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Time spent in nature will save $6 trillion globally
in mental health care costs, claim Australian
researchers
In Brief

 The Facts:
 Spending time outdoors can have a drastically positive impact on our mental
health.

 Reflect On:

How often are you getting outside? A short walk or a sit in a park is enough for you
to reap the benefits Mother Nature has to offer.
Are you stressed, frustrated, feeling down, anxious, having a hard time sleeping? Then
look no further, the remedy you’ve been awaiting is here to soothe and comfort you, to
bring relief, calmness, and happiness. And the best part? It’s absolutely free and
available to all whenever you want it. If you didn’t already know, or just need a
refresher, I’m talking about the great outdoors. Here is a new study that has actually put
a dollar value on the improvement in well-being simply from visiting the park.
Researchers from Griffith University, Australia have concluded that that time spent in
national parks and protected areas saves approximately $6 trillion globally in mental
health care costs. Lead author of the study Ralf Buckley feels that although this is a
conservative estimate, it is still “10 times greater than the global value of park tourism
and 100 times greater than the global value of park agency budgets.”
How Did They Reach This Conclusion?
The researchers surveyed a population-representative sample of around 20,000
Australians from Queensland and Victoria and asked the participants involved in the
study to describe their overall mental health and also how often they visit parks, recently
and over the course of their lives. According to Buckley, his team then used a statistical
regression technique in order to “identify what proportion of their well-being was due to
park visits.”
The researchers found that 2.5 to 3 % of a person’s mental health is determined by how
often they visit parks or get into nature. Although this number might seem quite low, it is
about the same percentage as the effect of having additional income on a person’s
mental health, the study concluded.
What researchers defined as the “health services value” was calculated to be about
$100 billion for Australia’s national parks. These findings suggest that national parks
contribute $6 billion to the global economy.
“You can scale up by mental health factors; quality-adjusted life years; population. You
can scale up by GDP. You can scale up by number of park visits. We don’t know which
will prove to be the best scaling factor. Depending which of those factors we use, we get
a different number. And that’s why we have that big range.”–Ralf Buckley
This study adds to the abundant body of research that measures the economic benefits
from simply spending time outside.
Although spending time on hikes, up mountains and in forests is amazing and feels
great, especially if you can get out of the city and away from noise, pollution, and EMFs,
it is not absolutely necessary. Simply spending 20 minutes in a park is enough to
improve a person’s mental health.
From PRI,
Scientists have also found nature to have a psychological effect on humans’ well-being.
Researchers at Chiba University in Japan pointed to the fact that of the 7 million years
of human evolution, “less than 0.01% of our species’ history has been spent in modern
surroundings.”
“The gap between the natural setting, for which our physiological functions are adapted,
and the highly urbanized and artificial setting that we inhabit is a contributing cause of
the ‘stress state’ in modern people,” the 2016 Chiba University study said. In the future,
the researchers added, long-term data over days, weeks, and months will be needed to
clarify nature’s impact on humans’ physiology.
“Considering the significance of quality of life in our modern stressful society, the
importance of nature therapy will further increase. The therapeutic effects of natural
stimulation suggest a simple, accessible, and cost-effective method to improve the
quality of life and health of modern people,” the study continued.
Forest Bathing
The Japanese and Chinese seem to have figured this one out as they regularly practice
what is referred to as shinrin-yoku, or forest therapies. Here is what self-proclaimed
“nature enthusiast” Professor Emerita Margaret Hansen from the University of San
Francisco said in regards to the practice:
“The Japanese practice is using all of your five senses. Even cupping your ears to bring
in more sound of nature. Or doing some exercises to enhance your peripheral vision
when you’re in nature. Smelling — taking some leaves or pine cones and crunching
them and putting them up to your nose.” (source)
Final Thoughts
Sometimes the simplest solution is right under our noses. In our modern culture we
have to remind ourselves how important nature and the outdoors are for our health and
to actively make time for it. Our health is our greatest wealth! If you are not already
getting outside regularly, perhaps it’s time for a fun little experiment to observe how your
mood shifts from simply getting outside more often. Could you walk or bike to work? Go
sit in a park on your lunch break? Make time for a hike on the weekends? There are lots
of ways we can incorporate more nature into our lives. What are you waiting for?
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By Alanna Ketler

Hi, I'm Alanna! My journey really began in 2007 when I began to question what was
being presented to me, my path led me to Collective Evolution and I joined the team in
2010. Wow, has it been an incredible journey so far! I am extremely passionate about
learning new information! I aim to have a voice for animals and animal rights, I also
enjoy writing about health, consciousness and I am very interested in psychedelics for
healing purposes! I strongly believe that knowledge is power, and the first step to
creating change on this planet is by raising awareness. "If we could see the miracle of a
single flower clearly, our whole life would change." -Jack Kornfield Questions or
comments?
Email
(Source: collective-evolution.com; February 2, 2020; https://tinyurl.com/sd2j7ub)
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