Gardening and green space therapy are becoming increasingly popular in healthcare settings. These interventions provide a healing environment for patients, staff, and visitors.
Gardening is a physical activity that also enhances self-esteem and helps to reduce stress. In addition, gardens are a great place to relax and feel connected to nature.
Physical Exercise
Physical exercise is a powerful way to boost mental health and improve resilience. It can help people cope with anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions positively without resorting to drugs or alcohol.
While it may seem counterintuitive, exercise can reduce and prevent these mental illnesses by increasing serotonin, which helps keep the mood balanced. It also can increase self-esteem, which reduces anxiety and depression.
Research shows that exposure to nature, such as gardens and green spaces, can significantly improve emotional well-being. It also increases levels of vitamin D, which decreases symptoms of depression and improves general mood.
Compared to the effects of urbanicity on mental health, green space has been shown to increase psychological well-being and bolster resilience significantly. It has also been shown to improve mental health in older adults who live in neighborhoods with less access to green areas.
Social Interaction
Social interaction is one of the most important factors for mental health. It helps keep an individual from experiencing long-term stress, which can contribute to mental disorders like depression, anxiety, and PTSD.
Many studies have found that people who are socially isolated for long periods are at a greater risk of developing mental disorders than those actively involved in various relationships.
Gardening and green space therapy are increasingly recognize as valuable complementary therapy and social prescribing for problems related to both mental and physical health problems. It has been shown that people who spend a lot of time in a green environment have positive emotional, cognitive, and physiological outcomes.
However, this research suggests that a combination of mediator variables may be necessary to fully understand, evaluate and predict the experience of psycho-social outcomes due to spending time in green environments. These include access to greenspaces, their quality and perceived value, social cohesion, loneliness, and social contacts.
Sense of Belonging
A Sense of Belonging is a crucial component of mental health. Studies have shown that lacking belonging is linked to mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, loneliness, and hopelessness.
A sense of belonging can also improve your performance at work. A strong culture of belonging increases productivity, reduces turnover, and helps employees feel connected to their job.
Creating a sense of belonging requires effort. Put yourself out there and seek out activities and groups of people with common interests.
A Sense of Belonging is characterize by an awareness of the similarities, not the differences, that connect us to others. It can also involve being open-mind and accepting new ways of thinking.
Relaxation
Gardening promotes relaxation by lowering cortisol, the stress hormone. This is especially helpful for people with mental health conditions, as it reduces stress-related symptoms such as anxiety and depression.
Moreover, gardening increases the levels of feel-good hormones like dopamine and serotonin. This is because gardening is a hands-on activity that gives you a sense of purpose and accomplishment.
It also improves your social life by allowing you to meet new people, makes new friends, and develop a network or inner circle. This is a helpful resource for those with mental health issues, as it can help you feel more connected to others and increase your self-esteem.
Relaxation is a powerful antidote for many chronic health problems, including depression and anxiety, sleep disorders, and inflammatory diseases. Research shows that learning to relax decreases sympathetic arousal and enhances parasympathetic responses, reducing inflammation, pain, and disease.