The environment we inhabit – from the local climate to the natural landscapes around us – has a far-reaching impact on our mental health and workplace wellbeing. As we give extra honor to Earth this month, it’s a perfect time to get back to our “roots” and explore how our relationship with nature impacts workplace mental health and resilience across regions.

The Gift of Nature’s Embrace

Imagine a world where the soothing caress of a gentle breeze, the symphony of birdsong, and the earthy fragrance of petrichor envelop you in nature’s nurturing embrace. For countless generations, Indigenous communities like the Australian Aborigines with their “songlines” have revered this deep connection to the land as integral to spiritual and psychological wellbeing. In Shintoism, the natural world itself is venerated as kami (sacred spirits/forces) deserving humble reverence.

In our modern lives, research worldwide reveals access to the sights, sounds, and smells of nature sparks transformative cognitive and emotional benefits. Studies show spending time in nature can lower stress hormones like cortisol, enhance focus and creativity, and improve emotional regulation – whether in China’s majestic mountain ranges, Japan’s enchanting forests, or a simple community garden.

For example, a study on workplace settings and wellbeing found office workers with access to green spaces and nature views reported significantly higher job satisfaction and lower burnout compared to those in plain urban offices (Gilchrist et al., 2015). Similarly, a recent study found that nature-based work intervention reduced workers’ stress levels and improved their cognitive performance (Daniels et al., 2022).

But what circumstances do we face when we find ourselves searching for nature’s restorative presence?

Geography Matters

Geographic location and climate realities strain access to nature’s psychological sanctuary and can have significant implications for workplace well-being and productivity, with disproportionate impacts on marginalized populations. Low-income communities and nations bear the harshest consequences of rising temperatures, ecological destruction, and natural disasters – a heavy psychological toll compounding existing vulnerabilities.

For example, workers in extremely cold or hot regions may experience seasonal affective disorder, decreased motivation, and higher rates of absenteeism due to weather-related illnesses. The lack of access to natural green spaces in urban centers or desert-like environments can compound these issues by depriving employees of the restorative benefits that nature provides.

In contrast, people in temperate regions with ample nature exposure tend to exhibit lower burnout and anxiety alongside greater engagement and life satisfaction. But these privileged environments are rapidly disappearing.

Climate Change Matters

Climate change is having an overpowering impact on mental health and well-being across the globe, which in turn can negatively affect work performance. Rising global temperatures, intensifying natural disasters, desertification, and ecological destruction directly threaten community resilience and psychological safety for many people. Cultural bereavement compounds as sacred lands, hunting grounds, burial sites and harvest areas succumb to environmental destruction.

From major events like the 2004 Indonesian tsunami to Hurricane Maria’s devastation in Puerto Rico, climate-related traumas can unleash widespread post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), grief, substance abuse, and suicidal ideation that traumatize entire communities for years. The Indian city of Chennai still grapples with the mental health fallout of the 2015 flooding, which displaced over a million people. These increasingly chaotic environmental conditions undermine workers’ ability to rest, recharge, and perform at their best.

Even for those not directly impacted by disasters, oppressive heat can drain vitality, cold temperatures require constant thermoregulation that depletes metabolic energy, and disruptive storms and wildfires fuel anxiety, irritability, and seasonal affective disorder – all of which disrupt productivity. Inability to concentrate, chronic stress, and emotional volatility make it extremely difficult to remain focused and engaged at work. Seemingly small disruptions of having to cancel outdoor plans or events due to extreme weather conditions can chip away at work-life balance and overall satisfaction. The accumulation of these micro-stresses and disappointments breeds burnout.

Environmental factors like pollen levels, air quality, and temperature extremes can also wreak havoc on workers struggling with allergies and respiratory issues. These physiological factors can lead to fatigue, headaches, and overall difficulty concentrating as their bodies work overtime combating the allergen exposure- directly undermining productivity and well-being in the workplace.

The mental health impacts extend far beyond the physiological effects. Climate-induced trauma, anxiety, and existential grief over environmental degradation- termed solastalgia- have sparked a mental health crisis, with scarce resources for coping. Those working in comfortable office environments cannot escape these impacts either. According to the Grantham Institute, for every one person physically affected by a climate disaster, 40 suffer psychological impacts. Already, 7% of American adults experience climate psychological distress, with alarming disparities for Hispanic/Latino and younger generations facing uncertainty over the planet’s survivability.

Restoring the Human-Nature Connection

Nurturing an engaged, resilient global workforce requires proactive strategies to address escalating climate-induced stressors alongside restoring our human-nature connections:

• Offsites in natural settings like parks or gardens, sensitive to accessibility needs
• Sustainability education and opportunities for collective action (i.e. workplace garden, community clean ups, tree planting, restore habitats, etc.)
• Arrange for State or National Park perks
• Investment in eco-friendly climate control systems, green spaces, and outdoor working/exercise areas
• Nature-inspired design elements like living walls, natural lighting, and calming soundscapes
• Promote active breaks, quiet rooms, and other rejuvenating activities during the workday
• Encourage a culture that destigmatizes and supports rest (i.e. blackout curtains, white noise machines, and other sleep-supportive amenities)
• Flexible work policies and time off to recuperate from extreme weather conditions
• “Psychological first aid” and emotional resilience training, especially for vulnerable communities

While these might be starting points for reconnecting with nature, they are far from a quick fix and certainly not a one-size-fits-all approach. Different communities are experiencing these effects in different ways based on their geographic, socioeconomic, and cultural contexts. Even within a single workplace, employees may be coping with climate impacts through varying cultural lenses shaped by their race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, and traditions around relating to the environment and collective trauma.

By beginning with intentionally incorporating nature’s psychological benefits with climate resilience, workplaces can build teams with engaged presence, cognitive stamina, and emotional equilibrium to adapt amid environmental adversity. Nature’s restorative presence encourages our interpersonal connectedness- increasing feelings of connection, trust, and compassion.

Safeguarding nature’s ecosystems protects the wellbeing of our most precious resource – our people. This connection between people and planet will create a legacy of flourishing for generations.

References

Cianconi, P., Betrò, S., & Janiri, L. (2020). The impact of climate change on Mental Health: A systematic descriptive review. Frontiers in Psychiatry. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00074/full

Daniels, S., Clemente, D. B. P., Desart, S., Saenen, N., Sleurs, H., Nawrot, T. S., Malina, R., & Plusquin, M. (2022). Introducing nature at the work floor: A nature-based intervention to reduce stress and improve cognitive performance. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, 240, 113884. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2021.113884

Gilchrist, K., Brown, C. & Montarzino, A. (2015)
Workplace settings and wellbeing: Greenspace use and views contribute to employee wellbeing at peri-urban business sites.
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Gritzka, S., MacIntyre, T. E., Dörfel, D., Baker-Blanc, J. L., & Calogiuri, G. (2020). The effects of workplace nature-based interventions on the mental health and well-being of employees: A systematic review. Frontiers in Psychiatry. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00323/full

Largo-Wight, E., Chen, W. W., Dodd, V., & Weiler, R. (2011). Healthy workplaces: The effects of nature contact at work on employee stress and health. Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974), 126 Suppl 1(Suppl 1), 124–130. https://doi.org/10.1177/00333549111260S116

Sadick, A.-M., & Kamardeen, I. (2020). Enhancing employees’ performance and well-being with nature exposure embedded office workplace design. ScienceDirect. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352710220334227

Ríos-Rodríguez, M. L., Testa Moreno, M., & Moreno-Jiménez, P. (2023). Nature in the Office: A Systematic Review of Nature Elements and Their Effects on Worker Stress Response. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 11(21), 2838. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11212838

Uppalapati, S., Ballew, M., Campbell, E., Kotcher, J., Rosenthal, S., Leiserowitz, A., & Maibach, E. (2023). The prevalence of Climate Change Psychological Distress among American adults. Yale University and George Mason University. New Haven, CT: Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.

Walinski, A., Sander, J., Gerlinger, G., Clemens, V., Meyer-Lindenberg, A., & Heinz, A. (2023). The effects of climate change on mental health. Deutsches Arzteblatt international, 120(8), 117–124. https://doi.org/10.3238/arztebl.m2022.0403