I love all research that support green space and nature for anxiety and stress reduction. And I’m thrilled to see this taking a front seat in cities where people often have less access to greenery! A great example is the beautiful Central Park in New York City.
New research is reviewed in this report in Science Daily: Why green spaces in cities are good for grey matter
Walking between busy urban environments and green spaces triggers changes in levels of excitement, engagement and frustration in the brain, a study of older people has found.
Researchers at the Universities of York and Edinburgh say the findings have important implications for architects, planners and health professionals as we deal with an aging population.
The volunteers experienced beneficial effects of green space and preferred it, as it was calming and quieter, the study revealed.
Dr Chris Neale, Research Fellow, from the University of York’s Stockholm Environment Institute, said: “There are concerns about mental wellbeing as the global population becomes older and more urbanised.”
“Urban green space has a role to play in contributing to a supportive city environment for older people through mediating the stress induced by built up settings.”
You can read the study abstract here – Older People’s Experiences of Mobility and Mood in an Urban Environment: A Mixed Methods Approach Using Electroencephalography (EEG) and Interviews.
Personally I need greenery and nature and thrive on it!
How important is greenery for you? Especially if you’re a city person?
Recenltly diagnosed with Anxiety my Doctor put me on an SSRI. I have all the signs of Andrenal Exhuation. I also stayed up for 9,mor more nights with out sleeping now only getting max 3hrs of sleep a night for the past 6weeks. My doctor said it’s not insomnia that’s it’s the Anxiet causing it. My diet is very poor. I was reading about Amino Acids and came across yourself.
Any suggestions
Demi
Sorry to hear this. For clients with issues like this I have them focus on eating real whole foods, quitting sugar and gluten and caffeine, and making sure to eat quality protein and healthy fats to help with blood sugar stability – as this can be a factor in both anxiety and insomnia. I also like to see adrenal saliva results as high cortisol can affect both too. Low GABA and low serotonin can be factors too. Here is a blog on 5-HTP and tryptophan for fibromyalgia, anxiety, insomnia https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/fibromyalgia-tryptophan-5-htp-for-anxiety-depression-pain-and-insomnia/
I’d suggest browsing through the blog and reading my book “The Antianxiety Food Solution” (on Amazon here http://amzn.to/2kptFWm) as it’s a comprehensive approach