Trees are good for your mental health
Research shows that access to trees reduces rates of depression, lowers levels of the brains main stress hormone, cortisol, and improves cognitive function. This is especially true in cities and urban areas, where residents are significantly more likely to battle depression and anxiety. By breaking up concrete jungles with urban forests, we can help make people happier and healthier.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one in five U.S. adults experience mental illness. Its a troubling trend that affects people of all backgrounds.
Despite the overwhelming amount of research available, theres seemingly little awareness among U.S. adults about how trees can positively affect our day-to-day well-being. According to a Harris Poll survey commissioned by the Arbor Day Foundation, only 41% of American adults valued a trees ability to boost mental health. I believe this is because, too often, green space is seen as a luxury.
https://www.treehugger.com/trees-must-have-when-addressing-mental-health-7503294
I feel fortunate that I have 4 big trees in my yard, and 2 baby ones. There is nowhere nearby to walk in nature. The town has a park but it is always full of people.
mucifer
(24,890 posts)time I didn't get it. Now I do.
I love trees and they do make me feel a little better when I'm struggling.
me too.
snowybirdie
(5,664 posts)from a second floor condo to one on the first. Its surrounded by large flowering trees and greenery. We find it so peaceful and calming to sit on the porch and enjoy. You are so right!
hermetic
(8,646 posts)Good for you.
markie
(22,937 posts)this poem...
WHEN I AM AMONG THE TREES -by Mary Oliver
When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.
Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, Stay awhile.
The light flows from their branches.
And they call again, Its simple, they say,
and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.
Thank you for sharing it.
markie
(22,937 posts)to have 4 acres of wild trees and nearby forests and woods to hike and explore... I truly wish the same for everyone...
I invite people to come stay on my tent platform and then they learn about the bears....
Bears? Oh my!
Rebl2
(14,870 posts)trees in my backyard, including a few flowering trees. In the summer I love to go out on the back deck before it gets too hot. Enjoy the trees and the birds and other little creatures. It really helps calm my mind.
Morning bird song is the best way to start the day.
yonder
(10,005 posts)I hope to be up at my favorite hidey hole in the trees today.
n/t
GreenWave
(9,320 posts)But some trees bear nuts ( 4 of them)
hermetic
(8,646 posts)I used to have a black walnut but it blew down in a storm. Replaced it with a chokecherry which has deep red leaves.
GreenWave
(9,320 posts)Nut trees are two pecans and two filberts. (decided it was cheaper to plant the tree and harvest them than pay way too much at the store)
Pecans plus zinc sulfate (for healthier nuts) produce about 3 five gallons of pecans w/o husks. They last for a year! Filberts are still babies.
RainCaster
(11,594 posts)They have kept my sanity through some really tough moments. Deer, bear, raptors and songbirds have all contributed to the cause of my stability.
hermetic
(8,646 posts)We are all the proof in the pudding here, or however that saying goes....
patphil
(7,051 posts)This morning I heard a lot of birds making a ruckus, and then a big hawk swooped out of the woods and landed on a branch in a nearby tree. The birds followed the hawk, including a robin that was pretty agitated.
Anyway, a little bird dive bombed the hawk, so it decided it was time to leave.
Always a bit of action; plenty to hear and see out there.
It's very calming and therapeutic.
Mother Nature entertains.
murielm99
(31,478 posts)on our property!
We planted many of them ourselves, over the 45 years we have lived here. They have grown, and we have a beautiful canopy, front and back. This is the best time of year to enjoy our trees.
hermetic
(8,646 posts)about watching trees grow. Turns out that's also the title of a famous mystery. Who knew?
Bayard
(24,145 posts)Many towering pines, oak, maple, dogwood, and sassafras. In the 10 years we've lived here, we've turned a barren, "front yard," into an island of evergreens, birch, aspens, maples, apple, and peach trees, with a farm pond full of ducks and geese, and a small runover pond with flowers and large rocks all around it. Its an ongoing project that we gladly take on.
The scent of the forest trees is intoxicating, especially after its rained.
It's breaking my heart thinking of all the trees that are burning in Canada.
Bayard
(24,145 posts)There's already not enough trees in the world, and its so beautiful up there.
Duppers
(28,257 posts)I bet if you had time, you could write a novel about your place.
Some day, before they put me in a wheelchair, I'm coming to visit.