Can watching nature improve our mental health?

If you’ve ever “accidentally” spent hours on TikTok watching squishy puppies and pandas, you might already have an answer to that question.

Turns out, those panda and puppy videos aren’t just addicting because they’re so. darn. cute. They biologically produce positive emotions. 

But is there a limit? Any downsides? What about the fact that spending too much time in front of a screen is supposed to be bad for us?

Let’s investigate!

What We Know

Remember when it seemed like everyone was watching the “Planet Earth” documentaries? Have you ever wondered what made the series so popular and so enthralling? 

It turns out the BBC, the producers of Planet Earth, wondered the same thing. A few years ago, they joined forces with a U.C. Berkeley psychology professor to study the connection between nature and human happiness – specifically watching nature films.

What’d they find?

Watching nature videos, even for short spurts, can increase positive emotions and decrease negative feelings. 

The researchers found that watching nature documentaries makes people feel good. And it wasn’t a small study. The team looked at 7500 participants from several countries and reviewed over 150 other scientific studies.¹

Here’s what they reported: 

• Feelings of awe, amazement, wonder, curiosity, joy, and enthusiasm increased when people watched video clips of nature documentaries. 
• People were more relaxed.
• They noted a significant decrease in nervousness, anxiety, and stress.

Another study found that watching nature shows on TV minimized feelings of sadness and significantly reduced boredom.² 

They also had a group of participants view nature imagery via an interactive virtual reality experience. Those participants showed increases in positive feelings, such as happiness, and reportedly felt more connected to nature.³

But what about other types of content (i.e. the non-nature kind)? 

One small study found that re-watching TV shows could help restore feelings of self-control.⁴ Another study concluded that watching emotional dramas led to an increased pain threshold and social bonding.⁵

However… studies do also warn that too much watching can be a bad thing. 

Regularly binging television shows can be detrimental to your brain health. Watching over 3.5 hours of TV per day could contribute to cognitive decline.⁶ Studies on younger adults found similar results: those who watched more television per day showed poor cognitive performance.⁷

While there seems to be a connection between watching too much TV and brain health, many of the negative effects of watching TV come from being sedentary. Inactivity has been linked to type 2 diabetes, certain types of cancer, blood pressure issues, and early death.⁸

What We’re Still Learning

If watching nature videos is good for you, but watching TV for too long can be bad for your health, when do the benefits of nature documentaries wear off? At an hour per day? More? Less? That’s TBD at this point. 

There also seems to be a rift between reality and nature documentaries. Most nature documentaries are heavily manipulated – and in turn, are somewhat false depictions of the environment.⁹ Editing, sound effects, well-crafted scores, and narrative storytelling may be what’s leading our emotions.¹⁰ 

Without the anthropomorphizing and strategic video footage, would we enjoy nature documentaries so much? More importantly, would they have the same health benefits?  

The Bottom Line

Nature is therapeutic. It humbles us, heals us, shifts our perspective and reminds us of our true nature. Anytime you can get the real thing, you should do that.

But when you can’t get a real-life nature immersion? Take snippets of it when and where you can. Research seems to support the health benefits of watching nature videos, even short clips. So when you’re having a bad day and could use some cheering-up, try turning on a nature show or following a wildlife group on TikTok.

Then, as soon as you can, go for a walk outside 🙂

How do I get started?