Depressed? Go Take a Hike!

Nature is gorgeous to look at, but new research shows that nature has a lot more to offer people than its aesthetic appeal. Nature can actually help alleviate symptoms of depression.

A recent study set out to examine whether walking in nature is beneficial to people with major depressive disorder (MDD). Specifically, researchers were interested in whether a nature walk would improve mood and short-term memory. Some research suggests that depression impairs short-term memory, as depressed individuals perform worse on attention and working memory tests than non-depressed individuals.

To test whether nature could have a positive impact on depressed people, researchers looked at 20 people diagnosed with MDD (twelve females and eight males). The participants in the study were moderately to severely depressed.

Researchers “primed” participants before the walks; they wanted to expose them to negative thoughts and feelings and cause them to ruminate to maximize the (potential) positive impact of nature. They asked them to think about an unresolved, intense negative experience before going on the walks.

Participants then went on a 50-minute nature walk. They came back a week later and went on a walk in an urban setting. After the walks, they completed tests to assess short-term memory and positive and negative affect.

As far as memory, participants’ memory improved more after the nature walk than after the urban walk. Mood improved more after the nature walk as well. In fact, when researchers compared these findings to those of other studies, they found that depressed individuals might benefit from nature walks even more than non-depressed people. Even when individuals were primed to ruminate over a negative situation, they still benefited from interacting with nature.

Interestingly, there was no difference in the types of things the participants thought about on the nature walk vs. the urban walk. They didn’t ruminate less on the nature walk compared to the urban one. This means one of two things: nature can improve people’s moods and memory even when people are ruminating or people thought of their negative experiences in a more positive light when on the nature walks and this is what led to an increase in mood and memory.

Either way, the results of this study are extremely encouraging, as MDD affects 6.7% of the U.S. adult population, and 30% of those cases are classified as severe. A walk in nature is free and easy. It could be used to complement other forms of therapy and help boost both mood and minds.

Olivia Roat is a reporter for GoStrengths.com, a site devoted to eradicating teen depression.