Ashley Irving: Outside Reading #2

Not many people will believe it, and I was a little skeptical at first myself, but hiking appears to be a better method of healing and source of therapy than any commercialized version. In the article, "Natural Medicine: Wilderness Experience Outcomes for Combat Veterans" the authors state, “the sheer number of hours of ‘therapy’ obtained by hiking for a long period of time would take years to accomplish in traditional weekly therapy”. I was doubtful upon firs reading this statement, but the more I think about it the more true it appears.

When going to therapy to deal with any issue whether it be depression or PTSD or even marriage counseling, you can only go when you have a set appointment made and even then those appointments are most usually, only once a week. Seeing a psychologist for about an hour once a week doesn't seem to be able to compare to the amount of time that one spends while hiking, particularly if they are thru-hiking.

The benefits that can be gained from hiking for such an extended period time are ten-fold the benefits that can be gained by attending therapy in the same time span. Thru-hiking a major trail such as the Appalachian or the Pacific Crest Trail requires a commitment of about 6 months to complete and during this time you are almost completely alone. This allows for ample amounts of time to reflect on one's past and their present lives and what the future may hold for them. As stated in the article, many have described "their time on the trail as providing time for reflection, acceptance, and self-discovery". Through this reflection one can reap the same benefits that they could from attending therapy, but in a much shorter period of time due to the endless time that hikers are provided with that provides for nothing more than hiking and spending time with your inner thoughts, with stops for food thrown in there too.

I am not one who will likely ever even consider thru-hiking. I am not that comfortable in the outdoors to uproot my life and carry everything that I own to live as one with nature for 6 months of my life. That being said though, the rewards that come out of thru-hiking are still very attractive and I am able to recognize their appeal to people. While personally if I were faced with the choice, I would choose traditional therapy in an office somewhere, I do believe that one can get more out of hiking than other means of therapy.