We have all experienced places that are stressful – airports and hospitals are notorious. Crowded, unfamiliar mazes, these places may be suffused with unpleasant smells and lots of noise, and devoid of pleasant views and daylight – all potent triggers of the stress response. Since stress can make you sick, this is particularly problematic in the case of hospitals.

When I developed inflammatory arthritis and underwent tests in the hospital, the hallways looked and felt very different from wheelchair view than when I was the one in the white coat pushing the wheelchair. I felt vulnerable. The fluorescent ceiling lights hurt my eyes, and the knee biopsy that I had undergone was surprisingly painful. I was determined to return for more tests and therapy, but then my mother died after a long battle with breast cancer. The last thing I could imagine was going back into a hospital environment.

Finding Peace

Instead I went to Crete, where I was bathed in sunlight rather than harsh fluorescent lights. Wheelchair rides gave way to pleasant strolls. And instead of loud, unpleasant hospital sounds and smells, I listened to the waves on the shore and inhaled the sweet scent of jasmine.

When I explored the hill above the village, I came upon the ruins of a Temple to Asclepius, the Greek god of healing. Here, 2,500 years ago, people came to be healed with music, sleep, dreams, prayer, exercise, diet, support of friends and beautiful views. I spent hours at the site, watching the seagulls circling far below and listening to the sheep grazing the rocky cliffs.

By the time I left the island, only 10 days later, I was on my way to healing. At home in Washington, D.C., I re-created a little bit of Crete: a place for contemplation overlooking my garden with jasmine, gardenia and other fragrances that remind me of Greece.

I still take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs when I need to, but I have maintained my health.
Physical space doesn’t cure arthritis, but healing elements can be incorporated into all aspects of the built environment. Places such as hospitals can be designed to reduce stress, improve mood, speed healing and reduce pain.

Numerous studies show that noise reduction, views of nature, sunlight, social spaces and places for contemplation accelerate healing and reduce pain medication dosages. This is good not only for patients, families and staff, but also for hospitals’ bottom lines, because patients recover sooner and require less care and drugs.

Designs for Healing

In an exciting and far-reaching plan, the American Institute of Architects this year launched an initiative to make health a goal in green design of spaces, including health care facilities, schools, office buildings and cities. In this 21st century vision, designers become partners with health care professionals in maintaining physical and emotional health and preventing disease.

You can make your own home or office more relaxing by adding live plants, silk flowers, or pictures of a favorite place, for example.

And if you find yourself in a stressful place that you can’t change, you can do what I recently did at an airport while waiting for my delayed flight to arrive. As I watched the seagulls circling over the tarmac where my plane should have been, I allowed my mind to drift to the seagulls that circled those cliffs of Crete, and my feelings shifted from stress to calm.

Esther M. Sternberg, MD, rheumatologist and researcher, is the author of Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Well-being (Harvard University Press, 2009).