Why science says that surfing can soothe the soul
In song and prose, surfing has long been celebrated as a way to soothe the mind and invigorate the body. But scientific evidence has been limited.
Now the Navy has embarked on a $1million (U.S.) research project to determine whether surfing has therapeutic value, especially for military personnel with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression or sleep problems.
Researchers say surfing offers great promise as therapy. It is a challenging exercise in an outdoor environment; people surf individually or in groups; military surfers who are reluctant to attend traditional group therapy open up about their common experiences when talking to other surfers on the beach.
“Lots of times it becomes therapy under the guise of recreation,” said Helen Metzger, head of the health and wellness department at Naval Medical Center San Diego. “They talk about surfing and then it gets into things that are deeper than that, common experiences, common traumas.”
“For many of our patients, exercise is the best medicine, and exercise in the natural environment is even better,” said James LaMar II, a physician at the Naval Medical Center San Diego and a volunteer in the hospital’s surfing program. “Surfing is a way back to a healthy life, the kind of life they had before they were traumatized.”
The military saw a 65-per-cent increase in mental-health diagnoses among ac- tive-duty personnel between 2001 and 2011, according to a 2013 study done by the Congressional Research Service. Cases of PTSD increased by 650 per cent, according to the study, and more than 900,000 individuals were diagnosed with at least one mental disorder during that decade.
The Navy study, led by clinical psychol- ogist Kristen Walter, analyzes questionnaires answered by service members before, during and after a program of surfing one day a week for six weeks.
The first group of 14 active-duty Marines and sailors in the six-week surfing program all had shown signs of major depressive disorder, some with signs of PTSD, researchers said.
To the researchers, the initial results suggest that surfing can lead to a decrease in insomnia and feelings of anxiety, and a decline in an overall negative view of life and other symptoms of depression.
When the three-year study is complete, there will have been 118 participants in surfing groups and 43 in hiking groups.
Physicians in the military medical system and the Department of Veterans Affairs are hoping the study will prove that surfing is therapy, not just recreation.
“We all know it’s good; we can see it,” said Capt. Eric Stedje-Larsen, a pain management specialist who worked in the San Diego surfing program before being assigned to the Navy hospital in Portsmouth, Va.
“For some folks, there is nothing like it. But we need science to get the administrators on board.”