How Wilderness Therapy Helps To Deal With Depression?

1. How Wilderness Therapy Helps To Deal With Depression? Depression, a serious threat which starts from teenagers till adults and can be with them throughout their life. Living a life with depression is very difficult as a person is not at constant peace when they are under depression. Starting from the teenage, an individual has to take numerous important decisions that affect their lives to a great extent which is one of the main reasons for depression. Moreover, the things that occur in the personal and social life of a person can also lead to depression. It is very important to treat depression so that an individual can lead a normal life. There are several ways through which one can deal with depression but the increasingly popular among all is the wilderness therapy program. The wilderness therapy program has developed in the past decade and is popular due to its ability to assist young adults in overcoming their mental health issues. The wilderness therapeutic programs consist of different wilderness therapies to treat individuals according to their age group and as per their mental situation. There are two different wilderness programs that are mainly in accordance with the age groups. The wilderness program for troubled teens and wilderness program for troubled youth are the two programs that are offered to help the individuals come out of depression. The main aim of these wilderness programs is to make sure that the individuals that are a part of these programs can relax and forget the stressful daily routine life for a few days. The teens, as well as the youth, are taken far away from the city life into nature which allows them to relax and get to know other people who are facing similar issues. The troubled teens and youth can get help from the experts that are there and can also seek help from other individuals. The practices that are followed at these wildernesses therapeutic programs include outdoor activities, adventure therapy, mental and physical activities, etc. These activities allow a person to concentrate on the tasks that are given to them and to enjoy the nature around them. The benefit of the tasks is that it does not create a liability upon them to complete it perfectly. Moreover, they have to work in groups for

2. the completion of tasks which allows them to easily work as a group and develop an attitude which helps others. These activities add to their experience and knowledge and help them to reduce stress from their lives. The activities that are practiced in these wilderness programs have diverted the minds of the individuals from their daily routine life which ultimately reduces depression. Depression is reduced from these activities but there other ways to cure depression. The main reason for the popularity of wilderness program is that it is individualized. The individualized therapeutic method helps each individual in an equal manner. Individual attention is very important in these cases as it helps in understanding the situation of the individual better and helps in identifying the reason that has led the individual towards depression. After the identification of the reasons that have led to the depression, activities are developed for that individual so that the activities held in the therapeutic program can easily overcome the depression of that particular individual. Although the assistance at a psychologist is also individualized it cannot be compared with the assistance that is provided at therapeutic wilderness programs because of the difference in the activities. To overcome depression, self-efficacy is also very important. The element of adventure that is a part of wilderness program which permits the therapist to target self-efficacy and increase it because by only increasing the self-confidence the impact of the program will not be much different from the other therapies. Self-efficacy helps an individual to believe in oneself for the ability to overcome the adversities in their lives. It allows the individuals to learn how to overcome depression in their lives and the behavior they should have during hurdles in their lives along with low motivation. Once they understand the element of self-efficacy and how it benefits them then it will be easier for them to overcome depression and also not to become a patient of depression again in their lives. By taking help of the wilderness therapy programs, an individual can easily deal with depression. The activities in these therapy programs determine individuals’ strengths and help them to learn strategies

3. that are healthy for them mentally and physically. The activity also develops leadership skills, behavioral and emotional skills that help the individuals in their future as well. Source: http://sharingizcarring.blogspot.com/2017/06/how-wilderness-therapy-helps-to-deal.html