Verified by 
Environment
Going Green Is Good for You
Getting back in tune with nature is great for your mental health.
Posted September 9, 2024 Reviewed by Devon Frye
Key points
- Green social prescribing improves mood and decreases anxiety.
- It's also more cost effective than psychotherapy.
- Natural environments tend to be better for us than urban environments.
- Green spaces in urban environments can also improve well-being.
No, I’m not talking about becoming vegan or improving your recycling methods (although neither of those things is bad). Instead, I am talking about good old Mother Nature herself.
The natural world, you see, isn’t just beneficial for your mental health and well-being; it is essential. We generally need more of it, not less; that’s why I recommend getting out in it as much as you can, and it’s why you’re probably better off going for a walk in a wooded forest or nearby park than around the block.
But don’t just take my word for it; let’s look at the science. First up, we have a big study from researchers at the University of Exeter, who have just found that nature prescribing helped to both improve happiness levels and reduce levels of anxiety.1
The study, which was published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), was a partnership effort that also included the University of Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam University, and the University of Plymouth. It involved nearly 8,500 people, which is a big cohort. The study participants weren’t drawn from just one area, but from seven project test pilots across England.
All of them had mental health needs, all of them were recipients of a "green prescription," and all of them took part in a variety of nature-based activities, including conservation projects, horticulture, gardening, and exercise (outside, not inside). Green social prescribing is where your doctor or your social worker can refer you to a nearby nature-based project or activity for the betterment of your mental health.
Prior to the study, the participant’s happiness and life satisfaction levels were predominately worse than the national average but, afterwards, they were dropping words such as “joyful,” and “happy,” and, even “calm.”
Professor Ruth Garside of the European Centre for Environment and Human Health at the University of Exeter said the study showed that green social prescribing was an effective way of supporting people. She also called for further investment in such projects and initiatives. It does make good financial sense to do so, as a typical green prescribing initiative will cost around £500, whilst a course of, say, cognitive behaviour therapy could cost double that or more.
Elsewhere, another only just-been-published study using Earth observation data has also discovered the link between green spaces and improved mental health.2 Published in Scientific Reports, researchers used remote sensing and census data to investigate potential connections between environmental factors and mental health disorders.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, they found that higher tree cover at the neighbourhood level was associated with a better mental health index, whilst a lower mental health index was associated with a higher human development index.
This is nothing new as, back in March, another study—again in Scientific Reports but this time focusing on an online survey in Brisbane and Sydney, Australia, conducted across a month from April to May—found that people with a stronger connection to nature lowered their levels of stress and anxiety the more they utilised public green spaces. 3
Elsewhere, other older studies have found that people feel much better walking through the woods rather than taking a stroll down a city street; that birdsong improves mental health, as do walks along canals and rivers; and that just one hour in a forest can significantly lower stress levels.
With more than eight billion people on the planet, increased urbanisation is impossible to ignore, but so too are its potentially detrimental effects on our mental health and wellbeing. But what if soaring levels of anxiety and depression could be halted, or even reversed, by bringing nature back wherever and however we can?
The field of psychotherapy itself has already cottoned on to the fact any current modality would benefit from biophilic, psycho-spiritual, and pastoral elements incorporated into it (so-called "fourth wave" psychology). Enquiries into nature therapy—or ecotherapy—alongside traditional forms of therapy, are also growing steadily. So too is interest in such nature-based spiritual practices as Shamanism and Druidry.
As the famous naturalist, author, and environmental philosopher John Muir once famously wrote, “And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.” But what if that forest could help you keep both?
Nature never went away; instead, thinking that we were separate, we left it. But it’s always been there, waiting for us. We just need to realise that we are an intrinsic part of the natural world and come back to it.
In the meantime, I know I’m going to be OK, at least for now, in part because I recently grew so fed up with inner-city life that I moved to the middle of a forest. I can heartily recommend it as a stressbuster.
Now, I’m off for another walk. I may be gone for quite some time. I’ll be taking my dog with me. Dogs are also good for your mental health and wellbeing, but that’s a whole other story.
References
