Oh, why do we like to be beside the seaside?.
Continued,....
"Anything that can help to give people with depression a different experience by lifting their mood temporarily might well aid them in overcoming their difficulties," he says.
"But a complete recovery usually comes when people are able to see changes in all the other areas of difficulty as well."
A worldwide phenomenon?
So far, the effect of the sea on health has only been investigated on UK volunteers.
Taking the sea air
*.In 1757, Dr Richard Russell wrote about the therapeutic benefits of seawater. "You need to drink seawater, bathe in it, and eat all forms of seafood in which all the virtue of the sea can be found," he wrote. He thought it could relieve conditions as diverse as flatulence, leprosy, gonorrhoea and cancer.
*.The 18th Century saw the invention of bathing machines and the first swimsuits. But it was in the 19th Century that seaside resorts really took off, initially as destinations for the upper classes who wished to reap the benefits of the sea air and saltwater bathing.
*.With the spread of the railways and introduction of bank holidays, the working classes visited the coast in their droves and the British seaside holiday was truly born.
But Dr White has already had interest from the Netherlands to Hong Kong to expand the study further.
"Around the world over 60% of the people live in coastal margins. So we think that's not a coincidence that most of the people do live by the coast," he told the BBC.
Explanations for this range from the practical - the sea provides a source of food and more recently, access to trade - to more controversial theories such as the aquatic ape hypothesis.
But strong cultural associations may also be at play in improving our sense of wellbeing.
From the Victorians onwards, the allure of the beach for the British has been one of fun, sandcastles, windbreaks and dads awkwardly changing out of wet swimwear.
By expanding the research worldwide, they hope to discover the whether cultures without that tradition and those in landlocked nations are affected by seaside scenes in the same way.
If so, there are wider implications for urban planning policy.
"We've been contacted by countries with very small coastlines, such as Germany and Switzerland, who are quite worried. Are they missing out on health benefits?" says Dr White.
"So one of the questions we're quite interested in is if there is an effect of large lakes, or does it have to be the coast?"
The research could also encourage local councils to increase protection for lakes and rivers and improve coastal access so that more people can feel the benefit.
They are even investigating the benefits of virtual reality.
"We're running trials at the moment in a dental surgery where half the patients are given the option of experiencing a virtual beach environment that they can walk about in for 30 minutes.
"We're hoping to find that if their stress levels are lower, which will also make the dentists feel happier and the operations go more smoothly," says White.
"Anything that can help to give people with depression a different experience by lifting their mood temporarily might well aid them in overcoming their difficulties," he says.
"But a complete recovery usually comes when people are able to see changes in all the other areas of difficulty as well."
A worldwide phenomenon?
So far, the effect of the sea on health has only been investigated on UK volunteers.
Taking the sea air
*.In 1757, Dr Richard Russell wrote about the therapeutic benefits of seawater. "You need to drink seawater, bathe in it, and eat all forms of seafood in which all the virtue of the sea can be found," he wrote. He thought it could relieve conditions as diverse as flatulence, leprosy, gonorrhoea and cancer.
*.The 18th Century saw the invention of bathing machines and the first swimsuits. But it was in the 19th Century that seaside resorts really took off, initially as destinations for the upper classes who wished to reap the benefits of the sea air and saltwater bathing.
*.With the spread of the railways and introduction of bank holidays, the working classes visited the coast in their droves and the British seaside holiday was truly born.
But Dr White has already had interest from the Netherlands to Hong Kong to expand the study further.
"Around the world over 60% of the people live in coastal margins. So we think that's not a coincidence that most of the people do live by the coast," he told the BBC.
Explanations for this range from the practical - the sea provides a source of food and more recently, access to trade - to more controversial theories such as the aquatic ape hypothesis.
But strong cultural associations may also be at play in improving our sense of wellbeing.
From the Victorians onwards, the allure of the beach for the British has been one of fun, sandcastles, windbreaks and dads awkwardly changing out of wet swimwear.
By expanding the research worldwide, they hope to discover the whether cultures without that tradition and those in landlocked nations are affected by seaside scenes in the same way.
If so, there are wider implications for urban planning policy.
"We've been contacted by countries with very small coastlines, such as Germany and Switzerland, who are quite worried. Are they missing out on health benefits?" says Dr White.
"So one of the questions we're quite interested in is if there is an effect of large lakes, or does it have to be the coast?"
The research could also encourage local councils to increase protection for lakes and rivers and improve coastal access so that more people can feel the benefit.
They are even investigating the benefits of virtual reality.
"We're running trials at the moment in a dental surgery where half the patients are given the option of experiencing a virtual beach environment that they can walk about in for 30 minutes.
"We're hoping to find that if their stress levels are lower, which will also make the dentists feel happier and the operations go more smoothly," says White.
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