The Benefits of Green Spaces

The Benefits of Green Spaces on Mental Health

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, mental illnesses affect tens of millions of people each year in the United States and only about half of people receive treatment. Many things can affect mental health such as stress, anxiety, and depression. It is important for people to have space where they can feel calm and seek some type of security. Green spaces especially, have shown to be good for mental health.

Green space is an umbrella term that can be used to describe a variety of environmental areas. Green spaces are open spaces of land that are undeveloped. This means that the land has no buildings or built structures on it. Green spaces provide daily contact with nature and should be accessible to the public and can include parks, forests, community gardens, schoolyards, and even cemeteries. Green spaces can even be the trees that are on the street.

Greenspaces are often used to deliver therapeutic interventions for vulnerable groups such as youth at risk, those with mental health illnesses, and stressed employees.Exposure to nature has shown to provide significant benefits for mental health. Green spaces can reduce the feelings of stress, improve a person's emotional state, and even reconstitute a person's ability to concentrate and attention span. Studies conducted have reported an improved mood and self-esteem, and less stress when they were exposed to nature. If exposed for a long amount of time, green spaces have shown an overall improvement of mental health.

Green spaces can have many other benefits as well. They can encourage exercise and provide a place for physical activity. They can also be a space for socializing within the community and provide a decrease in noise and air pollution.

While these green spaces can provide many benefits to the community, and even enhance the beauty and environmental quality of neighborhoods, it is very important to keep the space maintained. If not managed correctly, these green spaces can have negative environmental impacts from pesticide runoff or siltation from overused hiking and logging trails, and the destruction of habitats. Ultimately, it is important to keep these spaces well managed that everyone and everything can benefit from them. Above is an example of how an unmaintained green space can be transformed and be put in use for the community.

Ultimately, it is important to self care and find things that can benefit your mental health. With all the benefits that green spaces have, maybe once UCI opens up again, we can appreciate Aldrich Park even more!

What do you think?

Let us know here.

Is there a particular green space that makes you feel relaxed?
What is one area you can think of that can be turned into a green space?
Can you think of any other areas that might benefit mental and physical health?

Spotlight Writer

Guadalupe Felix, Marketing Chair

Hello! My name Guadalupe and I am a fourth year majoring in public health policy and minoring in management. I have been with habitat since my sophomore year and have enjoyed being with the organization. I love all the cool people I get to meet and talk to each meeting. Normally, one of my favorite things to do is go to movie theaters and watch films. Sometimes I can watch up to three a week. I also like to hang out with my friends and go out to eat with them. Although we might not go to the trendiest places, we do love to hang out at Olive Garden (the breadsticks, just wow). Currently, I spend most of my time on social media (twitter especially) and just look at all the funny and relatable memes.