It was around a year after Fatu Mangeh* arrived in the UK that she considered taking her own life.

In 2002 she fled the civil war in Sierra Leone where she had been raped and tortured – scars are still visible on her hands 15 years later. Her parents were killed and the only family she had left was her two-year-old daughter. She was lured to the UK by a man who promised to marry her but abandoned her, leaving her destitute and with no support. Wandering the streets, she came across a woman from Sierra Leone who offered to help; she took her to the Home Office to claim asylum and registered her with a GP.

She remembers of her first year in the UK: “I had suicidal thoughts. My baby was around two years old so life was very tough for me. I had difficulties with immigration. I was getting so depressed thinking that being here I was safe but things were getting worse. I went to see my GP and told her that there was no need for me to live.”

Her GP sent her to Maudsley hospital in London where she was diagnosed with depression and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). She was then referred to a project for asylum seekers and refugees with mental health problems resulting from serious trauma to complement one-to-one therapy. This was no ordinary treatment though; it would involve communal gardening sessions run by a horticultural therapist and a clinical psychologist.

Grounding, a therapeutic gardening scheme, is the result of an innovative partnership between South London and Maudsley NHS foundation trust (Slam), the Maudsley Charity and horticultural project Roots and Shoots. When clients are first referred, they attend a 12-week course in a closed group where they are taught skills to help them calm down and manage their mental health problems. They are then invited to return every week for a gardening session.

The benefits of gardening for mental health are numerous. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian

Every Monday morning, people arrive and are greeted by Myriam Sarens, a horticultural therapist, and Gemma Eke, a clinical psychologist, both of whom are employed on a part-time basis by Slam. Clients gather in and around a greenhouse sowing seeds and watering plants.

The benefits of gardening for mental health are numerous, according to Eke. “There’s research to show that just looking at pictures of plants lowers your blood pressure or has calming effects. There are also physical health benefits of moving and being active in a more gentle way,” she says. “The therapeutic ingredients of this project are hard to isolate because we’ve got the social aspect – people have formed a community here.”

It’s the community aspect that appeals to Mangeh. She remembers: “When I first went, I was shy. I didn’t trust anyone and was unable to open up to people. Gradually, I saw other clients coming in with the same problems so I was able to speak to them because we are all in the same boat ... This motivates me, makes me become strong. Before I didn’t talk to people, I kept to myself. I’ve made friends and we are like a community, a family.”

Jemmy John*, 39, from Eritrea has also felt the benefits of the project. Imprisoned and tortured after protesting against the government as a student, he escaped after two years and came to the UK.

When he arrived in 2000, he couldn’t sleep through the night, waking every two hours from a nightmare or flashback to the atrocities he suffered. He struggled with PTSD for years until his GP referred him to the Grounding project where he took the 12-week course of therapy before attending the gardening sessions.

“This is a special place.” he says. “Gardening has helped me a lot. I’ve been in this project for four years. I meet people here and we discuss our problems, difficulties and cultures. We can speak freely because we’re all in the same situation. I don’t have a family here, I don’t have anything. The only thing I have is Myriam and Gemma, and my friends.”

Participants water plants and sow seeds. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian

Mental illness, says Eke, is complex and not something that just magically disappears and the long-term aspect of the project is part of its appeal. “It’s a way to keep people linked in. Rather than this thing in the NHS where people are offered six or 12 sessions before they are discharged, it means we can keep an eye on people.

“Things are moving much more towards briefer and more time-limited interventions but for these clients, because what they’ve faced is so much loss, it might take longer to engage them ... I think it’s more cost effective to have something looser so people can take things at their own pace and they’re not forced into brief treatments that can do more harm than good sometimes.”

Mangeh and John still struggle with PTSD. Neither can work; both still experience flashbacks and have bad days when they can’t get out of bed and tears stream down their faces.

As Mangeh says: “It changes me ... I have really bad days when it’s difficult for me to get up. I’m tearful. But coming here, I feel calmer and active. We have fun.”

John adds: “Without this, I would not be here. I would have killed myself, or something like that.”

* Not their real names

To find out more, check out the project’s Facebook page or Twitter account @slamgrounding. A book about the project is available vie Facebook or Twitter (£7 donation + £1.50 postage and packaging).

In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. Hotlines in other countries can be found here.



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