‘Comedy-on-prescription’ trials under way in bid to improve mental health

Trials are taking place to see if “comedy-on-prescription” can help improve people’s mental health, reduce NHS costs and offer alternatives to antidepressants.

Craic Health has secured grant funding for its social prescribing scheme which uses comedy-based interventions, such as stand-up shows and workshops, to help people who are lonely, isolated and vulnerable get involved in community events.

The tech company said it is looking at whether its “comedy-on-prescription” approach can help reduce England’s mental ill health costs in line with other social prescribing schemes.

Craic added its project is also aimed at helping the comedy industry, communities, organisations and government to work together on comedy-based social prescriptions in a bid for it to be used more widely in the health service.

The work is supported by Labour MP Dr Simon Opher, who has warned in Parliament about the “pandemic of over-prescription” and outlined how “making people laugh can avoid the need for medication”.

The Stroud MP helped pioneer social prescriptions in Gloucestershire, including using the arts, and believes there is an opportunity to further explore the benefits of comedy events.

He has linked up with Craic founder Lu Jackson and the pair will host an event in Parliament on March 13 to discuss the impact of the trials, which are taking place in the Westminster area of London.

NHS figures show 8.7 million people in England took antidepressants in 2023/24, an increase of 2.1% compared to 2022/23.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) guidelines note antidepressants should not be routinely offered as the first treatment for less severe depression unless it is the person’s preference.

Dr Opher told the PA news agency: “One in five adults are on antidepressants and that’s partly because there’s no other treatment really often available.

“If you go and see a GP with mild to moderate depression, if you get referred for psychology that’s often a four to six-month wait so you’re not going to do that as a GP, that’s not a supportive treatment.

“So what else do you do? You reach for your prescription pad. So that’s where people like Lu come in.

“I’ve done a lot of this over the last 25 years in terms of social prescribing and it’s basically about not having pills and it’s also not psychology, it’s not like counselling per se but it’s something a little bit different and it’s quite creative as well.

“I’ve particularly specialised in using the arts to make people better so that could be poetry, visual arts or sometimes even drama, and I’ve also used things like gardening, I’ve prescribed allotments to people and that sort of thing.

“But this is the first time that we’ve tried comedy and that’s what’s exciting about this.”

Dr Opher added: “I’ve worked with a lot of art forms, and things like exercise, and comedy is closest to music I think because it gives you a shared experience that gives you a reaction.”

He noted comedy “hasn’t been done that often” when it comes to social prescribing, adding: “I’m really excited about where we can take this because I think it could have a lot of legs.”

Ms Jackson said comedy-on-prescription could help reduce the costs linked to mental health issues in the country, noting there can be immediate and longer-lasting health benefits connected to comedy.

She told PA: “It’s a cortisol decreaser, dopamine producer, potent releaser of serotonin, endorphins and good neuropeptides.

“Going to one comedy workshop or going to one stand-up comedy event or having a comedian come in and teach kids how to improvise and giggle at themselves, it’s got an effect for 24 hours and surely that’s better than prescribing antidepressants.”

Ms Jackson said Craic has received a grant from the One Westminster charity and Westminster libraries offered their facilities for the initial events.

They have included events for the homelessness, disadvantaged communities and one for older people which was also supported by a befriending service.

Ms Jackson said: “It’s been a community and team effort to put it all together, but the whole aim of it was to offer – One Westminster is a social prescription charity – a social prescription solution to people who are isolated, lonely, potentially disadvantaged.

“For all three events, people have come in feeling three out of five and they’re leaving almost all of them at five out of five.”

Conservative councillor Robert Rigby, the Lord Mayor of Westminster, said he was “impressed” by his visit to a Craic event at St John’s Wood library in London.

He said: “The comedy-on-prescription show illustrates the fact that comedy is a great way of uniting people, relieving isolation and making us realise what we all have in common – often by laughing at it.

“It was clear to me older residents valued the show and the social benefits.”