Pilar Martínez does not raise her head. The consequences of covid have transformed his life, now marked by continuous hospitalizations and a loss of social activity that have led to a situation of emotional discomfort. The resort to pharmacological treatment, anxiolytics or antidepressants, is typical in these cases, but there are alternatives to medicines. And they are in nature, among the trees. They have no contraindications or generate side effects. A research on activity therapies in nature seeks to quantify the long-term benefits of forest bathing in people with mild symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Pilar Martínez is one of the 46 individuals between the ages of 18 and 75 who have participated in recent months in the study promoted by primary care specialists at Parc Taulí and the stress and health research group (GEIS) of the UAB . His testimony leaves no doubt about the benefits of an experience to which he added with anticipation: “It brought me an impressive tranquility and serenity. Let people know that it works a lot and is very restorative. It repairs the soul, the body and, above all, the head. For my state of mind it was a pure injection”.
The intervention consisted of two sessions of guided forest bathing practice in the natural park of Sant Llorenç del Munt i l’Obac, with guided meditations and walking in silence with full awareness (mindful walking) among the trees, in a circular route of 4 km. “There is a lot of evidence that forest bathing has an immediate positive effect on emotional well-being, but less on whether it is long-lasting enough to have an impact on everyday life. In other words, if you can take them home”, explains Toni Sanz, coordinator of the UAB NAT (Activity Therapies in Nature) project. If this thesis is scientifically confirmed, forest baths may be subject to the so-called social prescription (non-pharmacological measures to treat emotional discomfort or suffering that does not reach moderate or severe mental disorder) by the health system, says psychologist Laura Commander, emotional well-being referent of CAP Can Rull in Sabadell.
Participants filled out mood assessment forms before each session and then every three hours and up to 24 hours via an app, so the researchers could know how long the effect lasted anxiolytic
Forest baths have their origins in Japan. There they are called shinrin yoku, literally “absorb the atmosphere of the forest”. According to Sanz, the preliminary results of the research have found that they generate an immediate impact, with a very clear reduction in anxiety levels and negative emotions, a moderate reduction in stress levels, a moderate increase in positive emotions and an intense increase in the ability to pay attention in body and mind.
“It is still necessary to analyze whether, beyond these observed effects which can be summed up in an improvement in mood and cognitive abilities, it lasts long enough to positively affect your daily life”, he explains. This would be evidence in favor of avoiding or reducing the prescription of psychotropic drugs in patients with very mild symptoms. A particularly interesting option at a time like the present, when, according to Laura Comendador, outpatient clinics receive more and more cases of emotional distress and there has been an increase in the consumption of medicines. “With the pandemic, mental health has worsened and the sedentary lifestyle among the population has increased. As an answer to this, it is necessary to promote group or community activities, or contact with nature, cultural, sports… instead of the pharmacological approach to emotional discomfort”, reasons the psychologist.
Knowing that forest baths have positive emotional effects in an immediate way, and while waiting for the study to define its benefits in the longer term, it must be specified that this therapeutic modality cannot be practiced without prior knowledge. Experts recommend doing at least a couple of guided sessions. The network of natural parks of the Diputació de Barcelona usually have them in their schedule of activities, and entities such as the Sèlvans de Girona cooperative or Forest Therapy Hub organize them systematically. “I look for accessible paths, it doesn’t have to be too full of trees, but there should be shade, close to the city, so that the journey is not long, even if far enough from the roads not to find vehicles”. Beyond the research, Pilar Martínez and her group continue with the forest baths.
