Gardening For Mental Health: How & Where To Start
09.11.2023 - 19:43
/ gardeningknowhow.com
It’s no secret that getting outside is good for you. A little sunshine, fresh air, and outdoor exercise can banish stress and encourage an elevated mood. Even if you’re not interested in taking long hikes or playing touch football, gardening is an excellent way to harvest the benefits of the outdoors.
There are many studies on mental health gardening benefits, including its stress busting abilities. The benefits of gardening for mental health are greater even than the physical advantages, and can help reduce reliance on pharmaceutical drugs and unhealthy methods of alleviating mental strain.
The mechanisms by which gardening achieves such positive outcomes can be difficult to spell out. However, Mycobacterium vaccae, a natural microbe in soil, triggers the release of serotonin in the brain when we contact and inhale particles from soil.
Serotonin, a natural antidepressant transmitter in the brain, eases the ill effects of anxiety and depression. The process that makes this happen is complex and is being studied vigorously. The intercollegiate publication, The Synapse, claims in its 2023 article, “Soil Salvation: The Antidepressant Properties of Dirt,” that “Soil hosts an ecosystem of probiotics that can strengthen the microbiome, a part of the immune system….This microbiome is the collective mixture of protective bacteria, protozoa and fungi that live within the human body.”
Mycobacterium vaccae is known to improve the immune system and minimize symptoms of serious diseases. It may be an oversimplification to say that soil alleviates depression, but current studies indicate that it’s true.
Another factor may simply be due to our dependence on plants. We rely upon them for food, shelter, clothing, medicine, and more. Our