“Where flowers bloom, so does hope”
— LB Johnson
This piece of information might be quite a familiar one with all of us since we have collectively associated a field of the flower with a happy, blissful place. Any environment, as we all know, has always been better when surrounded by flowers and trees. There have been countless studies on flowers helping with mental health. Here, we take a look at how impactful flowers can be on depression.
Flowers help battle unhappiness and loneliness
Various research results have proven that viewing natural scenery helps battle stress. There is an automatic distraction from the bad and laying our eyes on a green scene of nature can reduce activity in the amygdala–hippocampus area — controlling emotion — thereby downregulating physiological responses.
Whether it’s through color, fragrance, or anything else, flowers instill hope and a refreshing feeling of something new. Even tending a plant garden can help tackle loneliness better. For instance, many avid gardeners do talk to their plants and flowers, strongly believing this has a huge impact on them.
“Flowers bring about positive emotional feelings in those who enter a room, they make the space more welcoming and create a sharing atmosphere.“
— Dr. Haviland-Jones
Flowers soothe our souls
Flowers can also trigger one’s happy brain chemicals such as dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin. They help stimulate a sense of pride and excitement with others. This can be with any interaction with flowers, whether you grow, buy, give, or receive them. For example, Chamomile has highly been used to relieve tension, with it being consumed in tea. Lavender has also been known for bringing forth a soothing fragrance that brings a sense of calm.
Attract the right energy
Flowers set a distinctive environment giving the same old place a new look and energy. Every place emanates a vibe or a sense of energy. It is important to keep the energy up and flowing to achieve optimal levels of happiness, productivity, etc.
The mind can easily get disturbed by an imbalance in design. This disturbance can affect our mood, thereby influencing our mental health. This happens rather quickly nowadays across all age groups, especially in a post-pandemic world, where thousands of people are finding themselves depressed from quarantine.
Help beat workplace tension
Flowers do add quite a fair amount of aesthetics to the scene while their impact on the body and the mind elevates the experience. Office spaces are now looking towards indoor plants that add to the vibe of the place and also function as a stress buster to the otherwise tiresome eyes of its employees who stare right through the computer all day long.
Flowers have also proven to combat sick building syndrome, where employees are distressed with the working atmosphere within their office spaces. Aloe vera, English ivy, Philodendron variety, Money plant, Peace lily, are few plants that could be used to reduce stress and also to improve the air quality.
Mental balance through flowers
Different colors emit different kinds of vibrations, and they have varied effects on our bodies. Colour therapists, also known as aromatherapists, believe that if these vibrations are applied correctly for treatment, imbalance from the body can be treated. Right colors have the right effect on our mental health.
Below are a few examples of color therapy with different flowers their corresponding healing effects.
- Pink tulips — Encourage emotions of kindness, compassion, and affection.
- Yellow chrysanthemums — Yellow inspires feelings of happiness and warmth.
- Red roses — Symbolic of romance and passion, it comes as no surprise that these blooms have long been associated with love. In color therapy, red stimulates physical energy, confidence, and courage and promotes alertness.
- Purple anemones — Full of life and energy, its extravagance stimulates feelings of inspiration, creativity, and calm.
Decorating your home with flowers
As evident from the explanations above, there is no doubt that flowers help to improve our mental health. From colors to smells, it never hurts to spice up your interior with floral designs and flowers.
Whether it’s a simple plant or something more, adopting a biophilic approach to our homes can drastically improve the way we live our lives. With more people staying home due to the pandemic, now would be a good time — more than ever — to consider designing your home with more plants in mind.
