“Go outside and play!”
How many times did your mother tell you that?
Turns out that, like with chicken soup, she was right.
A recent article in Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that urban dwellers who spent time outdoors in green areas, such as parks and forests, had lower use of antihypertensive, antidepressant, and antianxiety medications than those who didn’t. People who just looked at such areas from a window didn’t have lower medication use than those who weren’t exposed to them at all.
Dr. Allan M. Block
In other words:
1. Being outside in nature is good for you.
2. Staring at a forest on your screensaver isn’t a substitute.
But this shouldn’t really surprise anyone.
While I’m not going to say our technologically driven lifestyles are a bad thing - they’ve certainly made many parts of our lives easier – they do tend to take us away from other activities. As I’ve mentioned in this column before, there’s no shortage of recent studies suggesting social media use and regularly following the news are bad for you. These are things that become emotionally taxing and upsetting, increasing anxiety, raising blood pressure, and increasing stress eating and other not-so-good-for-you consequences.
Of course, this is easier said than done. Getting outside takes time, something it seems we have precious little of these days. Our lives are constantly in a rush from the house to the office to the hospital to the store to the house. Wash, rinse, repeat. Breaking the cycle is harder than just going along with it.
Yet, as these things show, . While I still enjoy my job, I’m obviously not the only one who needs to step back and go to the park, or hiking trail, or whatever.
Studies agree that it’s a good idea. And my mom told me to.
Dr. Block has a solo neurology practice in Scottsdale, Ariz.