Since 2020, there has been a 25% spike in anxiety and depression worldwide. Data shows that water is an answer.

The Breakdown Is Clear ...

The breakdown of mental wellness and overall well being is very clear. It breakdown shows as the spike in suicides, the increase in crime, and the meteoric rise drug addiction. As our communities, families and workplaces are urgently dealing with the breakdown, can the answer to our crisis be as simple as WATER ?? Read on for more …

Water As Medicine ...

With a mental health profession too often doling out pharmaceuticals to manage symptoms of mental illness, I think the answer can be much simpler. The answer could very well be easier than pharma. The answer is aqua, or better said, blue spaces, also known as water environments.

There is a growing movement that is advocating to include blue spaces and water environments in the search for mental health, overall well being and urban planning, not just for crisis management, but as the linchpin for lifelong mental wellness and overall well being.

Blue Spaces And Water Environments ...

I’ll splain it to you. Like me, you probably have had days that started with a long list of concerns and worries, then you take a break by a river, a lake or an ocean and all your worries go away. You have a new clarity, a new sense of power and even some new solutions for the problems - all brought to you by the environment that I call a Blue Space.

Blue Space ideas have been detailed and advocated by groups such as the Blue Health Project. They have studied and documented the mental health and well being benefits of 'Adam's Ale' environments in real life.

Re-Inventing Bonds To Nature And The Elixir Of Life ...

When us humans first evolved, some 2 million years ago, we lived in grasslands and forests, next to lakes and rivers. It wasn't until early in the 21st century that humans became a mostly urban dwelling animal. That’s the rub, as urbanization increases, our access to blue spaces and H2O environments continues to dwindle. We must rebuild those connections.

The loss of our human relationship with blue spaces has been linked to a spike of mental health disorders. A growing body of evidence indicates that human health, both mental and physical, is intrinsically linked to our interaction with water environments. We must re-invent those bonds.

The Blue Space Research Study From The University Of Exeter ...

There is more data too. A new research study published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology proves the connection of H2O environments and mental health to be true.

The blue space study, based on data from 18 countries, concluded that adults with better mental health are more likely to report having spent time playing in and around coastal and inland waters, such as rivers, waterfalls and lakes as children.

Valeria Vitale, the lead author of the blue spaces study said: 

“In the context of an increasingly technological and industrialized world, it’s important to understand how childhood nature experiences relate to wellbeing in later life. Our findings suggest that building familiarity and confidence in and around blue spaces during childhood may stimulate an inherent joy of nature and encourage people to seek out recreational nature experiences, with beneficial consequences for adult mental health."

Plus, a new book published in 2022 titled Urban Blue Spaces: Planning and Design for Water, Health and Well-Being shows a new, H2O centered approach to planning urban blue spaces that maximizes benefits to mental health and overall well-being. The book presents H2O related solutions to promote sustainable habitats and resilient, mentally well humans. That is what is needed and wanted.

If we can send a man to the moon, we can definitely make human well being a top priority for all humans. Blue spaces and aqua environments can be just what the doctor, and urban planners, ordered.

I’ll complete this post with a BBC video below that details the mental health and well being benefits of H2O environments and blue spaces, as it describes the important work of the BlueHealth Project.