Are you searching for an activity to assist ease mental health issues? You may want to offer recreational fishing a try.

Fishing has been touted as an activity that may also help reduce stress, allow one to benefit from the outdoors and likewise boost mood and self-esteem. That’s along with the physical advantages of the activity.

In a latest study, a team of researchers conducted a survey on 1,900 U.K. adults, Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) noted in a news release.

They found “significantly fewer” individuals who participated in recreational fishing had anxiety disorder, attempted suicide or engaged in self-harm in comparison with those that don’t fish. This means that recreational fishing could also be helpful for people who find themselves experiencing “serious” mental health issues.

“We have now been told on quite a few occasions by our service users that if it weren’t for the fishing sessions, they do not think they’d be alive today,” David Lyons, the founding father of angling organization Tackling Minds, said within the news release. “To now have scientific evidence to back up what we have been saying all along, is unbelievable, to say the least.”

Tackling Minds successfully campaigned for angling to be recognized as a “social prescribing activity” on the National Health Service (NHS) last 12 months, in line with ARU. This implies the use of a non-medical intervention for a health problem.

“(E)ncouraging participation in fishing might be dual-method strategy for each promoting leisure and good mental health in addition to encouraging increased levels of physical activity inside those with mental health issues reminiscent of anxiety disorder,” added Lee Smith, a professor at ARU.

This might be helpful for a lot of as fishing is a comparatively more accessible activity in comparison with other outdoor sports. In one other ARU study, published earlier this 12 months within the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, researchers found that folks with disabilities showed similar participation levels and “motivations” for fishing as others.

And though they faced some “barriers” reminiscent of cost, lack of transport and “having nobody to go together with them,” fishing continues to be quite an accessible sport.

“Such findings suggests that fishing might be a more feasible and acceptable ‘green prescription’ for older men with disabilities as compared to other outdoor physical activity,” the researchers wrote on the time. “The challenge of fishing and the relief advantages ought to be emphasized to encourage greater uptake of fishing.”