Nicholas Milem

Ms. Ingram
UWRT 1102
3/16/15
Nature; and its Influences on Humans
As more and more technological advances are made each day and the overall pace of the
average Americans day increases, so does the construction and consequently filling of suburbs
and cities. This exodus from what might have been considered rural or country areas where
nature seems so abundant has scientists arguing that this lack of nature or lack of exposure to it
has a negative influence on the human population as a whole. For as long as human kind has
existed, so has nature. Nature is blended into our culture and subsequently our emotions.
Multiple studies have concluded that exposure to nature has resulted in positive results in
uplifting the mood of people, relieve the stress of people, as well as offer numerous ways of
providing alternative medicine to inflicted patients. Such an Element of our culture is very
important to our wellbeing and ultimately our health.
Ever since the industrial revolution and the introduction of hoover towns in the early
20th century more and more Americans have moved away from rural areas and gravitating more
towards urban and suburban areas. This exodus away from small towns and areas surrounded
by nature and its features has shown to provide a negative influence upon the population as a
whole, affecting mood, physical wellbeing, longevity of life, and also interaction between others.
As long as humans have existed nature has been a part of our lives. Nature has provided food,

shelter, materials, and even medicines to help us thrive as a species. To be almost immediately
removed from the environment we are accustomed to has shown by many scholarly studies to
have a negative effect on the urban population as a whole. One such study was conducted as a
simple stratified random survey of two equal size populations, one in the city and one in a rural
small town. Both populations were studied by a psychiatrist in respects to their mood. The
population located in the rural town overall were more relaxed, more susceptible to changes in
their lifestyle, and had much better interaction with people on a day to day basis. However the
population studied that resided in the city was much more stressed, more skeptical when dealing
with day to day changes in lifestyle, and overall had a hostile style of interaction with people in
their daily routine. This correlation does show a significant difference in mood of people living
in rural versus urban areas but also shows that nature does have significant influence on the
emotional wellbeing of a human.
Not only does nature play a factor dealing with the background someone is residing in
but even slight involvement in nature or immersion for even a short time has shown positive
effects on emotions. A similar study conducted in an urban area utilizing psychiatrists and their
volunteering patients was conducted to measure the effects of nature in patients. The population
was divided equally. One group was designated to participate in group activities involving
camping and immersion in nature, whilst the other group was asked to participate in forms of
group therapy involving activities remaining in the urban area. The results after evaluating the
patients of both groups is that the participants involving immersion in nature significant signs of
emotional recovery and a heightened ability to deal with previous emotional difficulties. The
latter of the groups also showed positive cognitive changes in their behavior, however the

changes where not as drastic as those participating in the nature group trip. Why have these
studies resulted in the way they have? Scientists seem to have an answer.
Much like the seasons of the year changing humans have been shown to have a
subsequent change as nature changes. Hormonal studies show a direct correlation between levels
of certain hormones and the change in seasons. Seasons that are warmer, such as spring and
summer, increase the amount of hormones the human bodies produce, increasing energy, desire
to spend time with others, and overall mood. Seasons that are colder such as fall and winter,
show a decline in these energizing hormones causing humans to feel more secluded and more
refined to their personal space. Seasons, a part of nature, provides a direct response in the nature
of humans. These levels of hormones are also increased dramatically when immersed in nature.
The increase of hormones has been described as a natural high by nature enthusiasts and is
pursued to relive stress, elevate mood, and to provide relaxation.
Nature has also proved important when dealing and treating patients with Alzheimers
and dementia. Certain elements in modern or suburban areas have shown to confuse and frustrate
patients diagnosed with these conditions. Features like, one lane roads, dead ends, and
congestion of traffic has proved to make these patients nervous, frustrated, and irritable. Studies
have shown that patients that are regularly exposed to nature in their day to day routine showed
less irritability and also were able to recall more information about not only themselves but
others around them. The same study that found these results also noted that simple nature such as
a courtyard with vegetation that offered paths and benches also showed quite a significant result
in respects to the patients mental stability. The actual raw results were quite staggering. The two
groups studied, one without exposure to the garden and one with, were studied in respect to how
violent they were. The garden groups violent outbreaks went down 19 percent by the end of the

experimentation; however the group without the garden showed an alarming 681 percent
increase in violent outbreaks in respect to the garden group. These findings purely, and quite
dramatically, show nature does have a positive effect on humans and their dealing with a certain
illness or condition.

-This draft is a good start for your research paper. This paper so far has a lot of information in it
and it makes it kind of hard to read. I think you should reduce the amount of information you
have in your paper and spend more time explaining how the information is important. If you
explain what the information means and is, the paper will be easier to read. Also by spending
more time explaining the info it will help push your paper into the length it needs to be. For the
time this is a great draft to start with.