Natural Medicine: Head Outside for Better Mental Health, Study Finds

Spending time in nature can provide a boost for people with mental illness, a new review finds.

Even as little as 10 minutes spent in a city park can improve a person’s symptoms, researchers found.

The positive effects of nature approved particularly helpful for people with mood disorders like depression or bipolar disorder, results show.

“We know nature plays an important role in human health, but behavioral health and health care providers often neglect to think about it as an intervention,” said lead researcher Joanna Bettmann, a professor at the University of Utah College of Social Work.

For the review, researchers analyzed results from 45 studies involving nearly 1,500 people diagnosed with mental illnesses.

The studies varied in structure, with some participants spending short amounts of time in a city park and others having multiple-day wilderness adventures.

No matter how long people spent around nature, they always experienced positive results, results show.

Results showed that water-based outdoor spaces — rivers, lakes and oceans — had the greatest positive effect. Camping, farming and gardening activities were the most beneficial.

The new review was published recently in the journal Ecopsychology.

“All of these different types of outdoor spaces delivered positive results, which underscores the importance of preserving green spaces in our natural and built environments,” Bettmann said in a university news release.

However, the researchers warned that hiking or kayaking is no substitute for treatment from a qualified mental health professional.

“Going for a short walk or taking a camping trip should not necessarily be thought of as a replacement for other therapeutic or clinical interventions,” Bettmann said. “Rather, we should consider time in nature as an inexpensive, widely-available resource to support adults’ mental health and overall well-being.”

More information

Yale University has more on the health benefits of nature.

SOURCE: University of Utah, news release, July 18, 2024