Poets have always loved the sound of birds singing and have frequently written about how relaxing it is. A recent study claims that listening to birdsong is beneficial for mental wellness.
Researchers from King’s College London discovered that hearing, seeing, and simply being around birds boosted both the general population’s and depressed individuals’ moods.
Using a smartphone app called Urban Mind, the study tracked roughly 1,300 individuals during their regular interactions with birds over the course of the previous year. The individuals came from China, Australia, Australia, Britain, and Europe.
Participants in the study used the app to record their feelings, whether they were pleased or worried, whether they could see trees, and whether they could hear or see birds.
Even for those who had previously been diagnosed with depression, the average mental wellbeing scores rose when participants observed or heard birds.
“We must develop and promote situations, especially in cities, where bird life is a permanent presence. You also need plants and trees to have a healthy bird population. According to King’s College London professor Andrea Mechelli, we must protect the entire ecosystem within our cities, as she stated in The Guardian.
As many treatments “that help so-called “healthy people” don’t work for persons with mental health concerns,” he said it was crucial to understand how birds can benefit those who are depressed.
The findings makes sense, according to Adrian Thomas, author of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds’ Guide to Birdsong, who noted that most people claim that hearing birdsong makes them happy.
It is deeply ingrained in our psyches, he claimed. It symbolises the approach of spring, rejuvenation, and pleasant times. In order to prevent nature from going silent, we must solve this situation.
