‘Big improvement’: How Ocean Mind helped Grovedale teen’s mental health

Grovedale teenager Chloe Lyons’ mental health improved after taking part in Ocean Mind’s program. Now, a Deakin pilot study has shown how it can help more young people.

Chloe Lyons is a participant turned peer mentor with Ocean Mind and knows first hand how the program can help with mental health issues. Picture: Alan Barber

Chloe Lyons has experience first-hand how surfing can improve a young person’s mental health.

The 19-year-old from Grovedale took up surfing with Ocean Mind about six years ago.

Ocean Mind is a therapeutic surfing charity that aims to enrich people’s mental health, relationships and potential through surfing.

Ms Lyons said the program helped her work through a lot of her issues, and inspired her to help others.

“I started surfing and I loved it (so) much, and it inspired me to actually become a mentor for Ocean Mind and help young kids that are having problems in their life, too,” she said.

Chloe Lyons said getting into the surf helped her work through the mental health challenges she was facing. Picture: Alan Barber

“I was going through a tough time … and by me getting out of the house and doing the surf program, (it) helped me because being by the ocean helped me forget the stuff that I was going through.”

Now a peer mentor for Ocean Mind, Ms Lyons said she’s seen other kids make big improvements.

She said she enjoyed being able to teach kids how to surf and being someone they could talk to about problems.

“I love being around little kids and helping them surf, and with their mental health,” Ms Lyons said.

“Some kids are quite shy, and … they did come out of their comfort zone, which is good (and) was a big improvement.”

Deakin University conducted a pilot study aimed at finding out if Ocean Mind’s six-week surf therapy program improved the mental health of children and adolescents.

The study involved 36 young people, aged 8-18 years, seeking help for a mental health concern such as anxiety or a neurodevelopmental disorder, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or autism spectrum disorder.

The cohort was randomly allocated to the Ocean Mind program or were placed on a waitlist for it.

The surf therapy program ran for two hours every weekend for six weeks, with each young person partnered one-to-one with a community mentor trained in mental health literacy and surf instruction.

Researcher Dr Lisa Olive said by the end of the program those receiving surf therapy had reductions in depression, anxiety, hyperactivity and inattention symptoms, as well as fewer emotional and peer problems.

“This was compared with those in the control group, who had increases in these symptoms,” she said.

“However, any improvements were not sustained six weeks after the program finished.

“Those receiving surf therapy also saw it as a suitable, youth-friendly way to manage symptoms of mental ill-health.”

Dr Olive said the early findings were “promising” but more research was needed with larger numbers to confirm the outcomes.

“We’d like to identify the best dose of surf therapy in terms of session frequency, duration, and program length,” she said.

“We also need to understand the factors that maintain these initial positive changes in mental health, so any benefits can be sustained after the program finishes.”

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Originally published as ‘Big improvement’: How Ocean Mind helped Grovedale teen’s mental health