Horticultural Therapy Awakening the Senses

Abstract

In this article, we describe an overview of characteristics of horticultural therapy and introduce our study on the effect of cultivation and utilization of herbs. Work of herb cultivation was shown to have some effect on a recovery from neuroses and uncomfortable mood in the research using general health questionnaire and profile of mood states. It was also suggested that horticultural work is effective on a recovery from stress and fatigue of the central nervous system by means of measuring the concentration of cortisol in the saliva and the critical flicker fusion frequency. We also report several cases which have been encountered during practice of horticultural therapy in a hospital and a welfare facility.