Feeling SAD? How Biophilia Can Hack Your Way to a Better Mood

 If the dark days of winter are getting you down, learn how nature can get your neurotransmitters humming.


By Sally Wadyka

A couple of years ago, my family spent much of December in Norway. Yes, daylight hours were in short supply. But surprisingly, it barely bothered us — or, it seemed, the locals. By necessity, Norwegians are masters at managing dark winter days while remaining one of the happiest countries in the world.

How do they get through a long, dark winter without epidemic levels of seasonal affective disorder (SAD)? The answer may lie in biophilia, or the idea that connecting to nature can help humans thrive. In Norway, almost no one seems to hibernate during those cold, dark months. The streets, parks and ski trails are filled with people of all ages enjoying time outdoors and surrounding themselves with nature. And that’s a smart move when it comes to your mood. In a bit of advantageous irony, turning to nature can help people cope with this nature-induced disorder.




Neurotransmitter vs. Neurotransmitter: The Battle in Your Brain

SAD was identified as a mood disorder since 1984, thanks to the work of Dr. Norman E. Rosenthal and others, showing that depression can rise when daylight is scarce. It affects about five percent of Americans during the winter months, and many more experience a lesser version often referred to as the “winter blues.”

The diminished sunlight of winter (meaning no balmy strolls to the office in the AM or patio lounging at golden hour) can impact the brain’s vital neurotransmitters — chemical messengers like serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine — causing mood shifts.

But biophilia releases neurotransmitters that deliver good vibes. Contact with nature (even just 20 minutes) can help ratchet down levels of the stress hormone cortisol. This doesn’t mean you have to stand shivering outdoors at noon. Biophilic design — meaning interior spaces that incorporate natural elements — can have a major impact on mood, stress levels and productivity.

Beyond the Lightbox

One of the main treatments for SAD is light therapy. Basking in the glow of a 10,000-lux light once a day has been the gold standard therapy. “But having to sit 12 inches away from a light box for 20 minutes or so every day isn’t very practical for most people,” says Christine Whelan, PhD, a clinical professor in the School of Human Ecology at University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her alternative: Mimic sunlight with grow lights designed to help indoor plants thrive. If you have a countertop garden (the kind that keeps you supplied with herbs regardless of the season), you might want to sit next to it as you read or work on your laptop. While these lamps don’t emit the same wavelength of light as the boxes do, they could still prove uplifting. “You know how good it feels to walk into a greenhouse in the middle of winter — the warmth, the light? Giving plants the light they need to grow may also help boost your mood,” she says.

Another option to lightboxes: light-therapy glasses and visors to wear while you go about your business. Soon, this kind of illumination may be AI-enabled to better give the wearer just what’s needed. A recent study at Tsinghua University explored how AI and biometric input could optimize light therapy. Based on a person’s brainwaves and other real-time, light may be adjusted (its color “temperature” and intensity, for instance) for precision delivery.


Go Greener

Tromping across a forest of fir trees can be delightful, but it isn’t the only way to harness the SAD-lifting power of plants. “We know that just the presence of plants in your indoor space makes a big difference in your perceived stress level, heart rate, cortisol levels and even the gray matter in your prefrontal cortex,” says Melinda Knuth, PhD, assistant professor of horticultural science at North Carolina State University. That’s a lot of bang from a little bit of greenery.

Knuth and her colleagues have done numerous experiments that bear this out. The latest (not yet published) looks at how many plants it takes to make your cortisol drop. (Spoiler alert: More is probably better!) So add some greenery inside your home. Those who think they “just can’t” when it comes to plant care may want to zero in on the all-but-indestructible ZZ plant, pothos, and snake plant.

A Dirty Secret

Beyond just having more greenery in your home and on your desk, you might want to get your hands dirty — either start some seeds or repot an overgrown plant. Here’s why: One study split participants into two groups: those doing computer tasks and those repotting a plant. Guess who felt less stressed, more soothed? The plant people.

There’s another possible connection between having plants around and improving your mood. Some studies have looked at the role of a bacteria (called mycobacterium vaccae) that’s typically found in soil. Research indicates that this type of bacteria can activate neurons in the brain to release more serotonin — the very thing that we need more of when dealing with SAD.


Go Buy That Landscape Print You Love

The amazing thing about the power of biophilia is that it can work even in the absence of actual plants. “People respond similarly to pictures of plants as they do to the real thing,” says Dr. Knuth. “The same is also true for just looking outside and seeing greenery.”

Studies in hospitals have shown that having photos of nature scenes on the walls lowers pain levels and stress. “Patients exposed to nature scenes had lower blood pressure and needed fewer pain killers during their recovery,” says Dr. Whelan. Being able to view a natural scene and get some natural light coming through your windows (even if just for a couple hours a day) can boost serotonin levels, too.

So if you’ve been waiting for a reason to buy a watercolor of a flower field in bloom or other plant-filled scene, this might be it. Or perhaps it’s an excuse to spend a weekend in an Airbnb with stunning views of the landscape. I’ll admit I wasn’t thinking about biophilia as I admired the view outside the floor-to-ceiling windows during my time in Norway but am grateful for how it likely did my mood good.

About the Writer

Sally Wadyka is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Consumer Reports, and Yahoo Health. She lives in Colorado where she doesn’t experience seasonal depression because the sun shines at least 300 days a year (sorry, not sorry).