Swimming with dolphins① can be good for your health， which can led to falling levels of depressive symptoms in patients . The activity was used to successfully treat mild to moderate depression.
The findings support the theory of biophilia②—showing how human health and wellbeing are dependent on relationships with the natural environment.
The study involved 30 patients diagnosed with mild or moderate depression. All patients stopped antidepressant treatment or psychotherapy③ at least four weeks before taking part in the study， with depression scores measured at the start and end of treatment.
For two weeks half of the group swam and snorkeled④ with dolphins for an hour a day. At the same time the control group carried out the same type of water activities， but with the absence of dolphins to control for the influence of water and the natural setting.
The average severity of the depressive symptoms reduced more in the dolphin group than in the water therapy group. Depressive symptoms improved after two weeks of treatment. In conventional therapy—psychotherapy or drug therapy—symptoms usually improve substantially⑤ after four weeks.
The overall reduction in symptoms of anxiety in both groups may be explained by the therapeutic property of water. The effects exerted by the dolphins were significantly greater than those just in the natural setting of water. One reason for the findings could be the emotions raised by the interaction⑥ with the dolphins.
Three months after the study ended， both groups of patients reported a lasting improvement and did not require treatment.
Therefore， swimming with dolphines is an effective way to relieve depression and can promote people’s health.
① dolphinn. 【动】海豚； 【天】(大写)海豚星座
② biophilian. 热爱生命的天性
③ psychotherapyn. 心理治疗；精神治疗；心理疗法
④ snorkelv. 戴潜水通气管游泳 n. 【美】潜艇换气装置
⑤ substantiallyadv. 本质上，实质上；大体上； 相当多地
⑥ interactionn.互相影响；互动
和海豚游泳能减轻抑郁症
和海豚一起游泳可以给人的身体带来好的影响， 可以让抑郁症病人的症状减轻。这种和海豚一起在水中嬉戏的方法曾被用来成功地治疗轻度和中度抑郁症。
这一研究支持了生物自卫理论，突出了自然界对人体健康状况的影响。
研究涉及了30名患有轻微或中度抑郁症的患者。在参与这项研究之前，所有的患者都已停止药物治疗或心理疗法至少4个星期。在这项研究开始前以及结束后，都会对他们的抑郁程度进行检测。
在两个星期的时间里，有一半的患者每天会和海豚接触1个小时，和海豚一起游泳和潜水。与此同时，另外一些患者也会进行同样的水上运动，不同的是缺少了海豚对水和水中运动影响的控制。
和海豚一起游泳的那组患者与单单采取水疗方法的那组患者相比，前者的抑郁症程度都有明显减轻。在接受了2个星期的治疗后，他们的症状都得到了改善。而一些传统疗法（如药物治疗和心理疗法）的效果一般都在4个星期后才会明显显现出来。
试验中两组患者症状的改善可能都要归功于水的治疗作用，但海豚所发挥的作用要比只在水中运动的效果明显得多。原因之一可能是患者在和海豚互动时，情绪特别高涨。
在研究结束的三个月以后，两组患者的症状都得到了长久的改善，并且没有要求治疗。
因此，和海豚一起游泳对缓解抑郁症是很有效的，可以促进人的健康。
