Dr Rice says poetry has help to wean some patients off tranquilisers

Research by doctors at Bristol Royal Infirmary suggested that reciting or writing verse could be an effective therapy for depression.

Now Dr Gillian Rice is offering group or one-to-one sessions with a poet at her Dean Lane practice in Bedminster.

She says anecdotal evidence from patients who have tried it suggests that poetry can be up-lifting.

"Some have said they have been able to come off anti-depressants or tranquilisers by reading and writing poetry, " she said.