It was a cold and sober morning in the middle of October. The sun was shyly peeking through the clouds as we walked along the sand, trying to find the perfect spot to stop. Anticipation was in the air, our feet were as numb as the stones we ran over, and before we knew it, we were diving into the North Sea at sunrise. To submerge yourself fully into freezing cold water, as anyone will know who has done it, is simultaneously painful and incredible.
Despite the pain of being awake at sunrise on the eastern coast of Scotland, there is something calming about returning to the water. Here in St Andrews, our identity seems almost inseparable from the water that surrounds us. But for metropolitan and suburban dwellers, a return to the water can be an instant relief from the overwhelming atmosphere of large cities.
In 2016, the WHO reported that “88% of deaths in the European region were caused by non-communicable diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and mental illness” (1). To combat the steep rise in the negative mental and physical health effects of twenty-first century city dwelling, the concept of blue space therapy has been developed over the last thirty years (2). In promoting accessibility to blue spaces, as well as preservation and improvement of such spaces in urban settings, psychologists are hoping to improve the well being of those without access (3).
Blue space can be defined as “all visible, outdoor, natural surface waters with potential for the promotion of human health” (4). Originally, blue space was referred to under the umbrella of green space. However, criticism has been noted over the last decade of water not being sufficiently recognised in green space research (5). In the last five to ten years, blue space has been treated as a space adjacent to green space, rather than a subcategory of it due to the extremely different “sensory experiences” they instigate in human beings (6).
Blue space therapy is more than someone telling you to “go on a beach walk” because it will somehow cure your depression. By definition, blue space therapy is a therapeutic nature based practice that utilises exposure and interaction with blue spaces to improve a patient’s mental and physical health (7). Especially in countries with struggling health care systems (8), the development of blue space therapy is a concept that could help ease the stress and suffering of living in a fast paced metropolitan setting with multiple demands for consumption and financial success.
Let’s take the recent study conducted in July of 2020 in Barcelona on the effects of exposure to blue spaces on people’s well being (9). A sample of 59 office workers in the city of Barcelona were randomly assigned to walk a particular route for 20 minutes a day, 4 days a week for three weeks (10). One route was contained within an urban space with rest stops in an urban setting, and the other route was a “blue route”, or a route adjacent to or with access to bodies of water (11).
Results, using the self reported mood, blood pressure, and heart rate of the participants, demonstrate, “ significantly improved well being and mood responses immediately after walking in the blue space compared with walking in the urban space…” (12).
This is just one study that has been conducted on the health benefits of being exposed to blue spaces. There are more and more studies being conducted currently, as blue space therapy is a relatively new psychological concept, and has minimal systematic reviews synthesising the evidence of its effects (13).
However, there is an irony in blue space therapy being promoted now. As the concept arose out of the need to escape the man made metropolis of city life, it depends on the preservation and creation of blue spaces for people to escape to. The main issue arises in our modern ideas of the commodification of mental health, and how in our consumer culture it is encouraged to buy the solution to our problems, even if they do not have an instant material fix.
As we are encouraged to buy short term solutions to our mental and physical health problems by companies, they destroy and endanger the blue and green spaces human beings need to be in. I am not insinuating that all mental health issues can be solved by becoming Maria in The Sound of Music, running through the fields in the alps. Having the financial stability to afford basic necessities to survive includes being able to afford mental health and welfare services. It is no mistake that the main target of blue space therapy are metropolitans, who have often had less access to both blue spaces as well as financial security and healthcare benefits (13).
Healthcare in countries that prioritise capitalistic industry over wellbeing has historically been more accessible with the more money one has. Blue space therapy, if studies are continued and results are found to be continually successful, provides a wider access to mental health aid for those who have often not had access to it. Blue space therapy calls attention to the intersection of climate change, struggling health care, and the prioritization of industry. In prioritising people’s mental and physical health, as a society we will simultaneously be prioritising the environment and our Earth as well. This is not a single issue, but rather multiple that all leads back to the need to care for yourself, and others.
References
1. WHO (2016) Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases in the European Region: A Progress Report. World Health Organisation. http://www.euro.who.int/en/healthtopics/noncommunicable-diseases/ncd-background-informa tion/prevention-and-control-of-noncommunicable-diseasesin-the-european-region-a-progress-report
2. Easkey Britton, Gesche Kindermann, Christine Domegan, Caitriona Carlin, Blue care: a systematic review of blue space interventions for health and wellbeing, Health Promotion International, Volume 35, Issue 1, February 2020, Pages 50–69, 53 https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/day103
3. Easkey Britton, Gesche Kindermann, Christine Domegan, Caitriona Carlin, Blue care: a systematic review of blue space interventions for health and wellbeing, Health Promotion International, Volume 35, Issue 1, February 2020, Pages 50–69, 51 https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/day103
4. Easkey Britton, Gesche Kindermann, Christine Domegan, Caitriona Carlin, Blue care: a systematic review of blue space interventions for health and wellbeing, Health Promotion International, Volume 35, Issue 1, February 2020, Pages 50–69, 51 https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/day103
5.Volker, S., & Kistemann, T. (2011). The impact of blue space on human health and well-being - Salutogenetic health effects of inland surface waters: A review. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, 449-460. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2011.05.001.
6. Haeffner, M., Jackson-Smith, D., Buchert, M. and Risley, J. (2017) Accessing blue spaces: social and geographic factors structuring familiarity with, use of, and appreciation of urban waterways. Landscape and Urban Planning, 167, 136–146.
7. Easkey Britton, Gesche Kindermann, Christine Domegan, Caitriona Carlin, Blue care: a systematic review of blue space interventions for health and wellbeing, Health Promotion International, Volume 35, Issue 1, February 2020, Pages 50–69, 50.
8. Easkey Britton, Gesche Kindermann, Christine Domegan, Caitriona Carlin, Blue care: a systematic review of blue space interventions for health and wellbeing, Health Promotion International, Volume 35, Issue 1, February 2020, Pages 50–69, 52. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/day103
9. Cristina Vert, Mireia Gascon, Otavio Ranzani, Sandra Márquez, Margarita Triguero-Mas, Glòria Carrasco-Turigas, Lourdes Arjona, Sarah Koch, Maria Llopis, David Donaire-Gonzalez, Lewis R. Elliott, Mark Nieuwenhuijsen. “Physical and mental health effects of repeated short walks in a blue space environment: a randomised crossover study”. Environmental Research 2020, doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.109812.
10. Cristina Vert, Mireia Gascon, Otavio Ranzani, Sandra Márquez, Margarita Triguero-Mas, Glòria Carrasco-Turigas, Lourdes Arjona, Sarah Koch, Maria Llopis, David Donaire-Gonzalez, Lewis R. Elliott, Mark Nieuwenhuijsen. “Physical and mental health effects of repeated short walks in a blue space environment: a randomised crossover study”. Environmental Research 2020, doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.109812.
11. Cristina Vert, Mireia Gascon, Otavio Ranzani, Sandra Márquez, Margarita Triguero-Mas, Glòria Carrasco-Turigas, Lourdes Arjona, Sarah Koch, Maria Llopis, David Donaire-Gonzalez, Lewis R. Elliott, Mark Nieuwenhuijsen. “Physical and mental health effects of repeated short walks in a blue space environment: a randomised crossover study”. Environmental Research 2020, doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.109812.
12. Cristina Vert, Mireia Gascon, Otavio Ranzani, Sandra Márquez, Margarita Triguero-Mas, Glòria Carrasco-Turigas, Lourdes Arjona, Sarah Koch, Maria Llopis, David Donaire-Gonzalez, Lewis R. Elliott, Mark Nieuwenhuijsen. “Physical and mental health effects of repeated short walks in a blue space environment: a randomised crossover study”. Environmental Research 2020, doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.109812.
13. Gascon, Mireia, Zijlema, Wilma, Vert, Cristina, White, Mathew, & Nieuwenshuijsen, Mark. (2017). Outdoor blue spaces, human health and well-being: A systematic review of quantitative studies. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, 220(November 2017), 1207–1221. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2017.08.004
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