The holiday season has arrived and all Nebraskans have to do is decorate, shop, wrap, bake, cook, travel and the list goes on and on. A new survey shows that one in four women in particular are affected with stress. Dr. Largo Wight is a public health specialist and says a new study shows an easy way to stop and smell the roses. It focused on the impact of flowers and the environment. They found that women living with flowers for just a few days had a significant decrease in their stress levels.
Dr. Wight says, “We know from past findings that contact with nature has been shown to reduce stress. For example, having a potted plant in your home or having a view outdoors from your work window or even listening to nature sounds can reduce stress. We can take these findings and think about ways that we can reduce our own stress by bringing the outdoors and nature contact inside.”
Dr. Wight says a recent poll shows 68% of people feel stress on a weekly basis and 32% experience it every day. She says, “Stress is an individual perception. It happens when someone decides their perceived demands are greater than their perceived resources. In a sense, as a collective society perspective, it is basically a bunch of people perceiving a greater threat at all times.”
Dr. Write says our indoor environments are very important as we spend about 90% of our time inside. Bringing nature into our living and working environment could have a big impact on our stress levels that impact our health, emotional well-being and mental health and bring a calming factor a frazzled society.