I WON鈥橳 mourn the passing of 2022. It has been an annus horribilis for me, my family and our friends. Clare, my life partner of nearly 30 years, wife for 24 of them and mother of my three children, ended her own life in August after enduring a chronic pain syndrome for the best part of a year. I became her carer as her pain spiralled into an abyss of torture. I tried everything I could to save her life, but I failed.
My mental health deteriorated when I was caring for her, and cratered when she died. I take antidepressants, which at least allow me to get out of bed in the morning. But what I find also helps me cope is spending time in nature. We don鈥檛 have a lot of that in the part of London where I live, but there are pockets.
Last month, I had the opportunity to spend time in some properly biodiverse nature. I was invited to visit a project in the Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda. The place is dripping with nature. I saw elephants, hippos, lions, hyenas, leopards, crocodiles and endlessly beautiful birds. For somebody who lives in a , the experience of being in proper wildness is awesome, and I mean that in the true sense of the word. Clare would have been awed by it too.
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The mental health benefits I got were immeasurable. I felt a lightness and joy that I hadn鈥檛 experienced for many months. Returning to my empty house brought that crashing down, but I am sure my time in Uganda will help my recovery in the long term.
This isn鈥檛 just anecdotal musings from a grieving husband. Research backs up the fact that . That is one reason why the wanton destruction of nature in the name of unlimited profits is an act of self-harm: short-termist, greedy and ultimately suicidal. I don鈥檛 use that word casually.
Many Western countries, the UK especially, have already destroyed most of their nature. Even when we go to supposedly wild places like the , what we are experiencing is a human-created landscape once covered in trees, but now covered in sheep.
One argument for preserving nature is that it provides us with ecosystem services such as clean air. But one service that tends to be neglected is the benefit to our mental well-being. A 2019 by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services briefly mentions 鈥渋nspiration鈥� and 鈥減sychological experiences鈥�, but they are near the bottom of its list of benefits.
In April, I went to the launch of the British Ecological Society鈥檚 on the UK鈥檚 nature recovery. I asked a question about the wisdom of investing in the UK鈥檚 biodiversity given that we don鈥檛 have much of it. Wouldn鈥檛 the money be better spent protecting near-pristine ecosystems?
The answer put me straight. 鈥淚 think we鈥檝e all recognised over the last few years how important green spaces are locally for health and well-being,鈥� said report co-author at the University of York, UK. 鈥淵es, we鈥檝e got less biodiversity than a tropical location, but it鈥檚 still hugely important to people鈥檚 well-being.鈥�
Clare is buried in a woodland plot in a London cemetery. It is a beautiful place, apart from the fact she is there. I visit often, talk to her and enjoy the magnificent trees. I won鈥檛 mourn 2022, but I will mourn her for the rest of my life.
Graham Lawton is a staff writer at 麻豆传媒 and author of Mustn鈥檛 Grumble: The surprising science of everyday ailments. You can follow him @grahamlawton
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