Do You Live In a ‘Lonelygenic Environment’? Being In Nature May Help

Loneliness has become a global public health concern. Countries including the United Kingdom and Japan have appointed “ministers of loneliness” to help tackle the problem. In the United States, then-Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy issued a public health advisory on loneliness, stating that the risk for premature death from loneliness is akin to smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day.

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“There is some evidence that those who spend time in nature are less likely to report being lonely,” said Julianne Holt-Lunstad, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University. “But those are correlations, so then we have to understand why would that be the case, and if you put people in nature, does that actually reduce loneliness?”

Holt-Lunstad, who studies the link between social connection and health, suggests a number of possible mechanisms. Being in public spaces such as parks or hiking trails increases the chances of social interaction and can foster a sense of feeling like you’re a part of something bigger than yourself, such as the natural world or humanity. Exposure to natural environments may also lower levels of stress and anxiety.

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