ABSTRACT
People wonder why doctors’ offices and other stressful locations often contain fish tanks. Studies of dentists’ offices show that watching an aquarium before a procedure enables patients to behave more compliantly during procedures, to recover more quickly, and to experience less pain and trauma. 1 Other research shows that watching an aquarium can significantly lower people's blood pressure below the resting level–and it does not matter whether their blood pressure is naturally normal or high. People constantly exposed to stress suffer immune system dysfunction yet views of nature aid our immune system and help us regain health quickly 2 (see Figure 7.1).
