Abstract
Natural environment has a positive effect on individual mental health, which can be proved by many studies, both domestic and overseas. At present, some sunrise industries such as forest healthcare and natural tourism are booming in China. However, academically speaking, there’s still a lack of systematic summary of researches on the relationship between natural environment and mental health in China, as well as a lack of comparison with foreign research achievements, which hinders the further development of the field to some extent in China. Therefore, this paper reviews the literature systematically by using the database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), in order to understand the research status in China and find out its gap with foreign studies. The results show that the study in this area in China can be divided into three stages, namely the embryonic stage (prior to 2000), the start-up stage (2001–2008) and the stage of initial development (since 2009); disciplines involved in the study mainly cover forestry, agriculture, psychology, medicine, sports science, tourism, ecology, education and geography. In general, the research in China concentrates on four topics: ecological psychology, the impact of natural ecological environment on mental health, the impact of artificial ecological environment on mental health, as well as the impact of natural tourism on mental health. Based on the findings, a future study framework and some main study lines are suggested: firstly, a systematic study on the relationship between natural environment and mental health in other countries should be conducted; secondly, factors affecting mental health in natural environment should be identified; thirdly, an evaluation system of psychological effect of natural environment should be established; finally, the utilization modes and influencing mechanism of natural environment should be explored.
Highlights
Mental health, as a good and continuous psychological state in the process of one’s growth and development, includes normal intelligence, good mood, harmonious interpersonal relationship, adaptability to the environment and complete personality [1,2]
As mental health problems are getting popularized, research in China on the relationship between natural environment and mental health exhibits the trend of growing in recent years, with the following characteristics in general
(1) Chinese research on the relationship between natural environment and mental health started in the 1990s, nearly sixty fifty years later than that in foreign countries; during 2001–2008, with the increasing mental problems emerging in China, more and more scholars engaged in this research; after 2009, as the health awareness of Chinese people was rising and the pressure for urban residents was intensified, the academic research in this field became increasingly popular
Summary
As a good and continuous psychological state in the process of one’s growth and development, includes normal intelligence, good mood, harmonious interpersonal relationship, adaptability to the environment and complete personality [1,2] It is an important part of health, which is of great significance to the promotion of individual happiness as well as social harmony and stability. As the developing country, Chinese people are becoming more and more interested in health and looking forward to achieve health recovery through travel, vacation and other leisure ways; in this context, this paper puts forward the further research framework on this field mainly from the perspectives of tourism and geography, in order to make more deeply aware of the various roles, complexity and spatial differentiation between natural environment and mental health. This paper will offer some reasonable insights into a more characteristic research direction in the future, to support the deepening, China’s Ecological Civilization and provide some experiences for other countries
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
