Nature Nurtures Brain Development
The way that we interact with our environment, including our interactions with people, all shape us into who we are. Our interactions with nature itself are also an essential part of our development as human beings. The way we interact with the natural world, to a certain extent, has an influence on how we carry out our lives and view the world. Richard Louv presents to us the idea of Natural Deficit Disorder in his book Last Child in the Woods. Louv describes this disorder as a way to discuss the impact nature has on child development and how the lack of interactions with nature can have a negative impact on children. He presents well thought-out provoking arguments that show how children are being deprived from the benefits nature can bring to their lives. I agree with Louv’s concept of Natural Deficit Disorder, based off the fact that currently, scientists have found a link between mental health and climate change, therefore it’s safe to say that Louv’s claim about the way we interact with nature at a young age has some degree of impact on our development, is true. If climate change or natural disasters can affect a person’s mental health, then the way children interact with nature can impact their mental health and development too.
How Natural Play and Therapy Positively Influence Children
One of the primary factors contributing to the decline of children spending time outdoors is the era of electronics, and the immense amount of time children spend behind a screen. One of Richard Louv’s research studies stated that it “found that people who spend even a few hours on the Internet each week suffer higher levels of depression and loneliness than people who use the Net infrequently”. We don’t see many children today playing outside because the majority of them are overwhelmed with electronics and would much rather spend their time glued to their phones or computers. A child’s senses and creativity are all enhanced when children adequately and physically interact with nature, something that technology deprives them from. Imagination is the essential beginning component of living a creative life. In a natural setting, children aren’t surrounded by technology or electronics that can distract them from being able to use their imagination. In a way, they have no option than to be creative and use their brain and imagination to play. Edith Cobb for example, concluded “that inventiveness and imagination of nearly all creative people she studied was rooted in their early experiences in nature”. People who experience nature and nature play at a young age are simply more creative because they know how to use their imagination. Imagination is incredibly crucial for child development because creativity is the root for future inventions and future ideas. Children also gain more awareness of their senses when they physically interact with nature. Louv states that “Much of our learning comes from doing, from making, from feeling with our hands…the world is not entirely available from a keyboard”. The internet provides us with information, but it doesn’t teach us how to survive in the real world. Children don’t know how to use their hands or any of their senses for that matter because they haven’t fully activated them, and natural experiences are a vital way to enhance our senses and learn how to use our hands.
Additionally, spending time indoors tied to an electronic devices is causing both children and adults to develop higher rates of mental health problems. For example, there is an alarming increase in the number of kids who have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD, than ever before. One way that nature helps with dealing with mental health problems such as ADHD, is natural therapy. Natural therapy is a form of therapy that is often overlooked. Natural therapy has so many positive outcomes at the cost of no side effects, compared to medication. People who suffer from ADHD, specifically in this case, children, need a tool that controls their hyper persona, and nature therapy is a way that they can access this tool. Louv mentions how “Behavioral therapy and nature therapy, if used collaboratively, might teach the young how to visualize positive experiences in nature when they need a calming tool”. He also talks about how “Some researchers now recommend that parents and educators make available more nature experiences -especially green places-to children with ADHD”. Nature isn’t just a route for children’s development, but it’s a form of therapy. I’ve experienced the positive effect that nature therapy can have. My own brother for example, has ADHD. One day my mom decided to take us on a short hike, something my brother had never done before. Of course he was hesitant at first, but during this hike, I witnessed how much calmer how was, less agitated, angry, and frustrated. I don’t think I had ever seen him so calm before. Nature therapy works because nature opens up a part of our brain that we can’t access any other way.
Another factor that plays a role in why children don’t have natural play is due to do an overwhelming amount of restrictions placed in urban areas. Children aren’t allowed to climb trees or build tree houses anymore. With a growing population, “Countless communities have virtually outlawed unstructured outdoor nature play, often because of the threat of lawsuits, but also because of a growing obsession for order” (28). We don’t see children playing basketball in front of their houses, we don’t see kids building tree houses, we simply don’t seem them interacting with nature the same way our parents did. Natural play is much better for child development compared to structured play. One study conducted in Sweden and Norway found that “Over a year’s time, the children who played in natural areas tested better for motor fitness, especially in balance agility”. Children who play in natural areas seem to develop physical skills that children who play in structured areas can’t simply develop. I’ve seen how structured children’s playgrounds at both schools and public parks have become. They leave no room for child creativity, and as Louv explains, -“Playtime, — especially unstructured, imaginative, exploratory play — is increasingly recognized as an essential component of wholesome child development”. If kids benefit from a less structured playtime, I think it’s important to reevaluate the way we are restricting kids from being creative and exploring their surroundings with all our overly strict regulations.
Climate Change and Mental Health
Although Louv’s Nature Deficit Disorder isn’t a proper scientific term or a term that’s accepted in the scientific community as a disorder, scientists have seen a similar correlation between nature and mental health problems, that help support Louv’s concept of Nature Deficit Disorder. This proven correlation between nature and mental health problems is being seen through the effects climate change and the disasters it brings to an individual’s mental health. To no surprise at all, children and teens are a group of individuals where we can primarily see how climate change is impacting their mental health. Teenage brains for example, are still developing, making them extremely vulnerable to developing mental health problems. Children and teenagers are the some of the strongest advocates for climate change because of this increasing amount of natural disasters is affecting their future the most. In the article, “Climate change poses mental health risks to children and teens” by Kathiann Kowalski reports that psychologist, Lise Van Susteren, has found that climate change “can can trigger feelings of anger, grief, resentment, fear, frustration and being overwhelmed…the feelings can get in the way of their general well-being”. Climate change is affecting children’s daily life, their mental health and overall well being. In a feature titled “Climate Change is Threatening Mental Health” published by the American Psychological Association and researched by Kristen Weir, one report reported on the correlation between mental health and climate change and dove in deeper into the effects it can bring; “Exposure to climate- and weather-related natural disasters can result in mental health consequences such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. A significant proportion of people affected by those events develop chronic psychological dysfunction”. Climate change is resulting in people to not only physically suffer from natural disasters, but people are mentally suffering too. Their negative experience with nature is negatively affecting their brains.
Conclusions
Climate change, of course, is a part of nature. The natural disasters that climate change or global warming bring are definitely not the most positive way to interact with nature. However, these natural disasters have a certain degree of an affect on a person’s mental health, primarily, a negative one. On the other hand, Louv’s main argument is about the positive effects a positive experience with nature can bring to a child’s development, even to adults. If science has been able to find a link, although a negative one, between nature (climate change) and the impact on a person’s mental health, then that has to mean that a positive interaction with nature also has to have an effect on mental health, in this case a positive one. The concept of the impacts of climate change on an individual’s mental health, reinforces Louv’s ideas behind Natural Deficit Disorder. It helps prove that a correlation between nature and and mental health, including child development, exists, whether it’s a negative interaction, such as climate change, or a positive one, such as nature therapy.
In general, the way we interact with our environment is what shapes us. Whether we grow up in a positive environment or a negative one, it’s what influences us and builds our character. Part of the environment is nature, so the same concept applies to the way we interact with nature. A positive interaction, a negative interaction and even a lack of interaction with nature all influence or physical and mental health in one way or another. It’s important to keep that in mind, to take concepts such as Louv’s Natural Deficit Disorder, into consideration, on top of climate change, to develop a healthier and more prominent path for ourselves and our children.
