Did you know? Today is World Mental Health Day, as designated by the World Health Organization. They note that “Depression affects more than 350 million people of all ages, in all communities, and is a significant contributor to the global burden of disease. Although there are known effective treatments for depression, access to treatment is a problem in most countries and in some countries fewer than 10% of those who need it receive such treatment.”
We’ve long believed in the healing power of nature to help those in mental distress and suffering from depression, and in the past several years, scientific evidence has come up to prove this point. As our founder Tom Stoner has said, “In the end this is a public health issue. The metrics for physical health and mental health are concerning to everyone. The cost of treating stress is breaking the bank. Yet research that is being done all over the world is continually proving that being in nature is one of the most cost effective ways with the least side effect of dealing with this problem. We all know that being in nature calms the spirit, exercise tones the body now we have to find a way to make sure that it is documented so that public bodies will make the investments to bring them into being.”
One study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health stated that people living in more urban environments had a higher prevalence of 15 of the 24 conditions, with the relationship strongest for anxiety disorder and depression. Aned in areas with only 10% of green space, about 2.6% of people experienced anxiety disorders, compared to 1.8% of people in areas with 90% green space. The disparity was evident for depression as well — 3.2% of people living in more urbanized areas had depression versus 2.4% of those in more rural areas.
And in Japan, many studies have been done on the efficacy of “forest bathing” — basically, hanging out in nature amongst trees. Researchers, who conducted experiments in 24 forests across Japan, found that “forest environments could lower concentrations of cortisol, lower pulse rate, lower blood pressure, increase parasympathetic nerve activity and lower sympathetic nerve activity compared with city settings.â€
So if you or a loved one suffers from depression or other mental health issues, consider a walk in nature. It may help in more ways than you realize.
