Do my surroundings affect my health?

Yes! For most people, there is a strong connection between where they are and how they feel. Your breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, stress levels, and brain chemicals are all affected by your environment.¹ You may not think that this is true for you, but there are a lot of things happening in your body that you do not even realize.

How can I figure out if my surroundings are good for me?

It’s intuitive really; trust your gut. The rest of this handout will include tips and recommendations that many people respond to in positive ways. But, you are a unique individual, so if you do not find the suggestions to be true for you, that’s OK.

Some people look at a room and know right away what they like and do not like about it. For most of us though, it is hard to identify or express what we feel.

The following are questions you might consider:

• Is there a room that makes you feel happy or sad?
• Are there places that just thinking about stresses you out (like a doctor’s office)?
• Is there an item that makes you happy, sad, or mad? What about it makes you feel this way?
• Is there a noise that immediately makes you cringe when you hear it? Or a sound that can’t help but make you smile?

These are important things to think about. This is because your past experiences and what you associate with places has a strong effect on how you will currently react to a location.

Surroundings can trigger bad memories for some people, like in PTSD. If this happens to you, consider working with a mental health provider. This provider can help you break the connection your mind has made between a location or sound and a bad memory. He or she will help you work through these memories and emotions.

Safety is also important. If your gut tells you that you are not safe, try to find out why. If your neighborhood is not safe, consider bringing it up with the community because if you don’t feel safe others likely feel the same way. You might consider attending a town hall meeting.