18-05-2025
Victorian research finds surfing can reduce youth mental health symptoms
Montana Tagg says that, two years ago, her health problems and her school's lack of support for them got so bad she dropped out of high school.
The 16-year-old lives in constant pain with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which causes joint hyper-mobility and frequent dislocations.
"I could never do any handwritten work. I had to do all my work on a laptop and a mainstream school just couldn't understand that that needed to happen," she said.
The teenager wakes up about three mornings a week with a partial dislocation of her shoulder or hip, and has had to deal with painful jaw dislocations.
"It opened up a lot of potential for me to be bullied, which did happen," she said.
That all snowballed into mental health problems.
"There have been really hard times, growing up and not fitting a normal body image, and also having to go to a lot of doctors' appointments," she said.
Montana's dad Brendan was concerned about his eldest daughter's future.
"Since COVID it had been getting more and more difficult. She was missing three to four days of school a week," he said.
But things really changed when Montana started surf therapy at her new school, Hester Hornbrook Academy, in Melbourne's west.
She started looking forward to her beach sessions every Friday at Ocean Grove, on Victoria's Bellarine Peninsula.
"My condition causes me chronic pain but things like surfing really, really help it," she said.
It's a unique social, physical and psychological recipe that Ocean Mind offers to those aged between eight and 18.
They can sign up to attend six consecutive weekends of surfing with a mentor and then follow it up with surf club sessions on an ad hoc basis.
Acting CEO Ben Wilkinson said it was an evidence-based program that had created life-changing experiences.
"Many of the young people we work with might be non-verbal or low on communication," he said.
"One young person's first word he'd said in years was the name of the mentor who'd been supporting him. It just blew the family away."
He said the charity was riding a wave of popularity. In its 2023/24 season it engaged more than 419 young people and had more than 140 active volunteers.
Ocean Mind was founded by youth worker Rachael Parker in Torquay in 2016 and began operating in the Geelong region where demand continued to be strong.
It expanded to the Mornington Peninsula a year ago.
"It's been an amazing reception over there and we'd love to grow that more. We'd certainly be looking at other parts of Australia after that," Mr Wilkinson said.
Scientists say surfing can build self-esteem through mastering a skill, creating social connections, and promoting physical activity. That increases dopamine and adrenaline secretions, and decreases levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
In conjunction with Ocean Mind, researchers at Deakin University studied 36 young people aged between eight and 18 who had reported symptoms of anxiety, depression or ADHD.
They found a reduction in depression, anxiety and ADHD symptoms after six weekly sessions.
"They need to be present. There's that act of mindfulness and really paying attention to the ocean and the waves, and in doing that, what they report is this respite from the daily stresses in their lives," said Deakin associate professor Lisa Olive.
But her team found those benefits did not continue six weeks after the program finished when the young people had stopped regular surfing.
She said more research needed to be done with larger numbers of participants to find out if other demographics would benefit from surf therapy.
At Montana's school, there was no doubt about the efficacy of surf therapy.
Her youth worker at Hester Hornbrook Academy, Theresa Corson, said she had noticed a difference.
"Surf therapy has been such an amazing opportunity for Montana. I've seen her confidence really build and I think it's been really effective for her," Ms Corson said.
School leaders say the inclusion of surf therapy into the curriculum has paid dividends.
"It's increased feelings of belonging and connection which are so important," said Amy Farrell, the head of Hester Hornbrook Academy campus in Werribee.
Apart from owning a surfboard of her own one day, Montana is circumspect about her surfing goals.
"If the waves are good or if the waves are bad, I still have to surf them and just try my best and see what I can do," she said.
"You have to be focused on that one thing. If you're not focused on it then you're not going to do the best.
"It's physical and mental, so you have to give 100 per cent."
Others are expecting the tide of interest in surf therapy to continue.
"I think surf therapy has an amazing future," said Ocean Mind mentor Jack Palakas.
"It's such an opportunity for young people to connect outside of that therapeutic space, and kids connect through play."
