Reports Suggest that Gardening is Beneficial for Mental Health

Saksham Jain

A meta-analysis conducted by the Preventive Medicine Reports suggests that Gardening has a positive impact on the mental health of the people. It was found that gardening has a huge impact on people suffering from depression, anxiety issues, eating disorders and people dealing with substance addiction. Furthermore, the study found that complex mental disorders like Schizophrenia, Alzheimers and Dementia can be treated with gardening and it is used as a form of therapy.

Gardening is beneficial due to the fact that a gardener is in constant interaction with soil. The soil contains Mycobacterium vaccae which comes in contact with human skin through soil. It triggers a chemical chain reaction in our body that leads to the secretion of Serotonin by the body which relaxes and calms the human mind. Furthermore, Gardening provides exposure to the sun which is crucial, given the sudden rise of sedentary lifestyle of the current generation.

Having a plant in one’s proximity also leads to the reduction of stress in one’s life. It has been said that watching the green space provided by plants leads to the excretion of Oxytocin in our body. Thus, keeping a plant in proximity to one person is also another way to keep oneself mentally healthy.

[Saksham Jain is a first-year law student at the National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata.]