Mental Health | Think Outside

Your brain loves the outdoors

no matter your mental state...

getting outdoors will be beneficial. From depression to trauma to daily stressors, exercising outdoors can help everyone. Access to natural settings, especially woods and parks, for physical activity should be and emphasized as a means of improving population mental health (Mitchell, 2013)

depression...

is the leading cause of disability in the United States (National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2014)

Individuals with depression often report struggles with:

- sleep disturbances (NAMI, 2017)

- feelings of low self-worth, shortcomings, hopelessness, and guilt (NAMI, 2017)

- lack of concentration and energy (NAMI, 2017)

- interacting with nature may be considered a clinically useful tool to supplement treatment, especially for those experiencing mental illness and depression. (Berman et al., 2012)

trauma and stress

- studies have recently found that exercise enables the brain to handle stress better, and physically active people are therefore less stressed. (Kelly, 2013).

- Those with existing mental illness or struggles displayed the greatest improvements in self-esteem (Frhaüf et al., 2016)

- Outdoor recreation was shown to be most successful with groups with trauma or major mental or physical health problems (Berman, Kross, Krpan, Askren, Burson, Deldin, Kaplan, et al., 2012).

mental benefits of Exercising in natural environments

- improvement in self-esteem and mood (Barton & Pretty, 2010)

- greater feelings of revitalization and positive engagement (Thompson, Coon, Boddy, Stein, Whear, Barton, & Depledge, 2011)

- Decreases in tension, confusion, anger, and depression (Thompson, Coon, et al., 2011)

- reduction in perceived stress (Thomsen, Powell, & Monz, 2018)

- improvement in memory span (Berman et al., 2012)

- better cognitive performance (Berman et al., 2012)

- enhanced ability to display and express emotion (Berman et al., 2012)

- increased energy (Thompson, Coon, et al., 2011)

- lower risk for poor mental health (Mitchell, 2013)