five years.

The study is one of the largest analyses of its kind, assessing how investments in local woodlands in and around towns in Scotland affect people’s mental health.

Woodland areas

The researchers used NHS prescription records and census data to see whether people living within a 10-minute walk of an improved woodland area were more or less likely to be taking medication for depression or anxiety.

Woodland improvements had been supported through Scottish Forestry’s Woods In and Around Towns (WIAT) initiative, which provided funding for practical improvements such as new footpaths, better signage, and community events.

Reducing barriers

The initiative prioritised areas that were more socially and financially disadvantaged, where woodlands required improved management to reduce barriers and enable more local people to use and enjoy them.

People living in urban deprived communities that were close to a woodland area that had been made more welcoming and easier for people to use were 10 per cent less likely to be prescribed antidepressants and six per cent less like to be prescribed anti-anxiety medication, than those living further away.

Mental health outcomes

This was the case even when accounting for other factors linked to mental health outcomes, such as demographics and poverty. 

The benefit of living near these woodlands showed up for the same people even when their proximity to these woodlands changed. For example, when someone moved closer to an improved woodland, their need for medication went down.

By tracking the same individuals over time, the researchers say they can be more confident that it was the woodland improvements making the difference, rather than simply healthier or wealthier people happening to live in greener areas.

“The research provides stronger evidence on the mental health benefits of woodland improvements for local communities than was possible in earlier studies. It also shows that these benefits may contribute to reducing inequalities in health across the population.”

Professor Catharine Ward Thompson

“For the first time, we have an opportunity to link data on mental health services with a long-term national urban forestry intervention programme to offer the kind of evidence required to inform future forestry policy. Our results tell us that relatively modest investments in local greenspaces can make a real difference to people’s mental health. Nature-focused initiatives like Woods In and Around Towns (WIAT) can be a valuable tool to complement ongoing efforts to improve wellbeing and mental health.”

Dr Scott Ogletree

Nature-based interventions

Around one in eight people globally live with a mental health condition, and those in poorer communities tend to be hit hardest. At the same time, these are often the communities with the least access to good quality parks, woodlands, and greenspaces.

The researchers say that their findings make a case for integrating nature-based interventions into public health strategies, particularly in urban areas where greenspace can be limited and poorly maintained in certain neighbourhoods. 

Research partnership

The research team have worked with experts from Scottish Forestry and Forest Research for over 20 years to gather evidence on the social and health benefits that local woodlands can offer to communities, pioneering work on this topic within Europe.

“This groundbreaking study provides further compelling evidence of the benefits that local woodlands deliver for people and communities. The association between the investment in woods in and around Scotland’s towns and cities, and lower prescription use for depression and anxiety, highlights the importance of continuing to expand, manage and improve these valuable green spaces.”

Jim Fairlie, Minister for Agriculture, Marine and the Islands

The research used census data from the Scottish Longitudinal Study which tracks the lives and health of thousands of people in Scotland to help researchers understand what affects people’s wellbeing.

The study is published in The Lancet Planetary Health. 

The research was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the GroundsWell Consortium, a UK-wide research partnership funded by the UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKPRP), that studies how green and blue spaces, can improve health and reduce health inequalities.