Heightened response to sensory stimuli is a key symptom of many mental health problems and many
ephemeral landscape features were identified. The sunshine through the trees helped Participant 6 to
relax, ‘like if it’s a really sunny day, and all the light comes through the trees and falls across the floor, I like
that’. In the Botanical Gardens she ‘can just sit, with the blossom falling down…’. Participants discussed
detail in decorative mosaic features of hard landscaping, as well as colour and variety offered by plant
foliage and appearance. Aural landscape features offered a distraction and a focus for concentration.
Sounds of wildlife helped ‘perhaps not to get away from the sounds of city life and the traffic, but have
it in the background a bit more and be able to have nature a little bit closer …’ (Participant 4). The sound
of traffic was a negative sound, which increased stress levels and made places more overwhelming,
where ‘the air tastes different, sort of metal-ly’ (Participant 8). Heightened sensitivity was experienced
in busy urban places, and quieter places helped to mediate exposure to the environments that were
found to be challenging.