Abstract
The authors of this paper sought to investigate the impact of virtual forest therapy based on realistic versus dreamlike environments on reducing stress levels. Today, people are facing an increase in stress levels in everyday life, which may be due to personal life, work environment, or urban area expansion. Previous studies have reported that urban environments demand more attention and mental workload than natural environments. However, evidence for the effects of natural environments as virtual forest therapy on stress levels has not yet been fully explored. In this study, a total of 20 healthy participants completed a letter-detection test to increase their stress level and were then randomly assigned to two different virtual environments representing realistic and dreamlike graphics. The participants’ stress levels were assessed using two physiological methods that measured heart rate and skin conductance levels and one psychological method through the Profile of Mood States (POMS) questionnaire. These indicators were analyzed using a sample t-test and a one-way analysis of variance. The results showed that virtual forest environments could have positive stress-relieving effects. However, realistic graphics were more efficient in reducing stress. These findings contribute to growing forest therapy concepts and provide new directions for future forest therapy research.
Highlights
Stress is a situation that develops when an individual perceives a mismatch between the demands of a circumstance and his/her biological, psychological, or social resources [1].According to the literature, prolonged stress can negatively and severely influence health [2].Stress is linked to a variety of mental illnesses and cardiovascular problems [3,4]
We developed a computerized task based on the letter-detection test (LDT) to provoke stress in the lab environment [34]
The results showed that for participants who completed the LDT, their heart rate (HR) and skin conductance level (SCL) levels were higher than they were at baseline (HR: mean = 84.9, SD = 15.6; SCL: mean = 3.9, SD = 3.2)
Summary
Stress is a situation that develops when an individual perceives a mismatch between the demands of a circumstance and his/her biological, psychological, or social resources [1]. Stress is linked to a variety of mental illnesses and cardiovascular problems [3,4]. The environment plays an essential role in our capacity to deal with stress factors. The environment can improve or decrease people’s coping strategies in the face of stressful situations [5,6,7]. The urban environment is visually complex and requires more attention than natural environments [8]. Spending time in a non-urban area, where attention is in its natural environment, can help to alleviate urban stress. Ulrich, et al [9] presented the stress relief theory, which claims that exposure to nature can relieve stress and directly impact cognitive restoration
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