Gardening for anxiety and depression

Neuroscience, Psychology, and Health
#1

Anxiety and depression: why doctors are prescribing gardening rather than drugs

Summary: Exposure to nature has been shown to help improve depression and anxiety symptoms. Many mental health professionals are recommending patients spend time gardening as a therapy. The main treatment benefits may be seen when a person enters a community gardening project, which helps develop social and cooperative skills, as well as providing support for those with mental health conditions.

Full article

I haven’t done a lot of gardening, but nature helped me a lot.

4 Likes
#2

I know that this post is old, but as someone that has recently developed an interest in gardening and has begun growing her own little indoor garden; I can attest that this is true.

I still do take meds for my mental illnesses and my ADHD, but I feel such joy and zero anxiety when I work on my plants. Also, gardening, imo, is a nice alternative to the “owning pets to give responsibility and a sense of schedule” that articles and others tend to recommend for people with ADHD.

3 Likes