Introduction “You ought to get yourself a houseplant,” was something my grandfather said to me awhile back. Had I really been paying attention to his facial expression, I would have known that he wasn 't joking. “A houseplant, really?” I smiled in disbelief before he answered, “Taking care of something else allows you to focus less on yourself, and could relieve your stress.” While this was valuable advice, I didn 't really take it into account until months later. After I moved into my new apartment junior year of college I finally decided to try out my grandfather 's advice. Admittedly, the couple low bargained Walmart Brand houseplants that hung from the ceiling proved to be a nice touch to the living room. However, emerging research is starting to prove that there 's more to the aesthetic appeal of owning houseplants as close involvement with nature renders positive cognitive and affective benefits. From long walks in the park, to owning houseplants, to simply viewing videos or photographs of open scenery, researchers have uncovered nature 's indisputable healing qualities. Subjects within experiments reporting of significant changes in …show more content…
While urbanization may prove beneficial in terms of promoting diversity among ethnic groups, the consequences of mental illness resulting from socioeconomical disparities speak volumes about its harmful effects on mental health. As a result of these factors, it is safe to say that urbanization is contributing to a myriad of mental disparities in addition to depression such as drug addiction, substance abuse, dementia, etc. Depression has been suspected to be specifically connected with this trend as urban settings provide the perfect soil for alienation and lack of social support due to pollution, violence, and
“We’ve always known that spending time in nature is good for us, but now we have real evidence that spending time in the forest, specifically, can create measurable changes in our bodies and minds that have a significant effect on out health”. As introduced by Story in the aforementioned quote, this is the subject of what will come to be known as Forest-Bathing. Colleen M. Story is a “northwest-based writer, editor, and ghostwriter… and specializes in the health and wellness field. Coleen is the founder or Writing and Wellness”. On July 2nd, 2014, and article by Colleen Story titled “Want to Prevent Cancer? Take a Walk in the Forest- Studies on ‘Forest Bathing’” was published on the Renegade Health blog. Her work is meant to provide
Frank Lloyd Wright is one of America’s most influential architects that has left a legacy of structures that are collaged with Nature (Mead, 2014, February). Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of landscape architecture, has left a legacy of tranquil spaces hidden within parks that are known for their “picturesque” qualities (Mead, 2014, January). These two men are completely different with the designs that they’ve created simply because they are using different mediums, but ultimately there aren’t a lot of contrasting elements to their designs. The similarities are evident when you begin to look at their main priority when designing; mental health and wellness. With health and wellness as a mutual focus it is easy to find that they had complementary design influences, theories, and design principles. To create a design that successfully helps to soothe the mind they both found that Nature is the best tool to use. This tool is now their unique contribution to design history, and as a result it stands out as something that today’s designers want to mimmic when focusing on mental health and wellness.
There is this feeling we all experience when we step away from the chaos of rushing cars, infrastructure, and artificial lights, and we step into nature. Some describe it as bliss, comfort, excitement, pleasure or just pure happiness. This is the answer to the question Paul Bloom asks “Why should we care about nature?” in his article “Natural Happiness.” Paul goes through this process in which he uncovers the fact that “real natural habitats provide significant sources of pleasure for modern humans”, regardless of our need for food, clean water, and air. There are 3 main arguments that Paul makes in this article that I find particularly interesting, they include: “Our hunger for the natural is everywhere. In many regards our species has already kissed nature goodbye, and we are better off for it. There is a considerable mismatch between
The relationship between mental health and poverty can prove to be complicated at times because of an overwhelmingly large number of outside
Mental illness is an addition to all of the previously listed perceived disadvantages of Native Americans by those of other ethnicities. Many believe that Native Americans are at a higher risk for mental illness than those of European descent. Many also believe that Native Americans have more people suffer from depression than their white counterparts (Stark & Wilkins, American Indian Politics and the American Political System, 2011). There have been studies conducted to test whether or not this is the case, with mixed results. Some studies say that Natives are at a higher risk and others say they are not. This discrepancy makes the answer unclear. If Natives are actually at a higher risk for and have more people suffering from depression than individuals of European descent, the question to ask is, “why?” Several factors play into depression and other mental illness, including biology, social standing, history, family, and any preexisting/comorbid diseases that could contribute to or cause depression.
The Social Determinants of health are what people experience in terms of birth, living, work and age all of which can contribute to the overall well being of individuals. This essay will focus on the social determinants of housing, which will examine the issue of income, poverty, overcrowding, the difference between social and private housing, unsatisfactory living arrangements, and green spaces; all of which can go on to affect the individual and their family’s physical health and mental health state.
Inner City Communities are often areas which are both densely populated and deteriorating(quote). The areas and its residents have strongly been correlated with social and economical disparity. Residents of inner city communities have been plagued with problems including: “high unemployment, poor health care, inadequate educational opportunities, dilapidated housing, high infant mortality, and extreme poverty” (Attitudes and Perceptions, n.d). Though the inner city communities have been stricken with
Have you noticed that we feel a powerful desire to connect with nature during difficult times? Whether we are injured, depressed or sad our inclination towards nature increases. Patients in hospitals recover faster if they are in a room with a nice view. Why? Because nature is so pure and powerful that can restore our spirits and heal our bodies and minds. The beauty of nature has been praised in art, poetry, writings and films. Naturalists, poets and writers have documented the many benefits of spending time in nature. "Calypso Borealis" by Muir and "I wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by Wordsworth are two great pieces of literature where our hearts are filled with an indescribable emotion. John Muir and William Wordsworth express their relationship
...uller-Thompson et al., 2000). In general, it is assumed that people living in a well - developed environment are more likely in better health condition since they could be more active outside of their residence (Kuo et al., 1998); while poor housing condition could increase the risks of physical health problem (Dunn, 2000).
Nature is the best Medicine. “Just feel the magic in the air and the power in the breeze, feel the energy of the plants, the brushes and the trees, let yourself be surrounded by nature at its best, calm yourself, focus and let the magic do the rest. “ - Sally Walker Many have said that nature is the best medicine for the soul. Have you ever noticed the simple bliss and purity nature holds? Never competing, never degrading, never giving up the purity it holds.
According to The World Health Organisation (WHO) a Social Determinant of Health “Are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age” Social determinates of health (The World Health Organisation, 2017). (Charted institute of Environmental Health, 2015) says that poor housing can lead to poor health and intensify existing health conditions meaning housing is a key determinant of health as it affects people from birth to older age. Throughout this essay the physical mental health needs of individuals, families and communities will be shown and how housing may affect this.
Social hierarchy and conditions within a community has a direct impact on the health and wellness of the people that reside within the boundaries of that city. Major contributors to the welfare of a neighborhood include but are not limited to: the area in which they live, their social standing within the population and the income of the individual or family. Each factor has a severe influence on the life expectancy of the peoples within the society.
...family status of individuals. For example, poor Blacks have a low level of psychological well-being in urban areas and a high level of well-being in rural areas. The opposite is true for Whites. The location and distribution of white people across urban environments tend to be more scattered than that of Blacks. This leads to a decreased likelihood of poor Whites experiencing the problems found in inner-city neighborhoods characterized by substandard housing, inferior schools, and high crime rates. Blacks living in rural areas, although problematic in some ways, likely experience less stress on a day-to-day basis than their urban counterparts. Although poverty is typically associated with lower general well-being, its implications do not appear to be distributed by location while also demonstrating that poverty is not a homogeneous experience for individuals.
In our culture, money, status, and social power all play a part in how individuals think that others perceive them. There is growing evidence that shows the link between socioeconomic status and unhealthy psychological outcomes in mental health. When looking at higher levels of socioeconomic status for youth it shows a more positive and healthy psychological outcome for youth and their mental health. Studies have shown that there are higher rates of attempted suicide, cigarette smoking and engaging in episodic heavy drinking (“Pardon Our Interruption”). Other studies have shown that lower levels of socioeconomic status have been linked to emotional and behavioral difficulties, like anxiety, depression, attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorders (“Pardon Our
Gardening or horticulture is the activity tending and cultivating a garden especially as a pastime. In the other words, gardening is the job or activity of working in a garden, growing and taking care of plants, and keeping it attractive. Retrieved from dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/English/gardening. Horticultural therapy is a relatively new discipline combining horticulture and rehabilitation disciplines. It employs plants and gardening activities in therapeutic and rehabilitation activities to improve human wellbeing. Gardening is a very good therapeutic activity for someone who have disabled and mentally ill especially depression because it can be effective for healing, restoring and improving health and wellbeing in the recovery of depressive symptoms (Letitcia Y. Alston, 2010). This can be