The research shows the “healing aspects of nature, or also the not-so-positive effects of urban surroundings,” said Stobbe, an author of the second study. The ones you are seeing and hearing now are more likely to be encountered by our North American readers in their backyards.)īy contrast, listening to more or less diverse traffic noise worsened symptoms of depressive states. (This study was conducted in Europe, and the birds featured were also European. And those who listened to less diverse birdsongs (two bird species) also reported a significant decrease in feelings of anxiety and paranoia. Participants who listened to more diverse birdsongs (featuring the acoustic acrobatics of eight species) reported a decrease in depressive symptoms in addition to significant decreases in feelings of anxiety and paranoia. If a participant reported seeing or hearing birds at one point, their mental well-being was higher, on average, hours later even if they did not encounter birds at the next check-in.

The benefits persisted well beyond the bird encounter. But the 26,856 assessments offered a rich data set of what is associated with mental well-being in real time in the real world.īy analyzing the data, the researchers found a significant positive association between seeing or hearing birds and improved mental well-being, even when accounting for other possible explanations such as education, occupation, or the presence of greenery and water, which have themselves been associated with positive mental health.

The participants were not explicitly told that the researchers were looking at birds - the app was also collecting data about other vitals such as sleep quality, subjective assessment of air quality, and location details. In one study, researchers asked about 1,300 participants to collect information about their environment and well-being three times a day using a smartphone app called Urban Mind. Meadowlark Being around birds is associated with better mental healthĮveryday encounters with the bird kind are associated with better mental health.

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