{"id":11098,"date":"2022-03-25t17:00:01","date_gmt":"2022-03-25t17:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dpetrov.2create.studio\/planet\/wordpress\/planting-seeds-of-mental-health-wellness-in-the-face-of-covid-19-stressors\/"},"modified":"2023-03-21t20:06:55","modified_gmt":"2023-03-21t20:06:55","slug":"planting-seeds-of-mental-health-wellness-in-the-face-of-covid-19-stressors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/planting-seeds-of-mental-health-wellness-in-the-face-of-covid-19-stressors\/","title":{"rendered":"planting seeds of mental health wellness in the face of covid-19 stressors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
under the sun of a summer afternoon, socorro balcazar watered a vine drooping under the weight of tomatoes. like most of the beds in the garden, hers featured tomatillos and chili peppers, all in different phases of ripening on the stalk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cwithout the spiciness, the tomato doesn\u2019t really have flavor, so they combine really well,\u201d said balcazar, in spanish, according to sergio ruiz, one of the garden\u2019s organizers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n run by the little village environmental justice organization (lvejo), the community garden doubled its typical production during a slow, pandemic summer last year, indicating a local affinity for gardening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cthis just means that they love growing, they love harvesting, and they need access to the land,\u201d said edith tovar, lvejo\u2019s just transition community organizer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n those not tending to their garden beds gathered around long tables under the central pavilion, chatting and playing mexican bingo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cwe come here to destress. it\u2019s therapeutic to weed and be with nature,\u201d said little village resident gloria jimenez in spanish, according to ruiz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n as the covid-19 pandemic increased the nationwide prevalence of common mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression, and chicagoans turned to community gardening to counteract the symptoms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n studies conducted across the nation over the last year show an overall decline in mental health due to the pandemic\u2019s restrictions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n one in three people experienced psychological distress during the pandemic according to a study released this august<\/a> led by elvira solji and a group of researchers in australia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n solji and her team focused on the age-related differences in mental health impacts of covid-19 lockdown restrictions. they surveyed americans from april 20 to june 8, 2020, asking questions about nervousness, anxiety, depression, loneliness and more to gauge participants\u2019 experiences of moderate mental distress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n the study found that over half of 18- to 24-year-olds reported experiencing moderate mental distress, and that adults up to 44-years-old were most heavily impacted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n in younger adults, moderate mental distress was associated with restrictions to public transit, restaurants, and international travel, while working from home lowered distress rates. moderate distress in older adults was related to the ban on gatherings of over 50 people and workplace closures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cthe results imply that different approaches are needed both in the handling of mental health and restrictions for different age groups,\u201d solji said in an email. <\/p>\n\n\n\n insomnia, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety were the top four mental health conditions seen during the pandemic according to a study released in november<\/a>. this conclusion resulted from the meta-analysis of 55 peer-reviewed journals conducted by the research team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n a study conducted march to april 2020<\/a> also identified an increase in acute stress and depressive symptoms in the united states, and found that people with preexisting mental and physical health diagnoses experienced these symptoms more than those without. <\/p>\n\n\n\n bronzeville-based psychologist lasonda a. wilkins-hines made similar observations of the chicagoans she treated. wilkins-hines said she most often diagnosed patients with clinical anxiety and clinical depression. she held appointments via telehealth and did not take on new patients during the pandemic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n wilkins-hines, whose patients are predominantly african american, said she saw anxiety and depression peaked with the police brutality protests last summer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cthat’s when things really made a heavy turn in my practice,\u201d wilkins-hines said. \u201cwhat i was seeing was a lot of people feeling uncertain, unsafe, confused, angry, feeling that hopelessness and helplessness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n community gardens across the city reported increased participation during the last two summers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n sarah dugan, program facilitator for the city\u2019s community gardens in the parks program, said in an email, \u201canecdotally, there was a big increase in inquiries for garden plots during spring and summer 2020, which seems to have tapered off to more typical levels this year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n prior to last summer, the maxwell street garden in the near west side typically had a waitlist of five people, according to tess kearns, a board member and gardener there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201clast year, we had a waitlist of 30 people and we had 15 plots available,\u201d kearns said. apartments in the area with pool decks or community outdoor space closed those amenities last summer to prevent the spread of covid-19, she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cthere were a lot of people who didn\u2019t get plots, but were desperate for the ability to be outdoors,\u201d kearns said. \u201cthis year, our waiting list was 47 people.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n to manage the increased interest, kearns said they adopted a friends of the garden program during the pandemic to invite volunteers to work on the community plots and take home some produce in return. <\/p>\n\n\n\n the maxwell street garden became a place for participants to \u201cclear their heads,\u201d kearns said. \u201ca lot of the stories [from last summer] revolve around just wanting to be outside after the mayor shut the lakefront down. last year was really hard.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n mayor lori e. lightfoot closed chicago\u2019s lakefront beaches from labor day weekend of 2019 through memorial day weekend of 2021 to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, according to a press release<\/a>. the lakefront trail opened for exercise and transit with limited access and strict oversight june 2020; the status of the riverwalk and 606 was similar, according to block club chicago<\/a> and nbc chicago<\/a> articles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cwe were like, \u2018we’re going to the garden because it’s the one place you know you can be safe,\u2019\u201d kearns said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n at the el paseo garden in pilsen, volunteer coordinator paula acevedo said they increased programming in response to \u201ca spike in attendance.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cthe space has been well-used during the pandemic,\u201d acevedo said. \u201ca lot of people were really dedicated to the garden. \u2026 people were saying the space kept them sane.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cit takes a village. it\u2019s beautiful to be that conduit and platform for the community,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n a growing body of research illustrates the positive impact of spending time in nature on mental health. <\/p>\n\n\n\ncommon mental health conditions during covid-19<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
gardens that blossomed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
health benefits of spending time in nature<\/h2>\n\n\n\n