Even as little as ten minutes spent in nature can have short term benefits for adults living with mental illness.
Research published in Ecopsychology found that any form of nature exposure, including to urban nature, could have benefits.
“Adults with a range of mental illness are likely to feel better even after as little as 10 minutes of being in nature. This nature exposure can be urban nature or more wilderness kinds of nature: our study found significant effects of nature exposure no matter kind of natural environment the participants were in, no matter what activity they were doing (walking, sitting, running, gardening, etc), and no matter what kind of mental illness the participants had,” Joanna Bettmann, lead author of the study and a professor at the University of Utah College of Social Work told Theravive.
There have been numerous studies that have found spending time in nature can improve mood and cognition as well as reduce stress.
It’s something Bettmann has felt personally.
“As a person who loves being outdoors, I was hypothesizing that the outdoors made me feel good for a reason. But I didn’t know the science which backed up that feeling. So that’s why I decided to investigate how being in nature affects mental health,” she said.
She conducted a meta-analysis of 30 years worth of published research on the physical, mental and social health effect of exposure to nature.
14 168 studies met the requirement of the initial search criteria. This was then condensed down to focus closely on 45 studies.
Those studies involved 1492 participants who had a diagnosed mental illness. Some of the studies included in the analysis examined nature experience on their own, whilst others examined structured therapeutic interventions.
The amount of time spent in nature varied between studies. Some involved spending just 10 minutes in a park in a city, whilst other studies examined the impact of spending days in a wilderness experience.
Despite this, different durations and patterns of exposure to nature still all produced a positive result.
Water based outdoor spaces like oceans, rivers and lakes were found to have the most positive effect. The same was found for camping, gardening and farming.
Mountains, forests and urban nature was also found to have a significantly positive effect.
“Our policy makers need to protect, preserve, and expand green spaces across all communities. Green spaces can be particularly hard to find in lower-income communities, an issue known as “green space equity.” Given what we know about nature exposure and mental health, green space preservation and expansion should be considered a public health measure to support mental health symptom reduction and better mental health in all communities,” Bettmann said.
The researchers say their analysis suggests that prescribing nature exposure to adult patients is an important mental health intervention.
Notably, such an internation doesn’t require oversight from a medical provider, is affordable and is accessible.
The study authors note that having a focus on increasing exposure to nature could potentially help ease pressures on the health system.
“I’d love to see more studies which replicate our research so that policymakers can use this research and take action to improve green spaces for all populations, supporting our better mental health in these challenging times,” Bettmann said.
She argues that it doesn’t matter how long a person spends in nature or what kind of natural area they have available to them, even a small amount of time outdoors in nature can make a difference.
“Spend time outdoors! Find an area near your home which has more green spaces than concrete,” she said.
“Schedule yourself time to be in it, even as little as 10 minutes, to support your own mental health. Remember that it doesn’t matter what you are doing in that natural area – just be there!”