Blue Spaces - How Spending Time Near Water can Boost your Mental Health

Why do so many of us feel calmer, clearer and more creative by the sea, a river or a lake? In this episode, Cat de Lange and Helen Thomson dive into the science of blue spaces. Picking apart the theories behind why water captures our attention and how time spent near water can change how we feel pain, our stress levels and even long-term physical health. 

They’re joined by psychologist Dr Mathew White, whose large-scale studies are revealing why time near water might give our brains an extra boost over green spaces alone, and how much you really need each week to feel the effects. 

Produced by Emily Bird

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Find out more about Blue Spaces at New Scientist:

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2328003-why-spending-time-near-water-gives-us-a-powerful-mental-health-boost/

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2272260-green-spaces-arent-just-for-nature-they-boost-our-mental-health-too/

Sources:

https://bluehealth2020.eu/people/mathew-white/

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/oct/06/best-walk-hike-for-mental-health-uk

Attention Restoration theory 

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10937404.2016.1196155

Wales study:

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196%2823%2900212-7/fulltext

Large England study:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412024002538?via%3Dihub

Moving urban to rural

http://pubs.acs.org/esthag/article/48/2/1247/1481535/Longitudinal-Effects-on-Mental-Health-of-Moving-to

Lake and electric shocks  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-56870-2

Lake and dentist https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0013916517710077 

19 country study of blue spaces:

https://natureandhealth.uw.edu/publications/the-restorative-power-of-blue-spaces-a-19-country-study/