Comedy shows prescribed for depression as possible solution to NHS costs

A groundbreaking new scheme is trialling stand-up comedy as a treatment. Comedy is being trialled as a potential treatment for mental health issues in a groundbreaking new scheme. The initiative, dubbed “comedy-on-prescription”, aims to explore whether laughter can offer an alternative to traditional treatments like antidepressants, potentially reducing NHS costs.

Craic Health, a tech company spearheading the project, has secured funding for a social prescribing scheme that uses comedy-based interventions. These include stand-up performances and workshops designed to connect lonely, isolated, and vulnerable individuals with their communities.

The project has garnered support from Labour MP Dr Simon Opher, a vocal critic of over-prescription of medication. Dr Opher has previously highlighted the potential of laughter as a therapeutic tool, stating in Parliament that “making people laugh can avoid the need for medication”.

He has championed previous social prescribing initiatives, including arts-based programmes, in Gloucestershire. Dr Opher has partnered with Craic founder Lu Jackson to further the initiative. The pair will host a parliamentary event on March 13 to discuss the impact of the ongoing trials, which are currently being conducted in London’s Westminster area.

NHS figures show that 8.7 million people in England took antidepressants in 2023/24, an increase of 2.1 per cent 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 patient’s preference.

“One in five adults are on antidepressants and that’s partly because there’s no other treatment really often available,” Dr Opher said. “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.”. Dr Opher said he had done a lot of ‘social prescribing’ over the past 25 years, including poetry, visual arts and allotments, but this was the first time he had tried comedy.

“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 said. 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 said: “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.”.