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3:07 p.m., Dec. 10, 2002--Robert F. Simons, UD professor of clinical psychology, has done research into the effect natural environments have on stress levels. His findings indicate the origins of that feeling could date back to prehistoric times when we were closer to nature. UDaily asked Simons about his research.
Q: From what you have learned, is it safe to say that a real Christmas tree can do a lot more than just brighten up your living room?
A: Research has shown that natural environments can reduce the psychological and physiological effects of stress, and a Christmas tree in the home might very well function that way. It is interesting that the trend toward the use of artificial trees appears to have ended and that 'real' or natural trees are again the dominant home decoration for the Christmas season. A natural Christmas tree has a variety of sensory qualities that artificial trees do not, and this polysensory experience associated with natural environments and its stress-reducing properties could have played a significant role in the consumers' movement away from artificial trees.
Q: What are the physical manifestations of stress?
A: Stress is basically a physiological response involving multiple bodily systems. Most important of these is a neuroendocrine system involving a brain region called the hypothalamus and two glands called the pituitary and the adrenal. This HPA-axis secretes cortisol, the number one stress hormone. Cortisol promotes the production of energy in the body in a variety of neurochemical ways including regulating metabolism and the immune system. The amount of cortisol is generally indicative of stress levels. Other elements of the stress response include activation of the sympathetic nervous system triggering elevations in heart rate, blood pressure, sweat-gland activity and even general muscle tension.
Q: Doesn't stress level go down when exposed to a natural setting because you are thinking about pleasant things?
A: The stress reducing properties of natural environments do not seem to come about through cognitive mediation or thinking. Certainly thinking about pleasant things may be beneficial, but reactions to natural settings are more automatic and suggest a hard-wired mechanism that may have an evolutionary basis.
Q: When you tested people for the effects that rural versus urban settings had on the physical and psychological manifestations of stress, what did you find?
A: Our studies involved inducing a stress response in the laboratory and then exposing subjects to videos of either natural or urban environments. Our stressor was a film involving industrial accidents. It was very effective in arousing our participants. More remarkable, however, was the efficiency of natural environments in returning physiology to pre-stress levels. Across the board—heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension—all systems recovered more completely and in a much shorter period of time when subjects watched the natural environment videos.
Q: What have been the results of research on prisoners and patients in hospitals and dentist chairs in relation to stress and nature?
A: Evidence supporting the stress-reducing properties of natural environments has not only come from laboratory experiments, but can be seen in 'real-world' contexts as well. For example, in a classic study by Roger Ulrich (formerly with the UD geography department and now a dean at Texas A&M University), of hospital patients, some had windows overlooking a natural setting and others had views dominated by concrete like a parking lot. The nature and severity of the illness was the same for all subjects, but the patients who had views of natural environments reported less pain, took fewer pain medications and made fewer calls to the nurses’ station for pain-related complaints.
Likewise, we conducted a study in a large blood donation facility and found that donors who were exposed to a natural environment video while waiting to donate had lower heart rates than subjects who saw either no video or a video of an urban environment. People who visit the Blood Bank of Delaware may notice how features of the natural environment, including vegetation, and running water have been incorporated in the design of the facility. This is a nice example of how research can be used to make very useful decisions.
Q: Are natural settings the only stress reducers, or can pets lower people's stress levels?
A: There is some evidence that pets may reduce stress, but there isn’t much research in that area. There are reports that people with pets have lower mortality after heart attacks. There was a recent study in Psychosomatic Medicine where people were put under stress by either making them perform rapid subtractions or by immersing their hands in very cold water. This was done either alone or in the presence of a pet or a spouse. Heart rate and blood pressure were the physiological measures. Readings were lower when pets, both dogs and cats, were in the room than when a spouse or friend was in the room. However, this was only true for pet owners. People who did not own pets were least reactive to the stressor when they were alone.
Article by Barbara Garrison
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