Nature Deprivation in Facilities... How Does It Affect an Employee's Mental Health & Wellbeing?

According to research, our stress levels are influenced by our surroundings and can rise or fall. Your neurological, endocrine and immunological systems' functions are all changed at any one time by what you are seeing, hearing, and experiencing.

You might experience anxiety, sadness, or helplessness as a result of the stress of an uncomfortable situation. Your immune system is subsequently suppressed as a result, which also raises your blood pressure, heart rate, and muscle tension. Positive surroundings change that.

And the majority of people find nature to be beautiful regardless of their age or geographical location. More than two-thirds of people select a natural setting to go to when overwhelmed or stressed, according to a study mentioned in the book Healing Gardens.

Natural healing

Being in nature or even just watching natural scenes makes you feel better and less stressed, angry, or afraid. Not only does being in nature improve your mood, but it also benefits your physical health by lowering your blood pressure, heart rate, muscular tension, and stress hormone production. According to specialists like the public health researchers Stamatakis and Mitchell, it might even lower mortality.

A single plant in a room, a window overlooking flora and fauna, even an Artificial Sky overhead that mimics a skylight, can significantly reduce tension and anxiety, according to research conducted in hospitals, companies, and schools.

Nature is calming

In addition, nature provides us with pain relief. We are fascinated by nature settings because we are genetically predisposed to find trees, plants, water, and other parts of nature fascinating, including the ever-changing sky.

Nature restores

The effect of nature on overall wellness is one of the most fascinating topics of current research, especially in the architectural and design communities. In one study published in Mind, 95% of individuals surveyed reported that their mood changed from being gloomy, stressed, and nervous to being more calm and balanced after spending time outside. A happy mood, psychological wellbeing, meaningfulness, and vitality are all linked to spending time in nature or viewing nature-inspired landscapes inside facilities, according to additional research by Ulrich, Kim, and Cervinka.

Additionally, spending time in nature or watching scenes of nature improves our capacity for concentration. Humans instinctively find nature fascinating, so we may readily concentrate on what we are seeing outside in nature. This also gives our busy minds a break, recharging us for new duties.

In another interesting area, research on children with ADHD shows that time spent in nature increases their attention span, and views of nature help create an environment conducive to learning.

Nature binds

Time spent in nature strengthens our bonds with one another and the wider world, according to a series of field experiments done by Kuo and Coley at the Human-Environment Research Lab. According to a different University of Illinois study, people who live in Chicago public housing that is surrounded by trees and greenery tend to know more people, feel more united with their neighbors, care more about helping and supporting one another, and have stronger feelings of belonging than people who live in buildings without trees or basically have concrete, steel and brick building views. In addition to having a stronger sense of community, they also had lower rates of domestic violence and aggressiveness, a decreased risk of street crime, and a better ability to handle the stressors of daily life in general.

Too much screen time is deadly

“Nature deprivation,” a lack of time in the natural world, largely due to hours spent in front of a television, inside office cubicles, or glaring at laptop screens, has been related, unsurprisingly, to depression, sadness, and weight gain. Even more unexpected are case studies by Weinstein and others that associate screen time with the loss of empathy and the absence of altruism. And the risks are even higher than despair and isolation. In 2011, in a post in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, time in front of a screen was associated with a higher hazard of death, and that was independent of physical activity!

Bringing Nature Indoors

Introducing a touch of the outdoors to an office environment can be very beneficial. Such features can boost productivity, enhance office morale, reduce stress and even improve indoor air quality.

• Increase natural light by lowering cubicle walls or removing them
• Add water features in common areas
• Use natural ventilation through windows when possible
• Replace fluorescent lighting with LEDs, specifically human circadian lighting like that offered by Artificial Sky (LED skylights, Virtual Sky, etc.)
• Introduce indoor planters with foliage and trees
• Build a living green wall featuring vegetation
• Include finishes around the office using natural elements such as wood, which is the main component of Artificial Sky's snap-on skylight frame system.
• Use glass partitions to increase exposure to daylight whenever possible

Thank you for taking the time to read my article, please feel to contact me anytime regarding simple solutions to improve the mental health & wellness of your employees by visiting www.artificialsky.com