Beautiful game offers a mental health intervention

Watching your football team play a nailbiting game may tend to raise the blood pressure, but joining in and playing has more benefits than many people might realise.

A new and very worthwhile study shows that, aside from the obvious physical health benefits, playing football can also have a positive effect on mental wellbeing and, in fact, can help people with severe disorders like psychosis.

The study noted the experiences of a total of 74 men who took part in a programme designed to assist those with mental health problems, many of them on anti-psychotic medication. Involving a unique collaboration between the HSE, the FAI, and a local authority, it reveals the benefits of football as an intervention in mental health.

It also shows the wisdom of using existing community resources for the provision of occupational therapy programmes rather than relying on institutional medical care. One participant, who has chronic schizophrenia, found that playing football was hugely beneficial to him. All those involved in the programme deserve our congratulations.