Birdwatching Can Improve Mental Health And Reduce Distress In Students
A new study finds that college students who get out to experience nature β particularly by birding β report improved well-being and lower psychological distress than those who do not.
Β© by GrrlScientist for Forbes | LinkTr.ee
When I was attending university, I went birding almost every day. Birding so frequently was an invaluable experience that made me feel calmer, and more connected to birds and to the natural world.
But my experience was not unique. Iβve often shared studies with you that report improved mental health and well-being resulting from nature-based experiences for people from a variety of backgrounds (for example, read more here, here, and here). Now a new study has been published that focuses specifically on college students and bird watching. For this study, the researchers asked, do nature-based experiences improve the mental health of college students? Is birding a particularly effective way to experience nature and achieve increased well-being for students?
βThere has been a lot of research about well-being coming out through the pandemic that suggests adolescents and college-aged kids are struggling the most,β said the studyβs lead author, environmental biologist Nils Peterson, a professor of forestry and environmental resourcesβ¦
