Did you know that nature may be the cure to your anxiety and stress? Yes, spending time in nature can relieve stress and anxiety by lowering cortisol levels, enhancing overall mental and physical health.
When youths in US and Europe were asked how time spent in nature affected them the answers were very clear. A majority of them said that nature made them feel calmer, more relaxed, balanced and connected with themselves. Nature can cure stress and anxiety in both the young and the old.
In today’s world we are boxed within classrooms and offices, surrounded by blue screens, constantly bombarded with digital contents, strained under tight schedules, disconnected from people and prohibited from having meaningful interactions. We are living in man-made environments which has removed almost all natural elements with surgical precision from our immediate surroundings. Our lives seem to have shrunk to the small space between our eyes and the screen. Or probably it’s hovering like a digital cloud above our heads, virtual and meaningless. There is no room for nature here who feels like a long lost relative.
Many of us have started to feel the effect of the fast-paced digital age on our physical and mental well-being. The rest, waist deep in this chaotic mud have lost the ability to point their fingers at one specific cause to blame for their deteriorating condition. This is the very section that fall prey to depression and take solace in alcohol, drugs and junk-food or resort to extreme means like suicide to find ultimate relief from their inner demons. But demons are not born out of nothing – environment and experience creates them.
Studies show that chronic stress is a major reason behind the onset of numerous severely impairing psychiatric conditions. But a simple activity holds the cure to anxiety and several stress related maladies. It is spending time in nature.
Our nature trace our origins in nature
The beginnings of our very own species was within nature. Our brains are still wired into this connection with nature. Cultural evolution has catapulted us into this modern world we live in but our physiology is still in its ancestral stage. And, this ancestral physiology craves for its daily dose of nature stimulus.
Nature experience for stress reduction
Research has shown reduction in stress and enhanced positive feelings simply from viewing forest scenes. When patients undergoing chemotherapy in Brazil were shown pictures of nature like landscapes, trees, birds and flowers they responded with improvements in their emotional state and became more alert.
A study done in the United Kingdom in 2019 showed that nature sounds like rustling leaves, snapping twigs and birdsong had positive effects on the mental well-being of adults helping to mitigate the ill-effects of stress and anxiety.
Walking in nature reduces activity in the amygdala, a brain region associated with other networks of the brain related to stress. Reducing stress can prevent the occurrence of several chronic psychiatric disorders.
High cortisol levels is the prime outcome of stress. Long periods of elevated cortisol levels has negative health impacts like reduced immune function, lower bone density, higher blood pressure and cholesterol levels, increased rate of heart diseases, obesity, problem learning and memory.
Time spent in nature can lower stress hormones and boost immunity
Happy moods from forest experiences can reduce cortisol levels and boost immunity as well. Endorphin, the happiness hormone can help alleviate some of the negative impacts of stress.
As less as 10 minutes spent in nature can lower cortisol levels by 21.3% per hour beyond the hormone’s normal diurnal drop of 11.7%. But best effects were obtained for nature experiences that lasted for 20-30 minutes. The study published in Frontiers in Psychology also recorded a 28.1% per hour drop of salivary amylase, another physiological biomarker of stress.
Research in Japan has quantified increases in Natural Killer Cell counts hence solidifying the claim over improved immune function. Phytoncides or volatile organic compounds emitted by trees appears to be the reason behind this increased immunity. A healthy body free of disease and malaise is the key to better mental well being.
Forest healing programs help speed up recovery in patients suffering from major illnesses
Studies in South Korea has shown improvements in psychological stability in patients suffering from depression and alcoholism. More studies from South Korea show higher rates of recovery from breast cancer, paediatric asthma and atopic dermatitis in patients undergoing forest healing programs.
Forest walking can reduce blood pressure in middle-aged and aged people.
Loss of nature creates climate anxiety causing stress
Climate anxiety is the new normal and the helplessness that comes with the realisation that change must occur in all quarters and in massive scale while there is very little that’s actually happening can be mentally exhausting. Witnessing changing natural landscapes driven by anthropogenic activities, rising global temperatures and frequent occurrence of climate related natural disasters can cause immense stress among the victims.
Degradation of forested lands is a major driver of mental unrest in indigenous peoples. The forest is their home intimately associated with their spiritual and cultural identity. Deforestation and restrictions on use of forested lands can cause harm to their physical and mental health arising out of a sense of existential crisis and loss of identity.
Rapid urbanisation and loss of greenery are reasons behind stress and anxiety in urban populations
The vices of urban life compounded with climate change has led to cognitive decline affecting mental well-being in a large section of the world’s population.
Consider a very simple situation for example – you have lived all your life in a small town that had ample empty spaces with trees where you had spent your childhood playing with your friends. Now suddenly a real estate giant enters your town with the promise of offering a developed city. They take away the empty lots and other spaces and gives you a well built ‘developed’ concrete jungle in return. Would you identify yourself with this squeaky clean stony alien city re-branded out of your hometown? Or that nostalgic old town with lots of greenery where you had spent a large chunk of your life with people you loved? Would you experience mental stress or any feeling of loss? I bet yes. It is impossible not to.
Access to nature is a fundamental human right
Staying connected with nature is essential for our existence. Healthcare providers and psychiatrists in western nations have already started prescribing nature breaks to their patients which are phrased as “nature pills”.
Nature, forests, greenery and biodiversity needs to be preserved at all costs. We must protect our old forests, reforest barren lands and create urban green spaces in our cities so that everyone has access to nature. Access to nature is a fundamental right of every citizen of the planet and so is the right of nature to exist, survive and flourish.
