Getting Outside: How Nature Impacts Your Mental Health

If you’ve ever stood in the middle of a meadow, gone for a hike, or spent the day on the ocean, you may have found a sense of peace, calm, or connectedness overcome you. There is something about being in nature that melts the stress away. It turns out, that research would agree with you! Nature has been shown to have significant positive impacts on stress reduction and overall mental health, encouraging more people to get outside for the sake of their health.

What about nature makes it so good for us?

Everyone has their own descriptors for why nature may make them feel relaxed. Whether it’s the sound of the waves crashing on shore, the crisp mountain air, or the way light shines through a canopy of trees. But with an abundance of research done on nature’s impact on mental health, we have found there are some very specific reasons for its beneficial effects.

There are two types of environments named in the studies - restorative and non-restorative - each having a different stimulative effect on individuals. Urban environments are built in a non-restorative way, causing cognitive fatigue due to overstimulation and the need for near constant directed attention to overcome this. In contrast, natural environments are restorative, inherently capturing one’s attention while simultaneously eliciting feelings of pleasure.

There are several aspects of restorative environments that make them so rejuvenating. According to Restorative Attention Theory, developed by Kaplan and Kaplan (1989), natural environments are seen to reduce the demand on executive-based attention, allowing for greater restoration of depleted attentional resources. They specifically seem to restore directed attention, which frequently supports executive functioning and self-regulation processes. Other important features of restorative environments include the experiences of being away and extent. The experience of being away is that in which a person feels a sense of escape from the demands of daily life, and extent, in which a sense of vastness and connectedness to nature helps further promote a sense of stress-relief.

Impacts on Mental Health

Several studies have been conducted to find out if nature has positive impacts on mental health. Above, we see how nature can restore individuals to a sense of calm and why this is, but what about different components of mental health itself?

Researchers have increasingly recognized the importance of external factors on our mental health, such as the characteristics of our homes, work, school, and neighborhoods. In their studies, they have found that nature has significant positive impacts on six different domains for mental health:

• Emotional well-being

• Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

• Overall mental health

• Stress

• Resilience

• Health-related quality of life (HRQOL)

Participants who were in some way exposed to or interacted with natural environments had decreases in stress and ADHD symptoms, and increases in resilience, overall mental and emotional well-being, and HRQOL. What was interesting is that in situations where one did not have direct access to a natural environment, being shown videos or pictures of nature also had positive effects. So those landscape photos in the doctor’s waiting room or slideshow playing on your desktop screensaver can actually help!

In children with ADHD, symptoms dramatically decreased (72.7%) as they were exposed and interacted with natural environments, showing much improvement with the ability to sit still and concentrate for class or homework after playing outside for a period of time. Individuals demonstrated 60% increases in resiliency factors such as self-efficacy, coping skills, and relatedness after engaging with nature as well as a decrease in emotional reactivity.

How do we use this information?

Knowing that nature can improve mental health is one thing, but installing it in your everyday life is another. So how do we get more exposure to nature in our busy lives?

It can be quite simple when we consider that exposure is all that is really needed. Here is a list of ten ideas to increase your and your children’s time within natural, restorative environments.

1. Go for a walk outside before or after work

2. Eat a meal outdoors on a patio, in the yard, or a courtyard

3. Sit outdoors while your children play

4. Let natural light indoors by opening window shades

5. Decorate indoor spaces with live plants

6. Hang up large photos or tapestries of landscapes

7. Take breaks from work outdoors

8. Visit a park, stream, or local garden

9. Plant a garden in your backyard or a container garden for your porch

10. Plan a nature trip to go hiking, kayaking, rock-climbing, fishing, beach-going, etc.

Consider these options and see how else you may incorporate nature into daily life. You’d be surprised how easy it can become once you get started. As you spend time in nature, remember to be mindful of the experience to enhance its benefits, taking in the sights, sounds, and smells, and allowing yourself to truly feel the restorative benefits it holds.

Citations:

Pearson, D. G., & Craig, T. (2014). The great outdoors? exploring the mental health benefits of Natural Environments. Frontiers in Psychology, 5. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01178

Tillmann, S., Tobin, D., Avison, W., & Gilliland, J. (2018). Mental health benefits of interactions with nature in children and teenagers: A systematic review. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 72(10), 958–966. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2018-210436