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10 year comparison of patients recovering from gall-bladder surgery in a hospital setting. The
study involved two groups of patients, one overlooking parks and trees and the other whose
beds had a view of a brick wall. The patients with a green view used fewer analgesics,
recovered quicker and had fewer negative comments in the nurses’ notes.
Michigan prisoners who had fewer sick cell visits when the view from their cell was one of
farmland rather than the prison yard.
Study where drivers were exposed to stressful tasks (intended to replicate the sort of stress one
may be exposed to at work) and then a simulated drive. Views from different types of road
were projected onto a screen, either of green pleasant environments or built-up urban streets.
People in the green and pleasant category showed reduced stress levels as measured by blood
pressure and forehead muscle tension.
Study supporting the attention-restoration theory put forward by Kaplan and Kaplan. The
theory argues that natural environments lead to one’s attention and fascination being drawn to
more natural environments which have a restorative effect from stress
American study supporting that children with Attention Deficit Disorder have better levels of
concentration when exposed to nature
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Work by Lancaster University commissioned by the
Forestry Commission shows that older children (16-21)
seek out the outdoors for dealing with stress.
A study of over 3,000 elderly people living in a built-up
area in Japan found that the probability of survival
over a five-year period increased with the amount of
accessible green space close to peoples’ place of
residence and the perceived ability to take a stroll in
tree lined streets and parks.
A cross-sectional study involving 10,000 people in the
Netherlands –People with more green space in their
living environment judged themselves to be healthier
and reported fewer health-related complaints.
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Even small green spaces in cities leads to improvement
in children’s abilities to pay attention, delay
gratification, and manage impulses
Evidence that contact with nature reduces symptoms
associated with Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity
Disorder in children.
Hardiness (a combination of internal locus of control,
appreciation of challenge as opportunity, and
commitment to self) moderates the negative effects of
stress and strengthens the existential dimensions of
psychological health. Studies show that many kinds of
nature experiences will increase a sense of hardiness.
Successfully meeting challenges, a feature of virtually
all wilderness experiences, leads to self-confidence and
improved self esteem.
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Coherence (connectedness, wholeness and meaningfulness) is related to
better mental health and reduced negative stress. Direct encounters with
intact, healthy ecosystems leads to a greater sense of psychological
coherence
Survey results on frequency and triggers for peak experiences (Maslow –
experiences of optimal mental health) shows that nature is the most
common trigger for peak experiences
Studies of environmental preference show that natural environments
(when compared to built environments) tend to provide more of the
characteristics preferred in an environment. Psychological health arises
from being in a more-preferred environment. Therefore, psychological
health can be expected to increase with contact with more-preferred
(natural) environments.
Jung: “The fact is that the approach to the numinous (being, essence or
true nature) is the real therapy and inasmuch as you attain to the
numinous experiences you are released from the curse of pathology”
(1973)
Taken from psychological Benefits of Nature, Experiences, Research and
Theory. John Davis PHD. Naropa University
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Shinrin-Yoku – Forest Bathing (broadly defined as “taking in, in all of our senses, the
forest atmosphere”.
In 1982, the forest agency of the Japanese government premiered its shinrin-yoku plan.
The program was established to encourage the populace to get out into nature.
In 1990 a small study was set up in the Yakushima forests. The experiment was to
compare the impact of walking for 40 minutes. One group walked in the cedar forest
while the other walked in a laboratory. The reported benefit of the forest walk was on
improved mood and feelings of vigour.
This study backed up the subjective reports with the findings of lower levels of the stress
hormone cortisol in subjects after forest walks compared with those who took the
laboratory walks.
Since then, university and government researchers have collaborated on detailed
investigations, including projects to evaluate physiological markers while subjects spend
time in the forest.
Data from over 1,000 subjects has been compiled in Japan. These combined studies have
confirmed that spending time within forest settings can reduce psychological stress,
depressive symptoms, and hostility, while at the same time improving sleep and
increasing both vigour and a feeling of liveliness.
These changes match up nicely with objective results reported in nearly a dozen studies
involving 24 forests – lower levels of cortisol (stress hormone) and lower blood pressure
and pulse rate.
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Studies show:
Increased heart rate variability – this allows the circulatory system to respond well to
stress.
The time-resolved spectroscopy system (TRSS) device allows for a reading of oxygen use
in the brain via the reflection of near-infared light off red blood cells. The Japanese
researchers found that 20 minutes of shinrin-Yoku altered cerebral blood flow in a
manner that indicates a state of relaxation.
More specifically, the total haemoglobin levels are jacked up in this area during
anticipation of threat (stress). A decease in levels means the brain is taking a time-out
while in the forest.
(Cortisol) Stress hormones compromise immune defence; in particular, the activities of
frontline defenders, such as antiviral natural killer cells, are suppressed by stress
hormones.
Forest bathing can have a long lasting influence on immune markers. Specifically there
were marked increases in the number of natural killer cells, increases in the functional
activity of these antiviral cells, and increases in the amount of intracellular anticancer
proteins.
The natural chemicals secreted by evergreen trees, collectively known as phytoncide,
have also been associated with improvements in the activity of our front-line immune
defenders.
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Mycobacterium vaccae, has been found to trigger the release of seratonin,
which in turn elevates mood and decreases anxiety.
And on top of that, this little bacterium has been found to improve
cognitive function and possibly even treat cancer and other diseases.
Mary O’Brien, an oncologist at Royal Marsden Hospital inoculated lung
cancer patients with a strain of M. vaccae to see if their symptoms
improved.
She noticed that in addition to fewer cancer symptoms, patients also
demonstrated an improvement in emotional health, vitality, and even
cognitive function.
Dr. Chris Lowry, at Bristol University hypothesized that the body’s
immune response to the bacterium causes the brain to produce seratonin.
He injected mice with the M. vaccae. He found that cytokine levels rose –
cytokines are part of chain reaction, the end result of which is the release
of seratonin.
To test behavioral stress levels, Lowry put the mice into a miniature
swimming pool, knowing that although stressed mice get even more
stressed by swimming, unstressed mice actually enjoy it. And voila!
His M. vaccae mice swam around like happy little ducklings.
Not everything that counts can be
counted, and not everything that
can be counted counts” Albert
Einstein.