To this end, a city's plan for parks and open spaces should include natural areas as well as developed parks. In addition, recreation practitioners must recognized that simply providing opportunities for interaction with the natural environment is not enough. Eventually, the city's natural area will have all the noise and congestion that people were trying to escape. Recreation and Stress Management Stress is clearly the buzzword of the '90s, but more important, it is also the disease of the '90s. This statement is only partially correct.
Stress is neither positive or negative.
How people deal with or react to what they perceive as stress is what determines its effect on their lives. Only when an individual responds in a negative way to a stressful event does it become detrimental to their health. For example, mortality is three times higher in individuals with few close relationships. It has already been demonstrated that recreation contributes to an individual's social health and promotes and maintains social support. Through these successes we gain control over some aspect of our lives and view ourselves as worthwhile.