Soon, your doctors are going to prescribe you a “nature pill” if you want to combat stress that you face on a daily basis. It would be a new kind of prescription for your mental health ailments.
A nature pill, which is not exactly a conventional tablet, is a prescription from a health care provider to go outside and spend some time in nature.
Researchers are making several attempts in order to find ways to tackle the growing epidemic of stress, some call it “nature-deficit disorder.” Stress is a problem faced by the vast majority of people in modernized societies, as they spend a lot of time indoors, in front of their computers, in artificial light and surrounding for a number of days.
Several studies have found that nature comes with a wide range of physical benefits, including reduced inflammation, faster recovery from an injury or illness, lower blood pressure, and even an increased life expectancy. And what about mental health benefits? Nature does offer them too. Spending some time in nature could make you feel good, stimulate your neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin, slow down your pulse, and put you in a state of calmness.
Lead study researcher MaryCarol Hunter, who is also an ecologist and landscape architect, said, “We know that spending time in nature reduces stress, but until now it was unclear how much is enough, how often to do it, or even what kind of nature experience will benefit us.”
She added, “Our ultimate goal is to articulate a ‘nature prescription’ for use by health care providers as a preventive, self-administered health care treatment for mental well-being that is low in cost and effective in everyday settings.”
Hunter instructed 36 participants to spend a set amount of time outdoors three times a week for eight weeks. She requested the participants to determine where, when, and how long they would do it for each time. They were asked to collect saliva samples before and after spending time in nature on four of those days. They could not use social media, exercise, read, or engage in conversations during the study.
After analyzing the saliva samples, Hunter found that spending time in nature significantly dropped cortisol (stress hormone) levels. She also found that the amount of time spent was associated with the amount of stress reduction. And the most effective stress relief benefits were observed from exactly 20 to 30 minutes of spending time in nature because that is when cortisol levels dropped dramatically.
Hunter said, “Our study shows that for the greatest payoff, in terms of efficiently lowering levels of the stress hormone cortisol, you should spend 20 to 30 minutes sitting or walking in a place that provides you with a sense of nature. Health care practitioners can use our results as an evidence-based rule of thumb on what to put in a nature-pill prescription.”
So, the nature pill, or nature prescription, is all about spending 20 to 30 minutes in nature – it could be your local park, a garden, a forested mountainside, a garden, or even your background. The researchers recommend disconnecting from the things that may distract you. You can make a habit of taking your lunch outdoors in nature, of course, when weather permits. You can walk through green fields on your way to work. You can do your morning meditation on the porch or balcony.
