On the Importance of Environment for Physical and Mental Health

On the second day after the Start of Autumn (Liqiu), I went out to the balcony and suddenly noticed that my gardenia plant had bloomed for a second time this year. I have been growing gardenias in Beijing for nearly twenty years, and this is the first time my gardenia has bloomed a second time after the Start of Autumn. I searched Baidu and found that a second blooming of gardenias after Liqiu is not unusual; as long as light, temperature, and fertility are all suitable for gardenia growth, the gardenia tree can produce flower buds after Liqiu and bloom at the appropriate time.

I once kept a hydroponic violet in a study I rented. That study faced due south with excellent sunlight, and the violets I grew were a vivid purplish-red, bright and eye-catching. Later, when I moved out of that study, I took the violet home and placed it in a location with poor lighting. Before long, the violet's leaves turned dark green, as if it had completely become a different plant.

When Mendel conducted his pea experiments, he observed various traits of peas under different growth conditions and, based on this, derived the two fundamental laws of genetics: the Law of Segregation and the Law of Independent Assortment. Different seeds from the same plant, grown in different environments, develop many inconsistent traits. Genetic factors and environment act together, allowing plants to express different traits.

The influence of environment on plants is so obvious—it is truly a fascinating thing. It is not only plants that are easily affected by environment; people are too. In recent years, I have witnessed a depression patient whose symptoms greatly diminished and almost disappeared without any medication after changing her living environment. But when she returned to her original environment, the symptoms of depression and binge eating became very prominent again.

People living in an environment with toxic stress and pollution can hardly be physically or mentally healthy. Plants in an environment lacking sunlight, water, and fertilizer can hardly grow normally. Both the work environment and the family environment have a great influence on people's physical and mental health. The environments where we live and work should have both good natural conditions and harmonious interpersonal relationships. It is not only warfare that requires "right timing," "favorable terrain," and "harmonious human relations"; people living in this world also need these for health.

In the past, people paid great attention to "feng shui" when choosing where to live. While feng shui certainly has superstitious elements, it is undeniable that it also has a certain scientific basis. The surrounding environment, lighting, and ventilation conditions of a dwelling have a significant impact on people's health. If a house has poor lighting and ventilation, the people living in it are prone to illness. And if the members of a household are frequently ill, the whole family finds it hard to be happy. Over time, nothing goes smoothly in the home. Therefore, one should choose a suitable place to live.

One should also choose a good spouse and good friends. A good spouse and friends allow us to live in a pleasant mood; bad ones make our spirits low. Humans are social animals, and life without a partner is lonely, but if the partner we choose is someone who makes us miserable at every turn, our health will also be greatly affected.

Few people are strong enough to be completely unaffected by the natural and social environment—I don't think such people exist. Pathogenic bacteria and carcinogens in the natural environment, and conflicts in the social environment, all have adverse effects on our entire body; this is a fact recognized by medicine.

But unfortunately, what medicine currently does for patients is very limited. Doctors cannot improve patients' living conditions, and no doctor can adjust family relationships for patients. Patients need to make their own efforts to change their living environment—leaving people who cause toxic stress, leaving places with pollution and poor ventilation and lighting. These are all very helpful for physical and mental recovery.