If you’re looking for a way to improve your emotional health, you might want to head for the Chicago Botanic Garden. A study conducted by Rutgers University found that flowers (surprise!) significantly improve moods.
A 10-month study of women’s behavioral and emotional responses to receiving flowers concluded that flowers have an immediate impact on happiness. Regardless of their age, the women who received flowers all expressed “extraordinary delight and gratitude,” according to the study’s results.
Horticultural Therapy Services at the Botanic Garden promotes human well-being through plants. It operates under the premise that working with flowers and plants can increase relaxation, lower stress and improve social interaction, mental stimulation and motor skills. Horticultural Therapy Services provides training, services and workshops in this field.
A more surprising discovery of the study, conducted by Jeannette Haviland-Jones, professor of psychology and project director of Rutgers’ Human Development Lab, is that flowers have a long-term effect on people’s moods. Participants reported feeling less depressed, anxious and agitated after receiving flowers. They also expressed a higher sense of enjoyment and life satisfaction.
The mere presence of flowers, the researchers claim, also can lead to increased contact with family and friends. While common sense would tell us that flowers can trigger happy emotions, what the study suggests is their effect on feelings and social behavior is far greater than we may have believed.
Like dogs or the weather, flowers, apparently, help create a common link and connect us with people we otherwise might not talk to.
Knowing the therapeutic benefits of flowers and plants, the Botanic Garden’s Horticultural Therapy Center has helped establish gardening programs in rehabilitation centers, facilities that house older adults, special education schools and correctional institutions. The Horticultural Therapy Center also offers gardening instructions for people with disabilities, teaching them how to create gardens that are easily accessible.
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The Botanic Garden offersgardening and education programs for adults and children, in cooperation with Chicago Public Library branches. For more information, log on to www.chicago-botanic.org or call 847-835-8250.
