BIOPHILIA and How It Helps in Mental Well-being
by Muneeba Shahid
The term Biophilia was set forth by an American psychoanalyst Erich Fromm to explain the human capacity of loving one’s own life and all the living things around, vehemently.
Biophilia is a system of human beings connecting with living things and all that is a fragment of Mother Nature. This concept if taken as a psychological intervention can lead to the formation of many treatments that have found to be obliging in strengthening the cognitive, physical and as well as psychological health and emotional well being of general population.
Human beings when stressed, have higher levels of a certain type of hormone, cortisol, running through their nervous systems. The cortisol levels of a person can be measured through their blood pressure and muscular tension. Some of the studies have resulted to find that when brought closer to nature or just taken into gardens filled with green plants and multi-hued flowers and a serene surrounding, both the blood pressure and muscular tension of the subject falls in a normal range hence reducing the cortisol levels.
A famous American naturalist, Dr. Edward Osborne Wilson, also known as the heir of Darwin, lays the concept that the tendency of connecting with nature is in human genetics and is something that is a very vital part of human character. By taking into account this very idea of him it becomes very much a fact that anything that brings human beings to their inborn character is a source of physical, mental and psychological well-being for sure.
Stress if prevails for longer terms results in depression, which is the most common mental illness of the era and most ignored one too. A person if diagnosed with any of the mental illnesses gets stigmatized by the society as abnormal individual getting a heap of useless and critical labels. This labeling and stigmatization causes many of the victims of depression to go undiagnosed and putting them through life threatening situations with worse symptoms.
Horticulture therapy is one of many biophilic designs that helps treat people with higher levels of stress and even depression. Water is a main constituent in gardening and planting process and being surrounded by water makes a nice elevation in a depressed person’s self esteem. Moreover, the soil used in gardening has found to have anti-depressant essences which lead to mental relaxation and improves the emotional state of an individual. The microbes found in soil are also considered to increase the serotonin levels, which is the happiness hormone, in the person’s nervous system, alleviating the stress and improving mood.
Other than this when a person grows a plant he or she starts to feel responsible for its existence and invest time in looking after it. Nurturing something other than one’s own self and providing care to another life except one’s own gives a sense of control and accomplishment, increasing self esteem and giving a sense of gratification, making one’s life purposeful and giving it meaning.
Apart from working in the garden, if an individual just spends a few minutes sitting idly in the garden that also helps a lot. By just looking at the sight of colorful flowers, green plants and huge trees providing shelter to tiny chirping birds and shadows to other living creatures, soothes the brain and body. Time flews by and later you will experience that all your worries and stressors have taken a distance and you will start to feel more jubilant and fresh.
