Enjoyment[edit]

For many, the chance to experience tranquillity is what makes the countryside different from
cities. In a survey by the United Kingdom Department for Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs (DEFRA) 58% of people said that tranquillity was the most positive feature of the
countryside.

Health[edit]

In contrast to "soft fascination", "directed attention" requires a significant amount of cognitive

effort and it is known that prolonged periods of sustained mental activity can lead to directed
attention fatigue. This condition has the potential to significantly affect performance and bring
about negative emotions, irritability and decreased sensitivity to interpersonal cues. [4] As the
incidence of mental illness continues to rise, [5] there is growing evidence that exposure to
natural environments can make a significant contribution to health and wellbeing. Mounting
evidence shows, that exposure to nature contributes to physical and psychological wellbeing,
such as the review carried out by Louv,[6] that found evidence of "nature-deficit-disorder" in
children, which suggests that the importance of being able to engage with restorative
environments applies across a wide age range. Others report that natural tranquil
surroundings have profound physiological effects on people suffering from stress. For example,
Ullrich[7] found that stress (as measured by blood pressure, muscle tension and skin
conductance response), induced by showing videos of workplace injuries, improved
significantly quicker following further viewing if videos included natural surroundings rather
than busy traffic or shopping scenes. A recent study has demonstrated the benefits of
simulating such environments for pain relief during bone marrow aspirate and biopsy. [8]