200-Mile Hike To Highlight Importance Of Mental Health Services

From Montgomery Parks: Montgomery Parks, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, is joining forces with EveryMind, a non-profit mental health organization, to draw attention to the importance of crisis prevention and intervention, during the month of May—Mental Health Awareness Month. The two organizations are supporting EveryMind Board Member Lauren Strawbridge’s month-long, 200-mile hike on Montgomery Parks trails—a journey to highlight the importance of mental health services.

“Long distance hiking represents the life-long challenge of having—or caring for someone who has—a mental illness,” said Strawbridge, who self-discloses that she lives with bipolar disorder. She adds that EveryMind’s crisis intervention hotline, one of their many services, has helped her on more than one occasion in the past.
Scientific studies have shown a direct correlation between improved mental health and access to nature, the outdoors and physical activity. A 2015 study by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States indicates that “…participants who went on a 90-minute walk through a natural environment reported lower levels of rumination and showed reduced neural activity in an area of the brain linked to risk for mental illness compared with those who walked through and urban environment.”
Montgomery Parks boasts over 250 miles of trails across the county, many located within urban environments.
“We applaud Lauren in her quest to hike 200 miles of Montgomery Parks trails. This is quite an endeavor and one that will showcase the importance of open space and access to the outdoors in the county,” said Mike Riley, Director of Montgomery Parks.