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  • It's probably no surprise that nature is beneficial to our mental health.

  • From hitting the beach, to taking a long stroll through the park, multiple studies have shown

  • that there's something about nature that helps us feel happier, more focused, or just generally better.

  • But why that happens is trickier to figure out.

  • From what psychologists can tell, though, it's not just about getting in some sunshine

  • and Vitamin D. Instead, it might have to do with our sense of belonging.

  • The idea that nature is healing is not a new one, and exposure to natural environments

  • has been an important part of mental health treatments for a long time.

  • As early as the Middle Ages, monasteries for those with mental illnesses created so-called

  • restorative gardens.

  • And in the 1800s, people designing mental hospitals would try and make sure their buildings

  • were surrounded by acres of natural land.

  • So far, modern research really supports this idea, too.

  • Studies have shown that being exposed to naturewhether it's a wilderness preserve or

  • a tree-lined city streetcan improve wellbeing in a bunch of ways, both in those with and

  • without clinical conditions.

  • For example, a 2011 meta-analysis looked at studies involving a total of almost 850 participants

  • mostly students.

  • It found that exercising in a natural environment resulted in higher feelings of revitalization

  • than doing the same exercise indoors.

  • And another study from 2012 found that walking through nature for 50 minutes provided a mood

  • boost and other cognitive benefits for twenty participants with depression.

  • There's also evidence to suggest that those with schizophrenia, ADHD, and a whole host

  • of other illnesses experience similar benefits just from taking in a little scenery.

  • So far, there are several factors that have been floated around as possible explanations for this.

  • One is that nature allows us to recover from stress and attention fatigue.

  • This is the idea that urban environments have too many things competing for our attention.

  • Other studies suggest that nature offers exercise opportunities, facilitation of social interaction

  • and development, and opportunities for personal development in general.

  • But a lot of these factors haven't been investigated in rigorous depth.

  • They also don't really explain the mechanisms of how we gain psychological benefits just

  • from existing in nature, rather than running around in nature, chilling with friends in nature.

  • In fact, most research on the subject seems to describe the mechanisms as "elusive."

  • Which is psychologist speak for, “We dunno.

  • We're workin' on it.”

  • Still, that doesn't mean we don't have a hypotheses or two.

  • Some researchers argue that these positive effects, at least in part, come about because

  • of an increased sense of connectedness to the natural world.

  • One significant experiment about this was published in 2009 in Environment and Behavior,

  • and it looked at the effect of exposure to nature on mood and problem solving.

  • In this study, 76 students were asked to complete questionnaires on mood, along with the Connectedness

  • with Nature Scaleor CNSwhich measures pretty much what the name implies.

  • It asks participants to rate how they feel about some vaguely hippy-ish stuff, like 'Right

  • now I'm feeling a sense of oneness with the natural world'.

  • Or 'I'm feeling like the natural world is a community to which I belong'.

  • After rating 13 of those peace and love statements, the students were split into two groups, and

  • bundled onto buses for a field trip.

  • They took a 20-minute drive to either a nature reserve or a downtown parking lot.

  • Then, they spent around 15 minutes silently walking, sitting, and taking in the scenery

  • before filling out those questionnaires again.

  • The results showed that participants who went to the nature reserve reported significantly

  • more of a mood boost from their trip.

  • Their feelings of being connected to nature were also higher than those who took a stroll in the parking lot.

  • Now, this in itself isn't massively surprising.

  • You can imagine it's probably hard to feel at one with the universe standing on a stretch of concrete.

  • What was more interesting is that the CNS survey results seemed to mediate the effects of the environment.

  • More specifically, when people reported that they felt part of nature, their mood boost

  • tended to be bigger.

  • So it wasn't just about seeing nature; it was about feeling like they are part of it.

  • The scientists behind this experiment argue that it's that sense of connectedness that

  • causes all those positive benefits.

  • And they cite something called the biophilia hypothesis as a possible mechanism for this.

  • The hypothesis theorizes that since, evolutionarily speaking, we're used to living in natural environments,

  • we all have some innate urge to seek out nature.

  • The researchers suggest that we need to see ourselves as part of it, belonging to the

  • same group as the various plant and wildlife species we share our planet with.

  • It can be hard to prove evolutionary hypotheses like this, especially when they're as abstract as this one.

  • But the concept that we need to belong to groups to stay mentally healthy is one of

  • the main principles of social psychology research.

  • In fact, it's such an important concept that having a sense of belonging with other

  • people is seen as a core human need in some models.

  • Not having this sense of belonging can lead to things like lowered immune response, and

  • poorer sleep quality.

  • And, conveniently, those are exactly the kind of functions researchers have seen improve

  • when we're exposed to natural environments.

  • So it's not that huge of a stretch to think that maybe that need to feel like we belong

  • extends beyond human interactions, to seeing ourselves as part of the wider ecosystem on our planet.

  • It's a plausible idea, and the results of this study certainly support it.

  • But like with a lot of other big ideas, it would help to have more research to be sure.

  • If nothing else, though, studies do suggest that time in nature is really good for you.

  • So even if we don't totally know why, it's probably worth visiting your local park sometime.

  • Your brainand your moodwill thank you.

  • Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Psych!

  • If you enjoy hanging out in nature and want to learn more about it, you can check out

  • one of our newest sister channels, Nature League!

  • In it, SciShow Psych's very own Brit Garner explores all things wildand takes you

  • on some field trips as a bonus.

  • You can find it at youtube.com/natureleague.

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[♪ INTRO ]

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