Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder, by Richard Louv, argues that kids are so plugged into television and video games that they've lost their connection to the natural world.
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Dear EarthTalk: I caught the tail end of a discussion about “ecopsychology” recently on the radio, something about the negative impacts of people not communing with nature enough, spending too much time watching TV, sitting at computers, etc... Can you enlighten?
-- Bridget W., Seattle, WA
The term ecopsychology, first coined by writer and theorist Theodore Roszak in his 1992 book, Voice of the Earth, is loosely defined as the connection between ecology and human psychology. Roszak argues that humans can heal what he calls their “psychological alienation” from nature and build a more sustainable society if they recognize that we all have an innate emotional bond with the natural world.
The basic premise is that we operate under an illusion that people are separate from nature, and that humans are more apt to derive comfort and even inspiration from contact with the natural world—with which they evolved over the millennia—than with the relatively recent construct of modern urban society. Distancing ourselves from nature, Roszak maintains, has negative psychological consequences for people and also leads to ecological devastation at the hands of a society that, as a result, lacks empathy for nature.
In a more recent essay called “Ecopsychology: Eight Principles,” Roszak, who went on to start the non-profit Ecopsychology Institute, states that the core of the mind is the ecological unconscious, which, if repressed, can lead to an “insane” treatment of nature. “For ecopsychology, repression of the ecological unconscious is the deepest root of collusive madness in industrial society,” he writes, adding that “open access to the ecological unconscious is the path to sanity.”
While many psychotherapists have adopted aspects of ecopsychology in treating various mental illnesses and psychological disorders, the teachings of Roszak and other contributors to the still-evolving field can be helpful even for those not in need of a therapist’s care. John V. Davis, a Naropa University professor who teaches and writes about ecopsychology, for example, says that meditating in the outdoors, participating in wilderness retreats, involving oneself in nature-based festivals or celebrations of the seasons or other natural phenomena, joining in Earth-nurturing activities such as environmental restoration or advocacy work, and spending time around animals (including pets, which have been shown to have healing effects with the elderly and with people with psychological disabilities) are just a few ways in which the discipline can be used by everyday people to the benefit of their psychological health.
Getting kids involved with nature and the outdoors is viewed by ecopsychology fans as key to their development, especially in the technological age we occupy now. Richard Louv, author of the book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder, argues that kids are so plugged into television and video games that they’ve lost their connection to the natural world. This disconnect, Louv maintains, has led not only to poor physical fitness among our youth (including obesity), but also long-term mental and spiritual health problems. His work has sparked a worldwide movement to introduce more kids to the wonders of nature through various planned and spontaneous activities.
CONTACTS: Ecopsychology Institute, ecopsychology.athabascau.ca; John V. Davis, www.johnvdavis.com; Richard Louv, www.richardlouv.com; International Institute for Ecopsychology, www.ecopsychology.org; Project NatureConnect, www.ecopsych.com.
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9 Comments
Add CommentAbolish city living!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThat seems extreme.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI was just emulating the normal kind or response to this stuff.. tongue in cheek. I really don't know how this kind of information is useful beyond individual decision making. My perception with this kind of study is that people take the information presented and try to use it to make others conform to a way of living instead of using it for their own benefit.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA more economically and environmentally friendly way to live would be in several small, close-knit, self-sustaining communities. Good luck convincing people that technology is bad and that we should all live like Quakers though.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI've lived in big cities, small cities, villages and out in the country. I feel sorry for inner-city kids who have to depend on planned forays to the country to see what nature is like up close.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSustainable eco-living in cities will be possible once money is abolished, all mouths are fed/watered, and all people concentrate on the higher functions of human brain (creativity, reason, and invention)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisif all people concentrate on the higher functions of the human brain to exclusion, we get more of the same!!! it is this constant barrage of intellectual elitism that leads to exactly my point above. People say that we need to abolish all the things that force us to work toward the basics and only concentrate on the things that have no value!!! Abolishment of anything is wrong minded! How about, consider that you cannot get rid of city living, but do all you can to ensure that you do not infringe the ability of others by narrowing their right to choose to live a less metropolitan life and chose a life more exposed to open spaces. To think it is possible to live based upon the better good of all, with no money, no posession, is foolish. The greatest preserver of the wildlife around him is the educated hunter, for he knows that he must give true balance to the wildlife in order that it flourish. Unfortunately, the population of humans in this world is beyond what natural wildlife can sustain, and we are forced to congregate, commit to animal husbandry, raise and protect crop foods and animals for our nourishment, or find a way to extract ourselves completely from the system. It is sad that so many live in large cities where their only exposure to nature is a stroll in the park, where their lives may be endangered by other humans who are so depraved as to take that small space of isolation and use it for evil purposes. Too much exposure to the ills bred in the human mind begets further unrest in the soul. We chose to escape and find ourselves bound further in the grasping hands of media, culture, and so our souls wither. And we begin to find the human condition evil, and we claim that we need to eliminate all that makes humanity evil.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSee how out of control this whole thing can get? How about people just accept that it is healthy to withraw from society and commune with nature, but don't try to abolish anything. Maybe I started it, but I want people to really think about it.
All the organizations that have been around to promote this sort of healthy exposure to nature (i.e. boy scouts, girl scouts, etc) have been put under assault by those who see them in one light only, and thus make them a negative stigma to the intellectual elite. Provide your children with true life skills, and a love of nature, and they will preserve the planet. Tell them that they should give up everything for the betterment of all, and you will never teach them the true point behind this article.
I've read Last Child in the Woods, and have taught for over 30 years. At first I did not 'get' the excitement this book caused among educators. I took students backpacking, I brought them from Michigan out to Yellowstone National Park, I took them outside during lessons whenever I could, and I spent my childhood playing outside in orchards and vacant lots, so the book was old-stuff to me, just that it had brain research supporting what I've known all along.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThen it hit me: we as a society have gone beyond the tipping point :kids AND their teachers never spend time outside and are nature deficit. The teachers today have never spent time outside themselves. They are indoor computer/techno folks, so to them this is big news. And that is what scares me so much.
Please don't see this a s a put-down of technology. We need both--and we need to teach kids that nature is real, is important. We need to get them outside in it for free activities. Most kids, if they go outside, look at it as a place to play soccer, not as the thing that supports us all.
Nature does feed our souls. I have spent my life getting out as much as possible--without the ability to go outside--hike, ski, hang out, write/paint, do whatever, freely with no time-frame or direction once in a while, I would indeed go crazy.
Seeing the connections between the land/wildlife/water, FEELING those connections, feeds my spirit.
We are ARE nature and cannot live without her. I grew up without a TV (my father got rid of it) and lived several years of my adult life in the wild (very remote areas). I went into the wild rainforest of Australia many years ago a very sick woman and came out healed. I can attest firsthand to the absolute necessity of Mother Nature in our daily lives. Daily I worry about our youth and pain they experience when living in disconnection from Nature. The ramifications of disconnection are staggering.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI realize we cannot all go (in our billions) swarming back into Nature, but there are many alternatives between total disconnection on one hand and mass exodus into Nature (with the result being the further destruction of the wild) on the other hand. Simple organic gardening on a small scale or tree planting or programs that kids can volunteer for that restore Nature...all of these and more can bring about a connection to the wild world around us.
This is vitally good work you are doing here. I am truly excited to see this. Very important. Thank you for being this aware; you give the world a gift.
Robin Easton
www.nakedineden.com
(Mine is a nature and eco-spiritual site that you may enjoy.)