Cultivate Wellness
Mental Health Chat Kendalle Wexler, MS, LMFT-Associate, talks healing through social connection in the garden.
46 | Winter 2021
Gardening promotes positive mental health outcomes and aspects of overall well-being. While there are numerous reasons for these healing effects, we’re going to focus on one that has been highlighted in recent research: social connection. Social connection is broadly defined as feelings of closeness with beings other than yourself. You may still be wondering how social connection and gardening are tied. Think of gardening like networking. If you garden with friends, family, or community members a social connection network is formed from the experience. This is not just exclusive to people though. Plants, animals, and insects in the garden are part of this networking too! Let’s explore the health benefits of social connection networking in the garden through a three part lens: biologically, psychologically, and socially (also known as a biopsychosocial model).
The Biological Lens Biologically, gardening has a healing effect on our brain chemistry. For example, mental health disorders such as depression and dementia are associated with neurological inflammation of certain genetic markers. The more inflamed these markers become, the more severe the symptoms follow. In a 2021 study researching the correlation between social connectedness in gardening and these markers, researchers found that one such marker (known as IL-6) became less inflamed over the course of 6 months when participants had increased levels of social connection through gardening (Ng, et. al, 2021). These individuals reported experiencing decreased negative health symptoms and increased feelings of overall wellness. The Psychological Lens Psychologically, gardening increases positive emotions through social interactions. This is supported by another study published in 2021 that analyzed the impact of individuals’ participation in community gardens on their sustained well-being. In interviews
