Contact With Nature Acts as an Antidepressant, Says Forest Bathing Expert
Still little known on this side of the planet, the forest bathing (shinrin-yoku) therapy was introduced in Japan's public healthcare system in the 1980s. In Brazil, psychologist Marco Aurelio Carvalho, director of the Brazilian Ecopsychology Institute, led on the first forest bathing event held in the country. In 2021, the IBE signed an agreement with (Oswaldo Cruz Foundation) to investigate how forest bathing applies biomes such as the Atlantic Forest and the Amazon. Although the activity itself is rather simple walking through and contemplating natural environments different studies developed over the past four decades point towards significant benefits. "The more we learn about it, the clearer it becomes that nature, forests, and even a single tree may have a very important restorative effect on our body", says Carvalho. "A study developed by Stanford University has revealed that trees have positive effects on our brain, including in regions associated with depression. In other words, contact with trees may serve as an antidepressant", he points out. Carvalho is also a member of Rede Saude e Natureza Brasil [Brazil Health and Nature Network], which produced a manifesto to help the government understand the correlation between these two areas and develop policies to promote them. For Carvalho, the SUS (Brazil's Unified Health System, or Sistema Unico de Saude) should include, as Japan did, forest bathing among its therapies. Currently, we also lack spaces to address the anxiety generated by climate change, known as eco-anxiety or, at the other extreme, to deal with the denial of this reality. "We have realized that people do have information, but lack the ability to assimilate it. Information is thus absorbed by a dimension below consciousness. We call it denial or deflection", he explains. "The more this reality is denied, the weaker is our political power to put pressure on authorities to do what they have to do", he adds. This is a finding that emerges when we look at the history of our species, and recognise that we have managed to survive in different environments despite all our physical limitations. This was only possible because we knew how to read nature and adapt to it. This is inherent in human psyche. As biologist Edward Wilson [19292021] used to say, it is a sense of belonging in this whole web of life. He called it biophilia, a term that denotes a positive relationship, including in terms of affection. It has become very clear to us that we currently lack this ecological wisdom. Since the 1980s, research has confirmed the positive role of contact with nature in maintaining and restoring both physical and psychological health. A famous study carried out in a hospital in Pennsylvania (USA) revealed that patients recovering from surgeries on the same floor of a hospital, but in two different outpatient clinics, recovered in different ways. Patients staying in a room with a window facing a forest felt less pain, and therefore had less need for painkillers (as compared to patients recovering in a room with a window facing a brick wall). Observing wildlife also has an effect on our body. Later research showed, in particular, that the practice of forest bathing is a very powerful reconnective experience. Other effects were observed, including increased activity in the parasympathetic nervous system, relaxation reactions, and heartbeat and blood pressure regulation. Cortisol levels (a hormone normally associated with stress) tend to decrease after contact with trees. We also discovered that our immune system is highly stimulated by the presence of trees, with an increase of more than 50% in the activity observed in k cells, which are responsible for the destruction of tumours. A study developed by Stanford University has revealed that trees have positive effects on our brain, including in regions associated with depression. In other words, contact with trees is a sort of antidepressant. The more we learn about it, the clearer it becomes that nature, forests, and even a single tree may have a very important restorative effect on our body. In 2021, we entered into this agreement to see what happens when you practise forest bathing in Brazilian biomes. We know what happens in foreign biomes, especially in Japan, but we are interested in learning more about the Atlantic Forest, the Amazon, the Cerrado, the Pampas, as well as other manifestations of nature, such as beaches, which are not exactly a forest. Finally, we want to know how contact with Brazilian nature may affect our health. The agreement goes beyond research: it also includes a campaign engaging public healthcare agencies. A group of researchers and activists named Rede Saude e Natureza Brasil [Brazil Health and Nature Network] prepared a manifesto to help the government understand the powerful correlation between these two areas and develop policies to promote them. Practices such as forest bathing could be offered through the SUS, as part of integrative and complementary healthcare practices. There is an international movement towards recognising the importance of urban forests, caring for those that already exist, and creating other forests in metropolises and other cities. It is also important to bear in mind that, for a child, any small forest feels like a big forest. Things have got worse in recent decades, although this situation has been known since the 1970s. In fact, for most people, it is as if nothing was happening, in spite of all international climate conferences that have taken place, all scientific reports warning us about the future, and all media reports. We have realized that people do have information, but lack the ability to assimilate it. Information is thus absorbed by a dimension below consciousness. We call it denial or deflection. The more this reality is denied, the weaker is our political power to put pressure on authorities to do what they have to do. All we have to do is allow people to access some feelings that they rarely share with others. When they realise how they feel about thousands of football fields burning in the Amazon, climate change, or species being extinguished, we will see that everyone suffers from anxiety, sadness, and sometimes anger about what is happening. It so happens that "business as usual" requires us to devote so much attention to survival that there are few opportunities to think and talk frankly about the magnitude of what we are going through, and how we are feeling about all this. There are still very few opportunities for people to stop and elaborate on how they perceive this moment in our civilisation. But sometimes people stop to reflect on that. And I have never met anyone in all these years who did not have strong feelings about it, including insecurity, fear, or sadness. That is why ecopsychology is so important today. In Brazil, we still have little access to information, but this is part of human nature. What these studies are showing is the dynamics of how humans act, and what happens when we fail to integrate and assimilate what we do not perceive. When we perceive something but lack awareness of this perception, we feel anxious. When we look at a very anxious person, they are not always experiencing an immediate risk situation. It is our history, our traumas, or an accumulation of unresolved situations that will generate this increase in our level of anxiety. I like to think metaphorically about what happens to a person in psychotherapy. In psychotherapy, we stop to look and recognize how we feel, and understand how things are. I feel that is extremely important on a collective level as well. We need to get out of the increasingly accelerated pace of our lives, get back to doing things in nature's time, with a certain degree of peace. Years ago, a group in England suggested that, at least for an hour, all lights should be turned off so that people could see the stars again. I think it is very important to have spaces for exchanging and sharing, where we could talk openly about what life in society is like today, what it feels like to deal with this digital universe, and what is happening to our children. They are the ones who suffer the most from our lack of green spaces. Dr Carvalho is a clinical psychologist, president of the International Ecopsychology Society, and director of the Brazilian Ecopsychology Institute. He is also a member of the Brazilian Association of Gestalt-Therapy and the Jungian Association of Brazil. In addition, he teaches forest bathing therapy. He has a master's degree in Clinical Psychology and Culture, and a doctoral degree in Sustainable Development, both from the University of Brasilia (UnB). is a series of reports and interviews with new players and experts on climate change in Brazil and around the world. This special coverage will also focus on the responses to the climate crisis during the 2022 general and at (UN Climate Conference that took place in Egypt in November 2022). This project is supported by the Open Society Foundations. Translated by Luiz Hargreaves