How Gardening Can Save Your Mental Health

It was a long winter for those living on the East Coast. For many gardeners, it is finally time to get back outside, sow seeds, plant flowers and get our hands in the soil. With this time of year comes a sigh of relief as we say goodbye to frost, cool temperatures and hard, unworkable soil.

However, gardening may provide much more than just a figurative "sigh of relief." Research indicates it can have significant mental health benefits. As more and more people search for mindful activities that promote slowing down, reducing stress and paying attention, gardening and horticulture are at the forefront of this newfound interest in "analog activities," which do not require technology, automation or digitization. Gardening may be one of the original analog activities.

The research makes a strong case for gardening as a therapeutic intervention: A 2021 study concluded that benefits reaped from gardening include higher quality of life, improved sleep, increased hope and happiness and less depression, stress and anxiety (Ainamani and colleagues, 2021). In clinical practice, we can find everything from farm-based interventions for psychiatric patients to horticultural therapy, which integrates plants and gardening activities into the traditional psychotherapy model. Gardening not only has a place in mental health but also can serve as a buffer against serious psychological challenges. Though connection with nature has long been seen as a stress reducer, the world of psychology and clinical mental health has finally caught up with the idea. Here are just a few of the evidence-based benefits of gardening.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Pyschology Today.