Natural Health Service

Illustration from 'A History of British Birds' by F. O. Morris

In my local Oxfam I found an unusual horde: a pack of 5x9" bird cards. They transpired to be promotional material from a pharmaceuticals firm: pleasant packages to peddle to doctors perhaps. I can't see a date anywhere on them, but they appear to be quite old, a little stained and with a dated font describing birds and drug properties (scroll across the Triptafen document below).

It's a beautiful collection of illustrations, though somewhat incongruous. There seems to be a message in this. The hawfinch card is used to represent a tricyclic anti-depressant. Pre-dating today's more popular SSRI type of medication, the tricyclics date back to the 1950s. Anti-depressants are prescribed in their millions in the UK each year, but there is a growing awareness of the therapeutic benefits of nature on some of our major diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and depression. Some GPs are now prescribing a programme of walks, and organisations such as the National Trust, RSPB and Mind encourage access to nature with schemes such as '50 Things To Do Before You're 11 3/4', Natural Fit and Ecominds. Public body Natural England (responsible for environment, food and rural affairs) have even promoted the idea of a 'Natural Health Service'.

 

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