The Comforting Effects of Water

Water is incredible. 

If you’re not shocked that ice floats, you should be. When water freezes into a solid, it expands and is less dense than liquid water. Since water is so abundant on our little planet, this might seem like a characteristic common to many substances, but it’s not – other than a few metallic compounds, water is the only molecule that expands when solid. 

Water has gained the popular title of “the universal solvent”, since it dissolves a wide range substances. 

Water’s high heat capacity has been utilized in the regulation and stabilization of temperature in many engineering feats (including nuclear reactors).

Even on a molecular level water is incredible; a negatively charged oxygen atom bonds to positively charged hydrogen atoms, allowing water to bond with materials that are either positively or negatively charged [1].

But there's something more. Aside from interesting physical and chemical properties. Water has the unique ability to affect our mood. Some waters inspire tranquility through patterns of ripples that never quite repeat, while other waters inspire joy through the fluttering splashes of a bathing bird. Base anatomical needs may initiate our emotional response to water, but hydration is not the sole character in this story.

Time spent in nature has been shown to improve mood and mental stability [2, p 60-61]. Several studies have endeavored to measure the positive impact of nature on emotional health. One study tracked 22,000 individuals who self-reported their happiness, location, and other status checks at randomized ties. The analysis of over 1.1 million reports concluded that people are generally happier while in nature. Another study of 1,000 individuals found that as little as fifteen minutes spent in a natural environment increased positive emotions.

A research team from the University of Essex discovered that while all green spaces improved mood and self-esteem, environments which contained open water had a larger positive impact than those without [2, p 64]. In 2010, researchers associated with the European Centre for Environment and Human Health studied the impact of water features on people’s emotions and the feeling of restoration [2, p 54]. When subjects were shown pictures of various scenes and asked to assess the attractiveness and the emotions elicited, those scenes containing water were rated with higher positivity, beauty, and restorativeness than those without. The positivity was universal, regardless of whether the space was man-made or natural. Indeed, man-made water structures elicited the same positivity as green spaces.

Even the mere color of water bodies has a calming effect; a study conducted in Japan revealed that the color blue had soothing effects on participants that red and yellow did not [2, p 88]. Participants played video games next to a colored partition. Those who played next to a blue partition had a more regular heartbeat, and reported less claustrophobia and exhaustion than their yellow or red-partitioned counterparts. As it turns out, blue light activates the hypothalamus and amygdala, enhancing creativity and the connection of abstract ideas [2, p 92]. Red light, however, triggers the brain’s attention to order, focusing on practicality, logic, and details.

If you'd like to have some such fun yourself, I explain how I made my little pond in the video.

What shocks me is that these are merely visual or proximity benefits. They involve no exercise, no wetness, and very little effort. If sitting and looking at a burbling creek has positive, measurable, emotional, and biological effects, why not do it? It’s like sleeping or eating good food; if a pharmaceutical company developed a pill that satisfied all the biological impetus for sleeping or eating, would you take it and opt to never engage in those activities again? I certainly wouldn’t. Why? Because food is scrumptious and fragrant! Because sleep is a quiet reverie served on soft pillows and warm blankets.

So I decided to have a little fun and make a birdbath in my backyard.

References:

[1] Libretexts, B. (2022, June 9). 2.11: Water – water’s polarity. Biology LibreTexts. Retrieved November 23, 2022, from https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Introductory_and_General_Biology/Book%3A_General_Biology_(Boundless)/02%3A_The_Chemical_Foundation_of_Life/2.11%3A_Water_-_Waters_Polarity#:~:text=The two hydrogen atoms and,to water’s properties of attraction.

[2] Nichols, W. J. (2014). Blue mind: The surprising science that shows how being in, on or under water can make you happier, healthier, more connected and better at what you do. Little, Brown and Company.