GPs to prescribe football matches for depression sufferers in groundbreaking trial

Live football matches are set to be prescribed to tackle depression symptoms under a groundbreaking trial spearheaded by a Labour MP and Ecotricity boss Dale Vince.

The innovative scheme, devised by GP-turned-politician Dr Simon Opher (Stroud) alongside Mr Vince, will offer patients at Gloucestershire surgeries the opportunity to watch National League outfit Forest Green Rovers in action.

Mr Vince has owned the club since 2010. The project forms part of Dr Opher's pioneering approach to social prescribing for those suffering mild to moderate depression, rather than reaching straight for antidepressants.

Comedy sessions and gardening activities have also been prescribed to patients by Dr Opher in the past. He revealed that roughly four out of five people continue with their recommended activities, with combating loneliness being a key advantage.

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Dr Opher explained: "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.

"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 voiced his worries about the over-prescription of antidepressants. He argued that they shouldn't be handed out to patients experiencing moderate or mild symptoms. The number of people on antidepressants increased by 2.1% last year, compared to 2022/23.

He explained: "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 at a dozen GP practices in the county near Forest Green's The New Lawn stadium in Nailsworth will be offered the opportunity to be referred to attend a match.

The scheme is set to run throughout the entire season, kicking off with the club's first home fixture against Yeovil Town on August 16. Forest Green are providing the tickets free of charge.

There's no certainty that on-pitch drama will boost the mood of those battling depression, given Forest Green endured penalty shoot-out agony in last season's play-offs, falling to Southend. Mr Vince, who acquired the club in 2010, has transformed it into the world's first vegan and carbon-neutral football team.

Since taking over, the previously non-league side ascended to League One but then faced the disappointment of two consecutive relegations. Vince is widely recognised for establishing the green energy firm Ecotricity, which has notably contributed £5 million to the Labour Party

He expressed: "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 remarked: "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 recounted.

"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 further commented: "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."