Ulrich's Stress Recovery Theory: What It Is and What It Raises

Most of the world's population lives in cities, environments for which humans are not naturally prepared. It is true that we have been living in them for centuries, but the time that our species has spent living in nature is much higher. Our nature is animal, and as animals we want to continue living in nature.

The relationship between stress and the way cities are configured was an aspect that had been little studied until an architect named Roger Ulrich wondered about the effect that natural elements had on the Health.

Ulrich's stress recovery theory is a perspective that tells us about the importance of including green elements in urban spaces and, also, how introducing them in recovery settings such as hospitals or prisons can contribute to the mental health of the interned. Let's see in more detail what it is about.

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The impact of population density on stress

Currently, more than 50% of the world's population lives in cities, and it is expected that by 2050 that percentage will reach 70%

. Much research has revealed that urban life is associated with an increased risk of mental disorders compared to rural areas, with about 40% more chances of suffering from depression, twice the risk of schizophrenia, a higher risk of anxiety disorders, stress and isolation.

The reason for this is that in big cities like New York, Tokyo or London, it is rare to be in a state of physical and psychological rest. On the contrary, the normal thing in cities is to be immersed in environments full of stimuli in the form of information and signals: noise, crowds, traffic, smells, lights... All this, combined with Pollution, travel and the perception of insecurity are stressors that cause situations of chronic stress, with a considerable effect on our health and welfare.

The theory of stress recovery or stress reduction (Stress Reduction Theory) is a perspective raised by the professor of landscape architecture and urban planning Roger Ulrich in 1983. It may seem curious to know that one of the most interesting theories about stress, a psychological phenomenon, was raised by a architect but, having understood how cities and the way in which they are organized affect our state of mind, he has his sense.

Roger Ulrich raised the theory of him interested in a subject that to date had not been too deep: the relationship between physical space and health. After having carried out several investigations in this regard, Ulrich proposed this theory, which indicates that stress is closely related to physical spaces. He based this theory on findings in neurobiology from his time, what was known about evolution, and hypotheses about how prehistoric humans had lived.

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What is Ulrich's Stress Recovery Theory?

In his theory, Roger Ulrich points out that, throughout the history of the human species and through natural selection, our species has evolved to manifest physiological and psychological responses to certain environmental stimuli. These responses are involuntary and automatic, and in the past they helped us to adapt to the environment. If the captured stimulus was perceived as threatening, the physiological responses of our organism that were produced were oriented to carry out two responses: fight or flight.

There are several physiological responses that occur when we are faced with a stimulus perceived as threatening: it increases the heart rate, breathing accelerates, digestion is inhibited and the liver releases glucose, among others answers. All these actions are aimed at that our muscles have enough energy to be able to carry out a fight or flight behavior, and to be able to handle the perceived threat as well as possible. These are consolidated physiological responses, activated automatically to make the most of time and not waste a single second in a survival situation.

This that we have just seen constitutes the nucleus of stress and before, when the human being was a wild animal, he used to serve him. These responses were activated in the face of specific threats from the environment, which truly put the individual's life at risk. Nevertheless, After thousands and thousands of years of changes in the way we live, what we perceive today as threatening does not really have to be..

There are certain stimuli that objectively should not cause us stress, as long as they are not threatening, but that's how we perceive them and they cause us all the physiological discomfort associated with stress that we have discussed before. In fact, stress is triggered quite frequently in large cities, places where it is difficult to face the same threatening stimuli that our prehistoric ancestors must have done in their life. In the long term, this damages health.

Natural environments help reduce stress, as indicated by Ulrich's stress recovery theory. Nature helps us feel positive emotions, better manage our emotional tension and even improve certain aspects in the cognitive and physical. Observing environments with natural elements such as bushes, grass, flowers, fountains, waterfalls and rivers contributes to feeling positive emotions and feelings of interest, pleasure and calm.

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Its relation to evolutionary theory

Although we have already introduced it in the previous section, let's take a trip back in time to better understand Ulrich's stress recovery theory. The prehistoric human being was threatened by dangerous animals with much more strength and abilities. Fortunately, primitive humans had intelligence, enough to be able to manage to flee from the ferocious beasts. But this tool, although powerful, had to be in the best condition to give rise to ingenious ideas. In case of being disturbed, it was necessary to regain calm as soon as possible.

Imagine the following situation, which is believed to be common: A human being runs in terror, fleeing from a wild boar that wants to split him in two. The human sees a tree and decides to climb it, hiding in its crown. This tree was not only a refuge, but also allowed the human to see the environment, check if the animal had left and, if not, at least he had a safe place to calm down and figure out what to do in order to escape more efficiently from the situation.

Although many years have passed, modern human beings are still programmed to face and flee from large animals. Our appearance will have changed, wearing more clothes and living in buildings, but not our interior. Human beings continue to have an autonomous nervous system. This system has the sympathetic nervous system, which is activated to put us on alert and trigger the stress response; and with the parasympathetic, which is responsible for working so that the body and brain return to the state of basal activation, to calm.

Through his research, Ulrich found out that there are various stimuli that impact this parasympathetic system to activate it, including natural stimuli such as vegetation and water. It is these stimuli that surely our most primitive ancestors saw when they fled from their predators climbing a tree or crossing a river that the dangerous animal was not able to cross.

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The spatial opening

A key aspect of his research that would help to develop the theory of stress recovery is that Roger Ulrich found that confined spaces, with no exit, or with an exit that is difficult to locate are potentially stressful. An explanation for this would be that they generate the feeling that it is not easy to flee from there, and far from seeing themselves as a refuge they are perceived as a prison, generating the feeling of imprisonment. In these cases, the system that is stimulated is the sympathetic, alert and threatening, increasing nervousness instead of reducing it.

From this we can draw the conclusion that open spaces are the most suitable when experiences stress, being the exact opposite of the feeling of imprisonment which will to offer. The first human beings found their ideal habitat in the African savannas, these places being the ones that most possibilities of survival offered them because it offered them three fundamental aspects to survive: vegetation, water and horizon. That would be the ideal setting for human life.

And this seems to have not changed despite several centuries having passed. The modern human being feels more comfortable and safe when he is in an open space, has water nearby and sees vegetation. Despite our increasingly complex social structures, based in large cities, humans continue to feel like part of the nature and we depend on it, being that type of natural spaces that return us to those basic evolutionary instincts that have not been gone.

What Ulrich's stress recovery theory points out is that when you feel stress, the ideal is be in an environment as close to what our ancestors lived, the closest to the savannah with vegetation and water. Being in such a space our body will begin to feel less stress, activating the parasympathetic system and reducing the activity of the sympathetic, returning us to calm and serenity. And with that calm and serenity we can think more clearly.

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Empirical confirmation of this theory

While Roger Ulrich's theory of recovery from stress is relatively recent, The suspicion that the natural has a restorative and therapeutic effect in the relief of emotional tension is something quite old. In fact, already in Ancient Rome people were already aware that being in contact with nature could be beneficial in handling noise disturbances and crowds urban.

Ulrich's theory has received support from multiple empirical studies carried out in all kinds of situations: hospitals, prisons, residential communities, offices, and even schools. In most of them it has been shown that there are benefits in being exposed to nature, even if it is for short periods of time or in the form of isolated natural elements such as a plant or a source of garden.

Exposure to natural elements is related to lower blood pressure, reduced cortisol levels, less sweating, less muscle tension ... all of them signs associated with that there are changes in the parasympathetic nervous system, activating in a more adaptive way. Positive psychological effects were also identified as better mood, lower anxiety levels, and more feelings of comfort and relaxation.

What is extracted from all this is that If you want to have a better state of health and live better, it is essential to introduce natural elements in the home, office, school or any other significant environment in our lives. Although the ideal would be to live in the middle of nature, the truth is that modern human beings do not easily have this option but they can bring it to large cities. It is for this reason that in recent years cities have been providing more green spaces, putting horizontal gardens or opening new parks. The more nature, the less stress.