Football matches will join comedy shows and gardening as part of NHS anti-depression plan

In a groundbreaking trial, live football matches are being prescribed to help combat symptoms of depression. The innovative scheme is the brainchild of Labour MP and Ecotricity boss Dale Vince, alongside GP-turned-politician Dr Simon Opher (Stroud).

Patients at Gloucestershire surgeries will be given the chance to watch National League team Forest Green Rovers in action as part of the project. Mr Vince has been the owner of the club since 2010.

The initiative forms part of Dr Opher's pioneering approach to social prescribing for those experiencing mild to moderate depression, offering alternatives to immediate prescription of antidepressants.

Dr Opher has previously prescribed comedy sessions and gardening activities to patients. He disclosed that approximately four out of five individuals continue with their recommended activities, with a significant benefit being the reduction of loneliness.

Dr Opher elaborated: "I do think there's something about watching football which does give you a sense of community I think one of the biggest problems in our society is social isolation.", reports the Mirror.

"It's really quite toxic, actually, and it's created in the modern world by social media. Pubs aren't so popular, we don't get out as much, we don't live in extended families, so that is very bad for you.

"You can quantify it, it's the same health risk as smoking about 20 cigarettes a day. It's really bad. One of the things here is just getting people out and socialising."

He continued: "Football isn't going to be for everyone. Nothing is, but we need a range of options.

"Football is about socialising and roaring on your team, getting excited, taking yourself out of your own life for a short while, and living through something else."

Dr Opher has previously expressed his concerns regarding the over-prescription of antidepressants, cautioning against their use for patients with moderate or mild symptoms. The number of individuals on antidepressants saw an increase of 2.1% last year compared to the previous year.

He elaborated: "If you've got severe depression then I would always recommend antidepressants, but a large majority of people have got what they call mild to moderate depression, and the tendency at the moment is to give them tablets, because there's no mental health support really, it can take six months to get it, and you feel like you need to do something.

"That's why we've got to a stage where we've got 8.7 million people on antidepressants, so we need to try something else."

Patients from a dozen GP practices near Forest Green's The New Lawn stadium in Nailsworth will now have the chance to be referred to attend a football match as part of their treatment.

The initiative will span the entire season, commencing with Forest Green's inaugural home game against Yeovil Town on August 16, where tickets will be provided gratis.

While it's uncertain if the thrills of the game will alleviate the struggles of those with depression, especially after Forest Green's heart-wrenching penalty shoot-out defeat to Southend in the previous season's play-offs, Mr Vince, who took over the club in 2010, has revolutionised it into the first vegan and carbon-neutral football team globally.

Under Vince's stewardship, the club that was once non-league soared to League One before suffering the setback of two back-to-back relegations. The Ecotricity founder, also known for his £5 million donation to the Labour Party, is a prominent figure in green energy.

He stated: "I think it'd be a great thing if football clubs up and down the country could reach out to people and do this. Men typically don't really talk about their issues, that's the thing, and you get loneliness and things like that as well.

"In my life I've had periods of my life where I've been a bit fed up, and excluded ... a bit down from time to time, it's easy to spiral downwards when you're not in contact with people and I just wanted to do something with that."

He further commented: "Forest Green has been one of the best experiences of my life, and I'm keen to share that. Dr Opher's doubts about the widespread use of antidepressants emerged after he started his general practice in 1995.

"I'd started seeing there's a lot of people depressed out there, a lot of people with low mood, so I started putting a lot of them on antidepressants or referring them to mental health," he recalled.

"Quite a few of them, one in four, maybe even more, would just come back no better, but with intractable problems. What I realised is that tablets didn't help them, we had nothing to help them. I thought we needed to try something different and do a different behaviour."

He added: "For the people it did work for, it was transformative, and also they got onto the next thing, they stopped coming to see me, which is a great sign."