By Matthew Gooch
2014.4.12
The idea that a person can develop a Nature Deficit Disorder is a relatively new concept. The basis for the theory is that as a person grows up they are secluded from nature and scenes of lush greenery and wide open spaces full of natural surroundings. This deficit of nature causes a lack of creativity and imagination as well as a overall detachment from an understanding of being part of the earth’s ecosystem. This feeling of isolation from the planet is never something that is realized as the appreciation for nature has not been stimulated.
The term was coined by Richard Louv in Last Child in the Woods, 2005. The disorder can have a wide range of behavior problems. Such as; parental fears, restricted access to natural areas, and being addicted to the screen. It comes from an understanding that people have a particular liking to outdoors and a need to be in nature for periods of their life. Although the disorder is not recognized in any medical manual on mental disorders, evidence is being compiled to show how a lack of nature leads to mental problems. Here are some of the listed causes; parents are keeping children indoors to keep them safe in excess, loss of natural surroundings in a neighborhood, and increased draw to spend more time inside. The effects can be many an according to some are very deeply rooted. Obviously a lack of respect for immediate natural surroundings, it can lead to attention disorders and depression, low grades, obesity, and lack of cognitive development, a missing sense of wonder and connection to the earth.
There are some organizations popping up here and there to help curb NDD. The No Child Left Inside Coalition is a group that is making an effort to address the problem by getting kids outdoors more and into more natural learning environments. There are also efforts to draft an act titles No Child Left Inside to increase environment education in schools. In Colombia the, Organizacion para la Educacion y Proteccion Ambiental, has been addressing this issue for over 10 years. Their mission is to reconnect children to the earth to promote environmental responsibility. They do this by linking three levels of education, intellectual, experiential and emotional or spiritual.
I find all of this to be rather interesting; it is hard for me to imagine growing up without the woods as I have spent much of my life in nature. I could see how there might be a Society Deficit Disorder that may be coined by some as well. There must always be balance. I found that since I have spent so much time in the woods and away from structured society that I have become almost afraid of it. I feel as though sometimes people don’t care to notice the way governments are restricting freedoms and oppressing people. I have developed a lack of trust towards politicians and large multimillion international institutions. This could have come from a lack of societal living or maybe I am just all too aware of how our society is changing for the worst. How companies hoard and destroy patents that threaten their profits even if those patents may be very good for people and society. Also how companies will prevent cures from being fully developed because they make more off of a sick person that has to keep buying there medicine to stay better instead of taking just one pill and being cured. All I am saying is that although there is a lack of children going into nature it may not actually be developing mental illnesses. There is still a lack of substantial evidence to prove the solidity of NDD. I also think that there is much more behind how kids are acting today then there nature dose. I agree children should spend more times outdoors but I do not agree that it is the only factor contributing to the change we are seeing in children today. I would blame that on a collection of things from slow parenting and overbearing parents due to the society of perpetuate fear we live in as well as the undeniably invasiveness of the technological state we are in.
Outside Agitators by Bill O’Driscoll, Pittsburgh City Paper
Are your kids really spending enough time outdoors? Getting up close with nature opens a child’s eyes to the wonders of the world, with a bounty of health benefits. by Tammie Burak, Canadian Living.
Louv, Richard. (2011) The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder. Algonquin Books. 303pp.
Innermitigation 