Why Does Nature Make You Feel Better?

It’s not a huge surprise that nature is beneficial to our mental health. But why?
Hosted by: Hank Green

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Sources:
https://nhsforest.org/sites/default/files/Dose_of_Nature_evidence_report_0.pdf
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiozaDAvqrbAhULL8AKHV-SCxMQFggpMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dora.dmu.ac.uk%2Fbitstream%2Fhandle%2F2086%2F4783%2FThe_landscapes_of_public_lunatic_asylums_in_England__1808_1914_2.pdf%3Fsequence%3D2%26isAllowed%3Dy&usg=AOvVaw1U6stmxd3NAac4UHrSqdmW
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/238428905_Why_Is_Nature_BeneficialThe_Role_of_Connectedness_to_Nature
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/088394179290028H
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4021390/
http://willsull.net/resources/270-Readings/BratmanHamiltonDaily2012.pdf

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40 thoughts on “Why Does Nature Make You Feel Better?”

  1. Yet another reason why it's important to get away from a workplace that gets you stuck in a windowless cubicle farm

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  2. Nature doesn't have mechanical noise, radiation from electronics, artificial substances in the air that act as allergens, our personal possession as distraction, etc.

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  3. Nature only makes me feel better when I’m not being attacked by flies, swarmed by nats, and eaten by mosquitoes

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  4. I'm glad they could admit the reason is elusive. I'm surprised that you didn't suggest the aesthetic pleasure and the relaxing patterns as reasons, as well as sunlight. You may not understamd how beauty can have this power but without it we might as well die.

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  5. This video very well correlates with my experience. I have severe ADHD and occasional mild bouts with depression and just walking around outside always makes me feel better, to the point I moved to a big city where I could commute on foot & public transport (instead of driving my car down the highway from the suburbs) specifically to spend more time outside and around other people to help with the depression. It doesn't even matter if I interact with anyone, just being reminded that I'm part of this big city in my little way makes me happy, and seeing the other crazy weirdos living their strange lives makes me happy, hell even knowing some of them feel lonely like me makes me feel less lonely.

    Sometimes when I'm home feeling bummed I'll convince myself not to go out for a walk because I have nowhere to go, no objective, but if I go anyway & just wander around for a bit maybe walk near the park at night or past the bars to see who's inside on a Tuesday night, I always end up feeling better. The more I meditated on it the more it seemed to me the peace & happiness was coming from the sense of belonging. I long ago came to terms with the cosmic scale insignificance of everything so I don't care if my part is 'insignificant', I'm still a part of this incredible machine that is life & I strive not to add suffering to other peoples' lives & people sometimes tell me I've added happiness and there's a good satisfaction in being part of that meaning in the here & now.

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  6. my thesis is quite simple: being in nature and "connectedness" is not any hippy platonic stuff, it's objectively superior and healthier for the animal-man. In nature your senses get activated more in tune of how they were purposed to be, for example, instead of staring at walls, there's a horizon, a wide view with depth, instead of sounds of plastic and square things clunking, your hearing can be more like a radar noticing things happening near and close, there's a constant flux of different smells from everything instead of a dead nothing or "a lil soap whiff", same with touch, muscles, taste, everything, not to mention a quiet mind and freedom from clocks. It's clear: modern life is an inhospitable environment. BTW, I'm an anarchist(the leftist kind obviously).

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  7. 1. Because nature is a representation of freedom. Freedom from control and homogeneity.

    2. Our various structures are overengineered to serve themselves, rather than the people that build them or use them. They may contain a variety of chemicals that are just overall terrible for us.

    3. Nature may possess microbes necessary for our health. By physically distancing ourselves from nature, we lose these microbes.

    4. We gain a better sense of perspective and purpose when we're not solely hanging around other humans. We understand ourselves better when surrounded by other organisms.

    5. Evolutionarily familiar environment.

    6. You can be away from other humans without actually being alone.

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  8. I would like to see if there evidence showing psychologic/physiologic changes with skin contact with nature, like walking barefoot. I find that I feel better when I’m barefoot on grass or sand.

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  9. I'm out in a forest, but it's not a very pretty one. Also, it's too hot and humid and filled with ticks and other blood-sucking creatures and I'm highly allergic to every grass and weed species out here, as well as some of the trees. The storms here are terrible and almost always knock out the electricity and I get major anxiety when I see lightning and hear thunder. Every time I hear a rumble of thunder, I have to stop everything I'm doing on the computer and unplug everything (because one time, a lighting storm destroyed half the electronics in the house). There are also tornadoes, which are terrifying. And floods. Maybe if I lived somewhere else, I'd enjoy being out in nature, but not here. In fact, I've been far more depressed since I moved here than when I lived in a city.

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