<story><title>British Doctors May Soon Prescribe Art, Music, Dance, Singing Lessons</title><url>https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/british-doctors-may-soon-prescribe-art-music-dance-singing-lessons-180970750/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>notus</author><text>People may be dismissive of this but this is one of the best things that most people who suffer from mental health issues can do. Every therapist I&amp;#x27;ve seen over the years has constantly pushed me to exercise and&amp;#x2F;or maintain a consistent hobby. I was historically very dismissive of this idea and my thinking was that my problems were unique (even romanticizing that idea somewhat when I was younger). As I got older I just felt more alienated, disconnected, and crazy. Certain medications helped but it was difficult to stay on them. It wasn&amp;#x27;t until I was able to get into a workout routine and be consistent with it for a while that I started to feel mentally &amp;quot;normal&amp;quot; again or at least I stopped thinking that I was crazy and everyone else wasn&amp;#x27;t. The thing that motivated me into this was pretty much terror and panic. I was convinced I was losing it and everywhere I&amp;#x27;d go the walls would close in and I would freak out (pretty bad agoraphobia). Hopefully someone who is struggling with mental health issues reads this and decides to make a change now instead of waiting until it gets worse.&lt;p&gt;I know all of this sounds like some &amp;quot;wow thanks i&amp;#x27;m cured&amp;quot; content and no it will not cure you of your afflictions, but it takes the edge off of them so you can actually focus on and confront your issues rather than barely holding on.</text></comment>
<story><title>British Doctors May Soon Prescribe Art, Music, Dance, Singing Lessons</title><url>https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/british-doctors-may-soon-prescribe-art-music-dance-singing-lessons-180970750/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>vorpalhex</author><text>My initial skepticism based on the title was overcome by reading the actual article. Basically, it&amp;#x27;s no good to sit around in a bed popping pills and wasting away. To that end, the UK is allowing GPs to more strongly encourage patients to get out and be active with things like free tickets.&lt;p&gt;This isn&amp;#x27;t a terribly new idea, though it&amp;#x27;s still a very good one.</text></comment>