Italian psychiatrist Mauro Raffaeli has been prescribing healthy doses of soccer to patients suffering from schizophrenia and depression with successful results.
Eighty patients, many of whom are on psychiatric medication and cannot work, have gone through Raffaeli's soccer therapy since he initiated twice-a-week play in 1993. Half of the 80 have decreased their drug intake and more than half have returned to work.
The Guardian cited the example of Benedetto Quirino, a schizophrenic who was plagued by voices in his head until he took a spot on the right flank of Raffaeli's team.
''When you run out on the field, the voices stop,'' Quirino said. ''Your opponent is no longer inside you, he has come out and you can dribble round him and beat him.''
A documentary film has been made about the program. It's titled ''Mad About Soccer.''