Overcoming Isolation Through Natural Experiences

Overcoming ISOLATION

Through Natural Experiences

Figure 1 A lone chestnut tree in the middle of a pine forest. TRAVIS CUTTER `22

Introduction

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the first years of the 2020s have been dominated by a need for human beings to self-isolate to slow the spread of the virus. However, humans are social creatures, and prolonged isolation can easily lead to depression, anxiety, self-esteem issues, and more. As a result, researchers sought out interventions to deal with stresses brought about by imposed isolation, in addition to added agitators that coincide with a global pandemic, such as increased feelings of depression and anxiety. Immersion in nature, it seems, is a great combatant against the depression and solitude that has been a hallmark of the 2020s, but these benefits are not guaranteed. As urban development and technological progress advances, the distribution of greenspaces, such as public parks, decreases. Yet, there is an ever-growing need for the benefits these spaces provide, and so two options present themselves: protect greenspaces that exist, or find suitable artificial alternatives.

Figure 2 As urban development and technological progress advances, the distribution of greenspaces, such as public parks, decreases.

The Tokyo Study

Due to health and safety concerns brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the city of Tokyo was placed under a state of emergency from April 7 to May 25, 2020. While not a complete lockdown, schools, businesses and other facilities were requested to close for the period. However, greenspaces were still accessible to the masses. In early June of the same year, Rakuten Insight, Japan, a market research company, distributed an online survey, receiving responses from 3,000 adults. Data was collected regarding participants’ mental health, experience with nature, lifestyle, and sociodemographic information. Mental health data was collected along five metrics: happiness, life satisfaction, self-esteem, loneliness, and depression and anxiety. In all five cases, utilizing greenspaces was found to be associated with an improvement in mental health for several key reasons. First, immersion in nature provides varied experiences for a number of different senses - including smelling flowers, listening to birdsongs, and witnessing both - that can buoy one’s mental health. Additionally, those who used greenspaces were intuitively encouraged to exercise, improving physical and mental health. Finally, public greenspaces allow for some social interaction that would be impossible due to the restrictions imposed during the pandemic, providing a partial loophole to the problem of isolation. Simply having a view of nature also proved beneficial in all five mental health categories, though the causes are not as distinguishable as compared to physical immersion in nature. The multi-sensory experiences still likely play a factor, as one can see, hear, and smell the same sorts of birds, bees, and plants typically seen when walking in the park. The more greenspaces in the area around the home, the greater the exposure to biodiversity, increasing the variety of multi-sensory experiences one might have, and potentially improving mental health. However, even though the benefits appear tangible, the specific effects of one’s proximity to nature on mental health is not fully understood, and requires further study (1).

When discussing motives for people venturing outside, the most common answers were “just getting outside,” “exercise,” “connecting to nature,” and “peace and quiet...”

Figure 3 “Birdwatching” is one motive for people venturing outside.

The Vermont Study

Around the city of Burlington, Vermont, the University of Vermont has maintained seven natural areas which are used for both academic purposes and public activities. One study reconciled these two purposes by conducting an anonymous survey among visitors to these seven university-owned areas, and eighteen other parks and natural areas in the area, to discern the effects of visiting the natural spaces on the well-being of people throughout the pandemic. The most vital finding of the study was that 70.2% of respondents claimed to have increased their number of park visits since the advent of the pandemic. Only 5.5% of respondents claimed that their frequency of visitation decreased. When inquired about the personal value of these greenspaces, 81.5% of respondents claimed the areas had increased in importance to them since the pandemic began. Only two out of 346 respondents claimed the parks decreased in importance for them. When discussing motives for people venturing outside, the most common answers were “just getting outside,” “exercise,” “connecting to nature,” and “peace and quiet,” all of which were given by over 10% of the respondents. Other notable responses related to nature were “birdwatching,” given by 5.7% of respondents, and “fishing,” given by 0.6% of respondents. “Socializing” was only given by 2.7% of respondents. This impressive diversity in responses shows that the benefits provided by greenspaces appeal to a wide variety of people with distinct interests. Also of note is that 80% of the respondents who would visit greenspaces alone prior to the pandemic continued to do so after, further solidifying that socialization was not a primary motivator in visiting the parks. Based on these results, the researchers ultimately concluded that the frequency that people visited greenspaces increased significantly since the pandemic began, and most people were subsequently forced to reevaluate how much they valued such spaces. With the increased health benefits these spaces provided, such as improved happiness, life satisfaction, and self-esteem, most people became more inclined towards them, regardless of whether they were aware of these benefits. Should these results prove to be true on a much larger scale than the state of Vermont, demand for greenspaces would be increasing concurrently with a dramatic decrease in availability of such spaces around the world, notably in the United States and China. Should these spaces diminish significantly in size or quality, through urban development or administrative negligence, the mental and physical health benefits they provide will also diminish (2).

The Phantom Chorus

While the Vermont study indicated that only a small percentage of people sought natural spaces specifically to birdwatch, there may be far greater benefits to interacting with birds than initially believed. Specifically, birdsong may have a positive effect on mental health, improving stress recovery and cognitive function. Using pre-recorded birdsong from various species, a team of researchers led by Danielle Ferraro of California Polytechnic State University broadcasted a so-called “phantom chorus” along two California nature trails. The phantom chorus was designed to be as realistic-sounding as possible in terms of amplitude, location, and volume. Hikers surveyed by the researchers did not know they were hearing real and artificial songs. Principal among the phantom chorus’s effects was an increase in the richness of bird species along both trails. The phantom chorus did not replace natural birdsong, instead supplementing and amplifying it. Only on one of the two trails did a significant number of respondents notice the apparent increase in birds and bird species diversity. Despite respondents lacking awareness of the difference, the results found that increased abundance of birdsong led to improved mental well-being on both trails. Why results differed between the two trails was an enigma to the researchers. The smaller effect relative to other studies could be due to a smaller time frame over which the participants were immersed in greenspaces: hikers were only subjected to increased birdsong for about ten minutes. Difference in terrain between trails also could have contributed to a difference in perception: a flat, straight path is simpler to walk along, allowing the mind to focus elsewhere, while safe navigation of a hilly, winding path requires more focus, limiting one’s ability to observe the environment. The researchers noted an ethical concern with the study’s implications: replacing real birdsong with facsimiles could be justified if the benefits outweigh the risk of creating a greater disconnect between humans and the natural world. Given an increased reliance on greenspaces in the age of COVID-19, this would be detrimental to both parties. However, the study’s

findings suggest that carefully and thoughtfully managed greenspaces - wherein experiences with wildlife are promoted - would be extraordinarily beneficial to the population’s mental health. So, even if birdwatching is not one’s primary motive in visiting a park or other natural setting, the benefits yielded are invaluable. It is also possible that even if natural experiences are not wholly genuine, the benefits that real experiences provide can be artificially induced (3).

Nature in VR

In order to solve the question of whether simulated nature could provide comparable benefits to real experiences in nature, a team of researchers simulated an immersive experience with VR headsets and 360 degree video. This simulated experience was compared with two other groups: one immersed outdoors in nature and one immersed indoors in a completely empty room. Similar to previously discussed experiments, surveys were conducted to gauge participants’ feelings and experiences with nature prior to the experiment. The researchers did not categorize the difference between immersion in nature and the lack thereof in binary terms: rather, they characterized the potential benefits as a spectrum on which simulated nature might fall. Regarding participants’ moods and the experiment’s effect on them, a statistically significant difference in the positive affects of the experience was found between the outdoor and indoor groups with the latter group’s positive affect declining after the experiment’s conclusion. No change in positive affect was observed for the VR group, yet all three groups reported statistically significant declines in negative affect. Physiologically, both the outdoor and VR groups showed improvement when compared to the indoor group. However, the VR group saw less improvement than the outdoor group, which the researchers attributed to the more varied stimuli that comes from natural environments. These findings suggest that while simulated nature does not actively improve one’s mental well-being, it does distract from stressors, hence why there was a reduction in negative affects but no increase in positive affects. Reductions in negative affects for the indoor control group may be attributed to participants simply being able to relax despite a lack of immersion in nature, as well as to a restriction in smartphone usage. Taking a break from smartphones and their stressors also applies to the other two groups, potentially contributing to the reduction of negative affects in them. Overall, while the researchers believe that their experiment showcases the benefits to immersion in simulated nature as opposed to not experiencing any nature at all, they also note that they did not test the effects of other kinds of simulated experiences. It is thus possible that simply engaging with a simulated environment provides benefits to physical and mental health. Although such benefits would still apply to simulated nature, the benefits of experiencing true greenspaces outweigh the benefits of an artificial experience (4).

Conclusion

Nature is often taken for granted, but if humans take care of it, it will take care of them in return. An elevated understanding of this mutually beneficial relationship is one of the few positives of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a time where isolation is required in the interest of public health, humans returning to the natural world is an ironic turn of events. Due to human developments, these spaces are diminishing across the globe, reducing humanity’s access to their benefits. As people are forced to look inward, they seek solace in the outdoors, but might be forced to accept facsimiles if the reducing trend they contributed to continues. In the future, the improved well-being brought on by this increased immersion in nature will hopefully inspire people to treat the natural world with greater care and reverse the anti-green trend, creating a cycle of natural and mental well-being. References

It is thus possible that simply engaging with a simulated environment provides benefits to physical and mental health.

1. M. Soga, et al., A room with a green view: the importance of nearby nature for mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ecological Applications 31, 1-10 (2021). doi: 10.1002/eap.2248/ full. 2. N. Grima, et al., The importance of urban natural areas and urban ecosystem services during the COVID-19 pandemic. PLOS One 15, 1-13 (2020). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0243344. 3. D. Ferraro, et al., The phantom chorus: birdsong boosts human well-being in protected areas. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 287, 1-9 (2020). doi: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1811. 4. M. Browning, et al., Can simulated nature support mental health? Comparing short, single-doses of 360-degree nature videos in virtual reality with the outdoors. Frontiers in Psychology 10, 1-14 (2020). doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02667.

Images retrived from: 1. https://www.flickr.com/photos/colinsd40/37332692424 2. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Global_Citizen_Festival_Central_Park_New_York_ City_from_NYonAir_(15351915006).jpg 3. https://pixabay.com/photos/bird-ornament-garden-2681737/