Like, take a cohort of depressed people who have tried all sorts of medication and therapy with minimal success. Kidnap them in the dead of night, induce a coma so they don’t wake up, ween them off their medication, then dump them in the middle of the Amazon rain forest. Pay a native tribe to teach them how to survive for 2 weeks. Then they wake up one morning, and they are just 12 depressed people, alone in the middle of the jungle. My hypothesis is that the stimuli of being in the natural world along with the uncertainty of survival would resolve or at least significantly lessen depression symptoms in almost everyone.
Obviously, wilderness therapy is a thing, and it has been studied and only boasts modest success relative to other interventions. But the limitation here is that wilderness therapy participants know that their stint in the wilderness will eventually end, and that the facilitator will be there to ensure they stay safe and healthy and don’t kill themselves. My hypothesis stipulates that having the full visceral weight of ones own mortality available would have anti-depressive effects beyond simple sunshine and fresh air.
Unfortunately, this would be terribly unethical. Damn ethics. Ruining all the fun science.
I want to conduct an experiment.
Like, take a cohort of depressed people who have tried all sorts of medication and therapy with minimal success. Kidnap them in the dead of night, induce a coma so they don’t wake up, ween them off their medication, then dump them in the middle of the Amazon rain forest. Pay a native tribe to teach them how to survive for 2 weeks. Then they wake up one morning, and they are just 12 depressed people, alone in the middle of the jungle. My hypothesis is that the stimuli of being in the natural world along with the uncertainty of survival would resolve or at least significantly lessen depression symptoms in almost everyone.
Obviously, wilderness therapy is a thing, and it has been studied and only boasts modest success relative to other interventions. But the limitation here is that wilderness therapy participants know that their stint in the wilderness will eventually end, and that the facilitator will be there to ensure they stay safe and healthy and don’t kill themselves. My hypothesis stipulates that having the full visceral weight of ones own mortality available would have anti-depressive effects beyond simple sunshine and fresh air.
Unfortunately, this would be terribly unethical. Damn ethics. Ruining all the fun science.
glad you aren’t in charge of any experiments