Exposing Oneself to Nature in Order to Improve Mental Health

Have you ever felt stressed? Are you one with Nature? Well this is for you. The primary audience I am trying to get attention from is college students. So, to start this off I'll be talking about nature therapy/ eco therapy and why/how it is good for our mental health and bodily functions because one, it's a stress reliever/anti-depressant, two, kids with ADHD, and three, helps improve short term memory and many other healing properties. First, it helps with stress and depression is that it calms the mind.

Simply going outside for twenty minutes or more has been proven to lower stress levels.

When having stress for so long it can turn into depression which isn't good for you. And people rely on anti-depressant and Lexapro which is for anxiety and there is so much more to just pills prescribed by doctors. Also, being someone who has a lot of stress the outdoors is where I find myself if I feel like there is too much stress on my shoulders.

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According to American Psychological Association they say that peoples stress levels have risen 44 percent in the last five years for concerns on money, work, and the economy etc. with that being said nature really can help people who have stress because it sure helps me whenever I am stress out. So, I was talking to my Grandmother Linda Kane Cornett what she thought of my topic and she was all for it.

She loves the idea of me writing about nature because she loves it and so do I.

I guess you can say she's my partner in crime. She has told me that she has had read articles that say, "being outdoors lowers stress levels." She also has a plaque in her home that reads "lose yourself in nature and find peace" by Ralph Waldo Emerson. It is true we all need to lose our self in nature and find peace. And by being out in nature which was put here for us to enjoy is good for your health. Secondly, this part has to do with ADHD (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder) and how nature therapy helps with this disorder. Nature therapy helps with ADHD, it can help you focus better on specific tasks. An article by ADDitude magazine says that children who spend more time out in the nature have milder symptoms than those who play indoors or in playgrounds.

Also, it talks about how hyperactive kids have less severe symptoms if they play in an open green field rather than a place with a lot of trees. One of my really good friends Lexi Browning has ADHD and I called her to see how nature has helped her be calmer and she said that it makes her feel more focused and driven like it was some sort of brain stimulant.

Also, talks about how her ADHD is more of a physically moving and gets super jumpy and yelly from holding it in for so long she said just simply going on a walk or a hike it helps. And saying that when she does these things she can focus better on things. Also, a lot of the articles I've been reading they've been saying that as little as 20 minutes helps kids with their concentrated. When doctors do studies to see if when these children played in the same green setting, they all had similar outcomes.

Such as just being more focused and aware. A study done by Taylor and Frances E. Kuo, Ph.D. was they took 17 children who were taken on walks during a three-week period and found out that these children did better on a test. From the same article it talks about when your child looks like they need a break from whatever they're go and take a nature walk but not to make it too detailed and leave it to your child to look further into a plant or animal.

Some examples for summer time nature therapy are take a hike, fishing, roam a wooded forest, and/ or plant a garden and nurture it and watch all of the food grow. As for winter there isn't very many things you could do but I did find a few such as look for animal tracks in the snow, build forts, and other fun things to do in the snow. And the only thing that might happen to you during this nature therapy is you might get a scraped knee or dirty clothing. And it you aren't able to go outside for inclement weather try to notice and compare how you feel and function on those days that you are outdoors. But many people would want to argue against nature therapy because they might think that it is taking away for normal therapy or medications they are taking.

And I think that there is a place for both of the therapies here and we should all be open to all therapy and even if it means going out doors and doing stuff. Finally, the third and final part is this talk about how nature therapy helps with short term memory. In an article by PSYBLOG it says that a new study finds that short term memory is improved 20% by just walking in nature or looking at an image of a natural scene. And also, from personal experiences I can remember things when I'm out in nature and shortly after. Which I think is pretty neat. and back to my Grandmother she was saying that when she is out in nature, she feels more connected and deep thinks about things and can remember things. Also, low vitamin D levels are linked with memory loss in older adults.

And I'm guess that is because a lot of older people stay inside a lot due to pain, ability to walk, or just how old they are etc. and In the article it says research has shown fully half of the U.S. population over the age of 65 has insufficient or deficient levels of vitamin D. and that has to do with short term memory. previous studies also have linked low vitamin D levels to higher risk of dementia, but that's not what this essay is about. Back to the short-term memory loss.

I think that just opening your mind to the nature and beauty around you it opens your mind to things you haven't thought about in years or just 10 minutes ago. It talks about in an article that many people already decorate their home with images of landscapes, probably without realising it is benefitting their own wellbeing.

Not everyone will have the same outcome with this type of therapy I just know that it has helped me in all of the ways I've listed above and honestly everyone should be doing nature therapy even if you do not believe it has healing powers. In conclusion, I just want to say that this was a really hard topic because I could find many articles. But overall, I think that people try nature therapy and just be more one with nature. Each section has a lot of information about how nature therapy works a lot of different things and you don't have to believe it works but for me it 100% does and I really hope you guys trying being one with nature.