Susan Wehry, MD, a distinguished geriatric psychiatrist, passionate advocate, and Medical Advisor to The Cedars Learning Community joins us each month to share her insights. Drawing upon lessons from her multifaceted career and over 40 years of experience in long-term care and geriatrics, Dr. Wehry will share her unique perspective on some frequently asked questions about aging and brain health.
For much of my career, I’ve been an ardent advocate of nonpharmacological approaches to cognitive and emotional health and well-being. Well, that hasn’t changed, but I am ready to concede that many, many people want a pill—an observation supported by market research: Americans spend an estimated $3.56 billion annually on supplements for brain or cognitive health, according to 2024 data and spending is projected to reach roughly $6.8 billion by 2030.
The numbers finally broke me. Americans are spending billions on cognitive supplements, and clearly, many people truly want a pill. So, I surrender. This month, I will begin prescribing ‘the nature pill,’ a concept first introduced in 2019 by landscape architect Dr. MaryCarol Hunter, an associate professor at University of Michigan. She recognized what poets, philosophers and Indigenous elders have known for eons: a walk in nature is restorative! But she wanted to quantify the benefits, defining exactly what ‘counted’ as ‘nature’ in an urban setting, the mechanism for its healing, and, critically, the optimal dose and frequency.
What better month than March to begin your own exploration? Despite the occasional snowstorm, it’s a great time to be outdoors. Spring teasers abound: we shed a few layers, feel the warm-cold breeze on our skin, hear exuberant birdsong, notice buds on shrubs, smell the rich scent of rotting leaves and humus wafting with woodstove smoke and spy scattered sticks ready for playing fetch with a dog with muddy paws. That entire sensory experience—the shed layers, the warm-cold breeze, the sights, sounds and scents—was all before 8 a.m. This is the beauty of the ‘nature pill’: finding a potent dose of restoration that is effortless.
So here’s your prescription: To lower your cortisol (the stress hormone) and improve your attentional capacity and emotional well-being:
Take one “nature pill” daily, 3 times each week; consume outdoors, in daylight, on a full or empty stomach, allow 20 minutes to fully ‘digest’. Refills: unlimited.
For optimal restorative effect, avoid strenuous exercise and leave ALL digital devices off or at home. For those who cannot get outside, simply looking through a window at nature or opening it to let in the scents and sounds can support mental well-being. Dr. Hunter suggests nature can be any space with ‘elements of living systems’—trees and animals— characterized by high-complexity and “curved or organic edges” that create a “soft fascination”.
Happy, softly fascinating spring, Dr. Susan Wehry
What would you like to know? Send your question for Dr. Wehry on Healthy Aging to Tracy Ericson at tericson@thecedarsportland.org