Being around trees makes you less stressed – study
by Adam Boult
CREDIT: AP
Viewing trees helps people become less stressed – and the effect increases the more trees are visible.
A new study by researchers at University of Illinois has confirmed the long-held understanding that natural scenery can be a useful tool in helping reduce psychological stress.
The research team, led by Dr Bin Jiang, subjected 158 volunteers to mildly stressful scenarios, including preparing a speech and delivering it to a group of people, after which they were asked to perform a subtraction task in front of judges and a video camera.
After undertaking the stress-inducing activities, the volunteers used a VR headset to view one of a selection of six-minute 360-degree videos featuring urban areas with variable amounts of visible tree canopy coverage.
The participants’ levels of stress were measured by self-reported questionnaire – and the results revealed a positive, linear association between the density of trees and recovery from stress recovery.