Depression, Anxiety, and the Power of Dirt
Table of Contents
When was the last time you dug in the ground? "Yeah, I just planted some cabbage and spread mulch last weekend," around half of us
would say. For the other half, we may need to go all the way back to our early years to remember our most recent experience with dirt.
In the meanwhile, more than 20% of people in the industrialized world will at some point in their lives experience anxiety or depression, with greatly differing results, lengths of time, and access to care. The most well-known therapies for these illnesses are therapy and medication, but other self-care techniques have also been shown to lessen their symptoms.
What is the connection between anxiety and depression and dirt? Over the past fifteen years or more, a slowly growing corpus of research has started to uncover a potent healing mechanism right beneath our feet. That would be filthy! Growing things in it, more precisely. cultivating a garden.
It's easy to think of gardening as a hobby for people who are retired or extremely health-conscious, but most of us have an aunt or neighbor who is passionate about their garden. If you ask your neighbor what the appeal is, you might be shocked to hear that it's helping him in a way that even the busiest and most serious of us could use more.
It's easy to think of gardening as a hobby for people who are retired or extremely health-conscious, but most of us have an aunt or neighbor who is passionate about their garden. If you ask your neighbor what the appeal is, you might be shocked to hear that it's helping him in a way that even the busiest and most serious of us could use more.
He'll probably talk about having some alone time, feeling at ease or content, or the special sense of purpose he receives from seeing his plants flourish. Spoiler alert: We all need solitude, tranquility, and meaning!
The most recent findings in neuroscience on mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression, suggest that these diseases are physiological rather than mental or emotional. For instance, it seems that when we inherit depression from a parent, we really inherit a certain set of neural system characteristics. This is what "programs" the condition into the brain, along with our experiences and knowledge.
The really good news is that we have a strong prospect of teaching safety to the brain and creating code that enables us to transition between "safe" and "unsafe" modes with ease and appropriateness, even as adults. The wiring and unwiring of anxiety and depression, as well as the function of the vagus nerve, have all been discussed in greater detail in a few earlier postings.
Start a "Dirty" Intervention
You can see that we can use a variety of techniques to teach the ANS to feel safe so that it can generate new, more adaptable brain code if you have a look at our toolkit for unwiring depression and anxiety (linked above). According to some convincing recent studies, gardening is a full-body reset for a neural system that has been overworked, miscalibrated, or traumatized. Additionally, it may be a particularly effective therapeutic approach because to the way it incorporates many factors that are known to reduce anxiety and sadness.
You can see that we can use a variety of techniques to teach the ANS to feel safe so that it can generate new, more adaptable brain code if you have a look at our toolkit for unwiring depression and anxiety (linked above). According to some convincing recent studies, gardening is a full-body reset for a neural system that has been overworked, miscalibrated, or traumatized. Additionally, it may be a particularly effective therapeutic approach because to the way it incorporates many factors that are known to reduce anxiety and sadness.
Repetition and Rhythm
We are aware that routine is beneficial to mental health on a fundamental level. A routine that is specifically enforced is provided by gardening. Even while many of us with dysregulated autonomic nerve systems find it difficult to establish routines or establish structure for ourselves, we may also oppose or dislike routines that are imposed from without.
Our gardens' plants do force us to follow a pattern, but they do it in a kind of soft, natural way. Our cultivated plants start to struggle if we don't pull the weeds on a regular basis. When the plants require it, they must be watered, deadheaded, harvested, and pruned.We start to establish a yearly pattern, including the dates of the seed catalog, plant sales, last frost, dry season, blight, harvest, and fall planting.There are times of the year when you have too much zucchini, when particular caterpillars destroy all the squash, and when "it feels about time to plant the zinnias."
We are aware that routine is beneficial to mental health on a fundamental level. A routine that is specifically enforced is provided by gardening. Even while many of us with dysregulated autonomic nerve systems find it difficult to establish routines or establish structure for ourselves, we may also oppose or dislike routines that are imposed from without.
Our gardens' plants do force us to follow a pattern, but they do it in a kind of soft, natural way. Our cultivated plants start to struggle if we don't pull the weeds on a regular basis. When the plants require it, they must be watered, deadheaded, harvested, and pruned.We start to establish a yearly pattern, including the dates of the seed catalog, plant sales, last frost, dry season, blight, harvest, and fall planting.There are times of the year when you have too much zucchini, when particular caterpillars destroy all the squash, and when "it feels about time to plant the zinnias."
Through consistent, sensory-safe repetition, this daily, weekly, and seasonal repetition may recondition the ANS exactly as we require (Porges, 2017).
Green Time
Spending time in a park, woodland, meadow, or garden lowers stress indicators. On a higher level, we already know that spending time in green spaces lessens anxiety and depressive symptoms (Kotera et al., 2021). However, how does that operate? Researchers have discovered improvements in blood pressure, cortisol levels, and HRV (Shuda et al., 2020), a trustworthy indicator of ventral vagal activation—the body's natural "calm down" button.
All of this suggests that anxiety and sadness are largely caused by decreased sympathetic activity (fight or flight) or dorsal vagal activation (frozen), depending on the situation. We start teaching the brain how to feel safe and how to transition between sympathetic and parasympathetic states in accordance with the current situation when we are able to do this for ourselves on a regular basis.
Spending time in a park, woodland, meadow, or garden lowers stress indicators. On a higher level, we already know that spending time in green spaces lessens anxiety and depressive symptoms (Kotera et al., 2021). However, how does that operate? Researchers have discovered improvements in blood pressure, cortisol levels, and HRV (Shuda et al., 2020), a trustworthy indicator of ventral vagal activation—the body's natural "calm down" button.
All of this suggests that anxiety and sadness are largely caused by decreased sympathetic activity (fight or flight) or dorsal vagal activation (frozen), depending on the situation. We start teaching the brain how to feel safe and how to transition between sympathetic and parasympathetic states in accordance with the current situation when we are able to do this for ourselves on a regular basis.
The Prozac of Nature
Antidepressant and anti-anxiety microorganisms appear to be present in soil. According to preclinical studies, certain bacteria and fungus in our soil may affect the synthesis of neurotransmitters. Mycobacterium vaccae is a very interesting bacteria that has been shown to increase serotonin production in rats, enhancing cognitive performance, stress resilience, and other aspects (Matthews et al., 2013; Juarez et al., 2022).
Antidepressant and anti-anxiety microorganisms appear to be present in soil. According to preclinical studies, certain bacteria and fungus in our soil may affect the synthesis of neurotransmitters. Mycobacterium vaccae is a very interesting bacteria that has been shown to increase serotonin production in rats, enhancing cognitive performance, stress resilience, and other aspects (Matthews et al., 2013; Juarez et al., 2022).
Rich Soil for Neuroplasticity
Our neurons produce more brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) when we exercise, get sunlight, concentrate, and engage in creative activities like gardening. According to Brunoni et al. (2008), this protein chemically enhances neuroplasticity, improving the conditions in which our modest ANS can educate the brain new pathways. Gardening can be compared to brain fertilizer!
Our neurons produce more brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) when we exercise, get sunlight, concentrate, and engage in creative activities like gardening. According to Brunoni et al. (2008), this protein chemically enhances neuroplasticity, improving the conditions in which our modest ANS can educate the brain new pathways. Gardening can be compared to brain fertilizer!
Community and Connection
Many gardeners labor alone, and they really benefit from this time to reflect, listen to their favorite music or podcast, or even practice meditation. However, there are additional advantages to gardening with others. Your community garden may increase the effectiveness of your healing efforts because social connection is probably just as important to our mental health as anything else discussed here (Porges, 2017).
Many gardeners labor alone, and they really benefit from this time to reflect, listen to their favorite music or podcast, or even practice meditation. However, there are additional advantages to gardening with others. Your community garden may increase the effectiveness of your healing efforts because social connection is probably just as important to our mental health as anything else discussed here (Porges, 2017).
Beyond social advantages, horticultural treatment programs provide all of the aforementioned benefits in a planned, structured environment, frequently in conjunction with other therapies. Gardening-based residential programs can be particularly effective because they offer the mental health advantages of interacting with the soil in a 24-hour therapeutic setting that includes a secure setting, group and talk therapy, wholesome food, and medicines.
Final Thoughts
Rewiring a sad or anxious brain is a relatively new concept that may even be difficult to imagine. But if we think of our emotional landscape as a garden bed, it's easy to picture planting what we want, tending to it, and pulling out or crowding out what we don't. These "weeds" might be useful at the side of the road or in the bed of a creek, but since this is your garden, you get to decide what grows there. There is serenity in this activity, but it requires consistent, continuous effort.
Rewiring a sad or anxious brain is a relatively new concept that may even be difficult to imagine. But if we think of our emotional landscape as a garden bed, it's easy to picture planting what we want, tending to it, and pulling out or crowding out what we don't. These "weeds" might be useful at the side of the road or in the bed of a creek, but since this is your garden, you get to decide what grows there. There is serenity in this activity, but it requires consistent, continuous effort.
Post a Comment