Peter StridsbergBio

The first scientific studies on the influence of nature and vegetation on health were the work of Professor Roger S. Ulrich, who conducted several experiments in the 1980s to detect the effects of exposure to natural elements on recovery from stress and on healing processes.
In one of his pioneering studies, Ulrich showed that patients who had a view of a garden from their post-operatory hospital room had a far better outcome in terms of recovery time, complications and drug administration than those who did not have a view of a green space.1
Similar results were obtained in experiments conducted in prison, where cells with a view onto green space and trees were generally associated with a smaller number of healthcare calls by prisoners.2
Numerous subsequent studies have confirmed Professor Ulrich’s results on different types of patients, confirming the ability of exposure to the natural environment – via photographs, videos or wall paintings – to improve emotional states, health and recovery from illness, as well as increasing pain tolerance.3-5
Patient reactions linked to the presence of plants in medical in-patient/diagnostic screening environments are no less impressive. Patients operated on for thyroidectomy and appendectomy, to provide but an example, were found to have a greater tolerance of pain and, as a result, required minor recourse to painkillers, as well as being less anxious when plants were present in their hospital room.6, 7 Similar results have also been obtained in healthy subjects with artificially induced pain.8
Ulrich was also the first academic to demonstrate that just visualising images of forests prompts improvement in certain physiological parameters (blood pressure, alpha brainwave amplitude, muscular tension).9
Today, multiple studies demonstrate restorative effects and a reduction of stress linked to even indirect exposure to natural environments, i.e. via various types of “nature substitutes” such as photos, videos and virtual natural environments.10-13 Although “technological nature” cannot, of course, completely reproduce the effects of real nature and lacks many major advantages of forest immersion, virtual “immersive” technologies might be important for improving the well-being of people with no direct access to nature or for whom direct contact with nature is not possible or indeed hazardous. This applies primarily to subjects with physical disabilities or in situations of bedrest and treatment but also to certain forms of mental illness, including pathological depression and anxiety.

— Francesco Meneguzzo, Federica Zabini

Institute of BioEconomy, CNR - Sesto Fiorentino (FI) CAI Central Scientific Committee

The climate crisis, one of the greatest challenges of our time, is raising increasing disquiet and concern. In psychology and the social sciences, these emotional reactions have been analysed as an expression of eco-anxiety. Eco-anxiety is defined by the American Psychological Association as a chronic fear of environmental doom and a generalised sense that the ecological foundations of human existence are collapsing. It is a complex feeling that stems from the perception of an increasingly unsustainable future that creates uncertainty. Fear, worry, guilt and anguish are just some of the emotions associated with eco-anxiety. Although this type of anxiety is not identified as a real pathology, many empirical studies show that it can have major impacts on mental health, especially among younger people (18-35 years old), women and in those countries of the Global South that are already significantly exposed to environmental catastrophes.

In our region as well, where the effects of climate change are already visible, there is fear of extreme weather events. In a joint research project, Eurac Research and the Provincial Institute for Statistics ASTAT have analysed the emotional reactions of the South Tyrolean population to the climate crisis. The results speak clearly: also in South Tyrol, people are dealing with eco-anxiety. Indeed, 70% of the sample stated that they are afraid, 80% feel concerned, 39% feel guilty and 67% feel powerless. The South Tyrolean population is particularly worried about risks related to droughts, water shortages and floods.

How can eco-anxiety be addressed? Firstly, and most importantly, governments need to take more ambitious measures to tackle the climate crisis, also by involving the population through participatory processes. This could reduce the widespread feeling of powerlessness related to policy inaction. Secondly, it might become more important to develop new emotional skills to deal with eco-anxiety, as it is not going to disappear anytime soon. Therefore, psychological support services should be implemented that acknowledge the effects of eco-anxiety on mental health and help people transform the disabling feeling of eco-anxiety into a proactive attitude for social and ecological change.

— Ilaria De March, Felix Windegger, Christoph Kircher

Center for Advanced Studies, Eurac Research – Bolzano (BZ)