«It relaxes you, especially after a call from the hospital», «I’m ashamed to admit it, but I’m fine», «looking at it you can turn off the COVID-19 channel in your head» – this is not an antidepressant, but an ordinary sparrow. We talk to the psychiatrist Dr. Sławomir Murawiec about “prescription birds”.
- The psychiatrist explains how the epidemic affected our psyche
- Dr. Murawiec conducted surveys, which show that contact with nature can be a recipe for worse well-being and a mental “dimness”
- The expert also talks about how the re-lockdown can affect the mental condition of Poles
- You can find more such stories on the TvoiLokony home page
Zuzanna Opolska, Medonet: Doctor, the pandemic has left its mark on the psyche of all of us – and how was it with psychiatric patients? Which of them underwent the «lockdown» the worst?
Dr. Sławomir Murawiec: I will surprise you – I think that the worst situation was for people who felt well before the pandemic, functioned at full capacity and had no reason to seek professional help from psychiatrists or psychologists. And suddenly, overnight, a stress stimulus of an unknown extent appeared, and their lives changed by 180 degrees: schools were closed, most companies switched to remote work, a ban on leaving the home was introduced.
Whenever we are subjected to mental stress, the risk of developing or worsening symptoms of mental disorders increases. In contrast, patients who have previously received treatment for psychological problems have some experience and relapse is no stranger to them. Their lives in the age of a pandemic are also changing a lot, but not so drastically.
Were there any patients who paradoxically found themselves in the “pandemic reality”?
Yes, patients with social phobia, or social anxiety, the main trait of which is fear of negative evaluation. We are talking about people who feel very anxious in natural social situations, such as: public speaking, placing an order in a restaurant or shopping in a store. For them, limiting contact with others was nothing new.
Also some obsessive patients. Yesterday, for example, I talked with a patient who for years obsessed with order, cleanliness and washing his hands. “Now it turned out that I was right,” he told me with pride and an undisguised sense of superiority. He also described that, of course, loved ones had and are fed up with the rigid hygiene rules he introduced. However, the sanitary recommendations for hand washing in the pandemic greatly strengthened his feeling that he was doing the right thing.
To sum up – did you have more patients?
We can talk about two phenomena – on the one hand, more people needed help, and on the other hand, access to psychiatrists and psychologists was partially limited. As part of teleportices, the necessary services were most often performed, i.e. e-prescriptions were issued. From the perspective of a private physician, they can say that many former patients have returned to me.
And how have you and other psychiatrists, people who know the mechanisms of coping with difficult thoughts and emotions, endured the last six months?
It has certainly been the most stressful period in our lives for most of us. Contrary to appearances, it was difficult not only for patients or doctors working in identical infectious diseases hospitals. Paradoxically, those who were supposed to help, i.e. psychiatrists and psychologists, also felt the psychological effects of the crisis on their own skin. Anyway, they still feel …
The Lord decided to check if “Mother Nature” is able to break down our cortisol …
In a way, yes, contrary to what we commonly think: psychiatry is not just drugs. Therapeutic interventions based on contact with nature are more and more intensively researched and implemented in clinical practice as a form of assistance in the field of psychology and psychiatry.
These can be different things: walking in the woods or on the beach, planting plants, observing animals or the famous Japanese “shinrin yoku”, or “forest baths” promoted in Poland by Dr. Katarzyna Simonienko, a psychiatrist and guide to the strict reserve of the Białowieża National Park.
In the spirit of the global trend, together with the ornithologist, prof. Piotr Tryjanowski from the University of Life Sciences in Poznań, we decided to check whether “applying nature” can help us during the COVID-19 pandemic. The formulated question was: “Do birds help us in the era of coronavirus?” And was dictated not only by our own ornithological interests, but also by numerous scientific reports, according to which bird watching has a beneficial effect on the mental health of observers.
The survey was only conducted among psychiatrists?
Yes, among our colleagues, whom we know that birds are not alien to them. We usually associate a psychiatrist with a specialist locked in an office, and believe me – just like everyone else, we have different interests. Among us there are psychiatrists-artists for whom art plays an important role, psychiatrists-naturalists who spend their free days in nature, and psychiatrists-ecologists who counteract climate change. Due to the impossibility of conducting in-depth interviews, we decided to conduct the survey via social media and email.
And what turned out? Did bird observation really contribute to the stabilization of well-being?
While analyzing the submitted statements, we noticed that contact with nature and bird watching satisfied two needs.
First of all, safety and relationship with a good, constantly present and accessible object – which has a stabilizing effect on well-being. So, on the one hand, the world collapsed in front of our eyes and we completely changed the way we lived until recently, and on the other hand, next to it, literally outside the window, nature lived its own rhythm. Let us remember that the period of isolation coincided with the beginning of spring. The day was getting longer, the grass was greener, the air was full of willow, birch and poplar, and we had the opportunity to hear starlings, robins, blackbirds and cinderella again.
Secondly – birds evoke associations with freedom. And here next to us isolation. It gave the feeling that the restrictions were relative, birds and nature were not subject to them. So there is some light in the tunnel for people as well. In this sense, birdwatching allowed doctors to forget about the “pandemic reality” and move to a safe world, free from psychological tension.
I read the statements of the respondents: “It relaxes, especially after the phone call from the hospital”, “I’m ashamed to admit, but I’m fine”, “Looking at them, you can turn off the COVID-19 channel in your head and spend a moment with something completely different” – it looks like that birds act as an antidepressant?
The answer to this question was sought by Canadian researchers from Carleton University, who, using the concept of subjectively perceived contact with nature, conducted a meta-analysis of 30 studies. It turned out that “immersion in nature” improves mood, energy, a sense of satisfaction and cognition. And while the effect ratios were not high, they were clear and comparable to the effect results obtained in antidepressant drug trials. Of course, as a psychiatrist, I will not tell the sick person: instead of being treated, please go to the forest, but contact with nature can undoubtedly complement conventional treatment.
You talked about cognitive enhancement – how can ‘bird brains’ help us in ‘brain fitness’?
Contrary to appearances, birds are not stupid. Intelligence is primarily the domain of parrots and ravens, which are known as the elusive thieves, or the pigeons that excel in mathematics. According to the researchers, the skills presented by the New Caledonian crows prove that their intellectual level is comparable to that of a 5-7 year old child.
Returning to brain training, bird watching can be compared to a dynamic exercise that develops not only attention and concentration, but also memory. After all, without an efficiently functioning working memory, we will not remember the appearance or singing of a bird, and without referring to long-term memory, we will not recognize its species. So we can talk about a similar exercise of cognitive functions as in the case of solving a crossword puzzle or sudoku. And given that the excessive amount of stimuli we experience on a daily basis can lead to cognitive overload, replacing the laptop screen with an unusual scenery, in this case “fresh air” only works to the advantage.
36 years ago, the American biologist Edward O. Wilson formulated the biophilia hypothesis that, in order to stay healthy and feel happy, we need contact with nature as much as we need contact with people – your survey probably confirms this?
Yes, and what is interesting, we observed this phenomenon – during the pandemic, many Poles instinctively began to go to the forest, which was exterminated by the Municipal Police. On the other hand, gardening portals reported an increase in interest in home gardening. All this proves that nature has a stabilizing effect on us. I would not like to go far with interpretations, but it can be said that he is like a safe guardian who takes a ward in his arms.
Do you think that in the future, instead of xanax, psychiatrists will prescribe patients with a prescription for a walk in the park?
Not necessarily “instead”, but it is already happening. In 2018, the NHS (National Health Service) in Scotland authorized doctors to prescribe various forms of “contact with nature” for patients: long walks, mountain hikes, bird watching. The main benefits are: lowering blood pressure, preventing cardiovascular diseases and reducing the risk of developing mental disorders. As you can see, the nature we have departed from is becoming the medicine of our time. What’s more, it has no side effects, it is easily available and will not damage our wallet.
Winter birds will leave us, COVID-19 is unlikely to go away – could the change of season affect the psychological effects of the pandemic?
Probably yes, but we need to consider several factors. On the one hand, the day is shorter, nature goes dormant. On the other hand, we have already got used to the “pandemic reality”, some people are even in denial. Therefore, I think that a lot will depend on whether the authorities decide on another lockdown.
So “lockdown in winter” would be the worst-case scenario for the psyche of Poles?
Yes – it seems to me that the economic factor would of course be decisive. Already, many people are struggling financially and psychologically with the effects of a decline or lack of income. And I would like to say that as psychiatrists in the fall, we usually observe an increase in the incidence of depression or milder forms of depression. The day is shortened, the sun exposure is reduced, the rhythm of life is moving towards winter. And then the factor that we talked about, the supporting, protective factor in the form of contact with nature, may weaken its effect or disappear. We will no longer be surrounded by chirping birds and green leaves, but gray trees and silence.
This may interest you:
- They don’t wear face masks because they are sociopaths? Here’s what the scientists say
- How to recover from pandemic hopelessness? Learn from Stock Investors!
- How about becoming internally optimistic and stop worrying?
The content of the medTvoiLokony website is intended to improve, not replace, the contact between the Website User and their doctor. The website is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Before following the specialist knowledge, in particular medical advice, contained on our Website, you must consult a doctor. The Administrator does not bear any consequences resulting from the use of information contained on the Website. Do you need a medical consultation or an e-prescription? Go to halodoctor.pl, where you will get online help – quickly, safely and without leaving your home.